Cleansing from Skin Diseases (Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16)
1 UST Then Yahweh said to Moses, BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 UST “This is what an Israelite should do to be judged pure when he or she has had an infectious skin disease. The individual should first go to the priest. BSB BSB: “This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest.
3 UST The priest should meet the person with the infectious skin disease at a location outside the camp and there the priest should examine him. The priest should look to see if the infection is fully healed and no longer contagious. BSB BSB: The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed,
4 UST If it is, then the priest should tell the person who desires to be clean to bring two living birds that are acceptable to eat, some cedar wood, crimson thread, and some hyssop branches. BSB BSB: the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
5 UST Next, the priest should tell the infected person to kill one of the birds while he suspends it over a clay pot that contains fresh water. BSB BSB: Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.
6 UST Then the priest should grab the bird that is still living, along with the cedar, the crimson thread, and the hyssop branches. The priest should dip all of these items, including the living bird, into the water that now also contains blood from the bird that the person killed. BSB BSB: And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.
7 UST The priest should then flick some of the water and blood on the previously infected person whom the priest now intends to cleanse. The priest must flick the blood and water on him seven times. Then the priest should declare that the person is pure{ and that he may be with other people again.} Finally, the priest should release the living bird and allow it to fly away toward the open field. BSB BSB: Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.
8 UST Then the person whom the priest judged to be pure should go and wash his clothes, shave off all of his hair, and bathe himself thoroughly. When he has done these things, the people of Israel should know that he is pure; he may return to the camp, but he should remain outside his tent for a full week. BSB BSB: The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.
9 UST On the last day of that week- long period, that person should shave off all his hair once again, including his head, beard, and eyebrows. He should wash his clothes once again and thoroughly bathe himself. After he does these things, the people of Israel should consider him to be completely pure.{ He may be with other people again.} BSB BSB: On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—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 UST The very next day, that person should acquire two totally healthy male lambs and