The Holy Bible

Cleansing From Infectious Skin Diseases

Lord said to Moses,  2  “This is the law for the person afflicted with an infectious skin disease at the time of his cleansing. He is to be brought to the priest,  3  and the priest is to take him outside the camp and examine him. If the afflicted person has been healed of his infectious skin disease,  4  the priest shall order that two live clean birds, and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.  5  Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.  6  He then is to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.  7  He shall sprinkle it seven times on the one who is to be cleansed of the infectious skin disease and pronounce him clean. Then he is to release the living bird in the open fields.

8 “The person who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be clean. After this he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.  9  On the seventh day he must again shave off all his hair; he must shave his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

10  “On the eighth day he must take two male lambs without defect, one ewe lamb a year old without defect, and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil.  11  The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the person who is to cleansed and his offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

• The priest was instructed to offer the cleansing for the healed ceremonially unclean person according to the Law of Moses.

Bible illustration © Sweet Publishing

12  “The priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.  13  He is to slaughter the male lamb in a holy place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering also belongs to the priest; it is most holy.  14  The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.  15  The priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.  16  The priest shall then dip his right finger in the oil in his left hand and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the Lord.  17  The priest is to then put some of the oil remaining in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.  18  The rest of the oil in the palm of his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord.

19  “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering,  20  and offer the burnt offering and a grain offering on the altar. So the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean.

21  “But if he is poor and cannot afford these, he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved in order to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, a log of oil,  22  and two turtle doves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

23  “On the eighth day he must bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.  24  The priest is to take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.  25  He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.  26  The priest is to then pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand,  27  and with his right finger sprinkle some of the oil in the palm of his left hand seven times before the Lord.  28  The priest will also put some of the oil in the palm of his hand on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, at the same place where the blood of the guilt offering was put.  29  The priest shall put the rest of the oil in the palm of his hand on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.  30  Then he shall sacrifice the turtledoves or the young pigeons, whatever the person can afford,  31  one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord for the one to be cleansed.

32  “This is the law for someone who has an infectious skin disease, and who cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.”

Cleansing Mildew From Dwellings

33  The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,  34  “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land you possess,  35  the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a mildew contamination in my house’.  36  The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes to inspect the contamination, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house.  37  He is to examine the contamination on the walls of the house, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall,  38  the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and shut up the house for seven days.  39  The priest shall return on the seventh day and inspect the house. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house,  40  the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be removed and discarded in an unclean place outside the city.  41  He must have the inside of the house completed scraped, and the plaster that is scraped off must be dumped in an unclean place outside the city.  42  Then they are to take different stones and replace the former ones, and take additional plaster and replaster the house.

43  “If the contamination reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out, and the house scraped down and replastered,  44  the priest is to go and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is a harmful mildew; the house is unclean.  45  It must be torn down with its stones, timbers, and all its plaster, and taken out of the city to an unclean place.

46  “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean until evening.  47  Anyone who sleeps in the house must wash his clothes, and anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes.

48  “But if the priest comes and examines it, and the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean because the contamination is gone.  49  For the purification of the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop.  50  He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.  51  Then he is to then take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.  52  He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn.  53  Then he is to release the live bird in the open countryside outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.

54  “This is the law for any infectious skin disease, for a scaly outbreak,  55  for mildew in clothing or in a house,  56  and for a swelling, a scab, or a spot,  57  to determine when something is unclean or clean.

“This is the law regarding infectious skin diseases and mildew.”