Study Desk

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

"When a person has a swelling,^[a] scab,^[b] or spot on the skin of his body, and it becomes a disease on the skin^(a) of his body, he is to be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.

The priest will examine the infection^(b) on the skin of his body. If the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.

But if the spot on the skin of his body is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest must quarantine the infected person for seven days.^(c)

The priest will then reexamine him on the seventh day. If he sees that the infection remains unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest must quarantine him for another seven days.

The priest will examine him again on the seventh day. If the infection has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean;^(d) it is a scab. The person is to wash his clothes and will become clean.

But if the scab spreads further on his skin after he has presented himself to the priest for his cleansing,^(e) he must present himself again to the priest.

The priest will examine him, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest must pronounce him unclean; he has a skin disease.

"When a skin disease develops on a person, he is to be brought to the priest.

The priest will examine him. If there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is a patch of raw flesh in the swelling,

it is a chronic disease on the skin of his body, and the priest must pronounce him unclean.^(f) He need not quarantine him, for he is unclean.

But if the skin disease breaks out all over the skin so that it covers all the skin of the infected person from his head to his feet so far as the priest can see,

the priest will look, and if the skin disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the infected person clean.^(g) Since he has turned totally white, he is clean.

But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean.

When the priest examines the raw flesh, he must pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean; it is a skin disease.

But if the raw flesh changes^[c] and^[d] turns white, he must go to the priest.

The priest will examine him, and if the infection has turned white, the priest must pronounce the infected person clean; he is clean.

"When a boil appears on the skin^(h) of one's body⁽ⁱ⁾ and it heals,

and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, the person must present himself to the priest.

The priest will make an examination, and if the spot seems to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a skin disease that has broken out in the boil.

But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin but is faded, the priest must quarantine him seven days.

If it spreads further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is an infection.

But if the spot remains where it is and does not spread, it is only the scar from the boil. The priest is to pronounce him clean.

"When there is a burn on the skin of one's body produced by fire, and the patch made raw by the burn becomes reddish-white or white,

the priest is to examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a skin disease.

But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in the spot and it is not beneath the skin but is faded, the priest must quarantine him seven days.

The priest will reexamine him on the seventh day. If it has spread further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a skin disease.

But if the spot has remained where it was and has not spread on the skin but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn. The priest is to pronounce him clean, for it is only the scar from the burn.

"When a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin,

the priest must examine the infection. If it appears to be deeper than the skin,^(j) and the hair in it is yellow and sparse, the priest must pronounce the person unclean. It is a scaly outbreak,^[e] a skin disease of the head or chin.

When the priest examines the scaly infection, if it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest must quarantine the person with the scaly infection for seven days.

The priest will reexamine the infection on the seventh day. If the scaly outbreak has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin,

the person must shave himself^(k) but not shave the scaly area. Then the priest must quarantine the person who has the scaly outbreak for another seven days.

The priest will examine the scaly outbreak on the seventh day, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce the person clean. He is to wash his clothes, and he will be clean.

But if the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing,

the priest is to examine the person. If the scaly outbreak has spread on the skin, the priest does not need to look for yellow hair; the person is unclean.

But if as far as he can see, the scaly outbreak remains unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed; he is clean. The priest is to pronounce the person clean.

"When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin of the body,

the priest is to make an examination. If the spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is only a rash^[f] that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean.

"If a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald,^(l) but he is clean.

Or if he loses the hair at his hairline, he is bald on his forehead, but he is clean.

But if there is a reddish-white infection on the bald head or forehead, it is a skin disease breaking out on his head or forehead.^(m)

The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white, like the appearance of a skin disease on his body,

the man is afflicted with a skin disease;⁽ⁿ⁾ he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; the infection is on his head.

"The person afflicted with an infectious skin disease is to have his clothes torn^(o) and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth^(p) and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!'

He will remain unclean as long as he has the infection; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.^(q)

"If a fabric is contaminated with mildew—in wool or linen fabric,

in the warp or woof of linen or wool, or in leather or anything made of leather—

and if the contamination is green or red in the fabric, the leather, the warp, the woof, or any leather article, it is a mildew contamination and is to be shown to the priest.

The priest is to examine the contamination and quarantine the contaminated fabric for seven days.

The priest is to reexamine the contamination on the seventh day. If it has spread in the fabric, the warp, the woof, or the leather, regardless of how it is used, the contamination is harmful mildew; it is unclean.^(r)

He is to burn the fabric, the warp or woof in wool or linen, or any leather article, which is contaminated. Since it is harmful mildew it must be burned up.

"When the priest examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the fabric, the warp or woof, or any leather article,

the priest is to order whatever is contaminated to be washed and quarantined for another seven days.

After it has been washed, the priest is to reexamine the contamination. If the appearance of the contaminated article has not changed, it is unclean. Even though the contamination has not spread, you must burn up the fabric. It is a fungus^[g] on the front or back of the fabric.

"If the priest examines it, and the contamination has faded after it has been washed, he must cut the contaminated section out of the fabric, the leather, or the warp or woof.

But if it reappears in the fabric, the warp or woof, or any leather article, it has broken out again. You must burn up whatever is contaminated.

But if the contamination disappears from the fabric, the warp or woof, or any leather article, which have been washed, it is to be washed again, and it will be clean.

"This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, warp or woof, or any leather article, in order to pronounce it clean or unclean."^(s)

The Lord spoke to Moses:

"This is the law^(a) concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing.^(b) He is to be brought to the priest,^(c)

who will go outside the camp^(d) and examine him.^(e) If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,^[a]

the priest will order that two live clean birds,^(f) cedar wood,^(g) scarlet^(h) yarn, and hyssop⁽ⁱ⁾ be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.

Then the priest will order that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.

He is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them all into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.

He will then sprinkle the blood seven times on the one who is to be cleansed from the skin disease. He is to pronounce him clean and release the live bird over the open countryside.^(j)

The one who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; he is clean. Afterward he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.

He is to shave off all his hair again on the seventh day: his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; he is clean.

"On the eighth day he must take two unblemished^(k) male lambs, an unblemished year-old ewe lamb, a grain offering of three quarts^[b] of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one-third of a quart^[c] of olive oil.

The priest who performs the cleansing will place the person who is to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a restitution offering,^(l) along with the one-third quart^[d] of olive oil, and he must wave them as a presentation offering^(m) before the Lord .

He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary area where the sin offering⁽ⁿ⁾ and burnt offering^(o) are slaughtered,^(p) for like the sin offering, the restitution offering belongs to the priest;^(q) it is especially holy.^(r)

The priest is to take some of the blood from the restitution offering and put it 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.^(s)

Then the priest will take some of the one-third quart^[e] of olive oil and pour it into his left palm.

The priest will dip his right finger into the oil in his left palm and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord .

From the oil remaining in his palm the priest will put some 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 restitution offering.^(t)

What is left of the oil in the priest's palm he 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 .

The priest must sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness.^(u) Afterward he will slaughter the burnt offering.

The priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. The priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean.^(v)

"But if he is poor^(w) and cannot afford these,^[f](x) he is to take one male lamb for a restitution offering to be waved in order to make atonement for him, along with two quarts^[g] of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, one-third of a quart^[h] of olive oil,

and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford,^[i] one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

On the eighth day he is to bring these things for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord .

The priest will take the male lamb for the restitution offering and the one-third quart^[j] of olive oil, and wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord .

After he slaughters the male lamb for the restitution offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the restitution offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

Then the priest will pour some of the oil into his left palm.

With his right finger the priest will sprinkle some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the Lord .

The priest will also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the same place as the blood of the restitution offering.

What is left of the oil in the priest's palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord .^(y)

He must then sacrifice one type of what he can afford,^[k] either the turtledoves or young pigeons,

one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, sacrificing what he can afford^[l][m] together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord for the one to be cleansed.

This is the law for someone who has^[n] a skin disease and cannot afford^[o] the cost of his cleansing."

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

"When you enter the land of Canaan^(z) that I am giving you as a possession,^(aa) and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess,^[p]

the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared^[q] in my house.

The priest must order them to clear the house before he enters to examine the contamination, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. Afterward the priest will come to examine the house.

He will examine it, and if the contamination in the walls of the house consists of green or red indentations^[r] that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall,

the priest is to go outside the house to its doorway and quarantine the house for seven days.

The priest is to return on the seventh day and examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house,

the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city.

He is to have the inside of the house completely scraped, and the plaster^[s] that is scraped off must be dumped in an unclean place outside the city.

Then they must take different stones to replace the former ones and take additional plaster^[t] to replaster the house.

"If the contamination reappears in the house after the stones have been pulled out, and after the house has been scraped and replastered,

the priest must come and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is harmful mildew; the house is unclean.

It must be torn down with its stones, its beams, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.

Whoever enters the house during any of the days the priest quarantines it will be unclean until evening.

Whoever lies down in the house is to wash his clothes, and whoever eats in it is to wash his clothes.

"But when the priest comes and examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he is to pronounce the house clean because the contamination has disappeared.^[u]

He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house,

and he is to slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot containing fresh water.

He will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn.

Then he is to release the live bird into the open countryside^(ab) outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.

"This is the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak,^[v]

for mildew in clothing or on a house,

and for a swelling, scab, or spot,

to determine when something is unclean or clean. This is the law regarding skin disease and mildew."

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a discharge^(a) from his body, he is unclean.

This is uncleanness of his discharge: Whether his body secretes the discharge or retains it, he is unclean. All the days that his body secretes or retains anything because of his discharge,^[a] he is unclean.^[b]

Any bed the man with the discharge lies on will be unclean, and any furniture he sits on will be unclean.

Anyone who touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

Whoever sits on furniture that the man with the discharge was sitting on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, he is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

Any saddle the man with the discharge rides on will be unclean.^(b)

Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries such things is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands in water,^(c) the person who was touched is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, while any wooden utensil must be rinsed with water.^(d)

"When the man with the discharge has been cured of it, he is to count seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in fresh water; he will be clean.

He must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons on the eighth day, come before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and give them to the priest.

The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.^(e) In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.

"When a man has an emission of semen,^(f) he is to bathe himself completely with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen must be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening.

If a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them are to bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.^(g)

"When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation^(h) for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

Anything she lies on during her menstruation will become unclean, and anything she sits on will become unclean.

Everyone who touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

Everyone who touches any furniture she was sitting on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

If discharge is on the bed or the furniture she was sitting on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening.

If a man sleeps with her, and blood from her menstruation gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days, and every bed he lies on will become unclean.⁽ⁱ⁾

"When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, though it is not the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, as she is during the days of her menstruation.

Any bed she lies on during the days of her discharge will be like her bed during menstrual impurity; any furniture she sits on will be unclean as in her menstrual period.

Everyone who touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening.

When she is cured of her discharge, she is to count seven days, and after that she will be clean.^(j)

On the eighth day she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the Lord because of her unclean discharge.

"You must keep the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle^(k) that is among them.

This is the law for someone with a discharge: a man who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean by it;

a woman who is in her menstrual period; anyone who has a discharge, whether male or female; and a man who sleeps with an unclean woman."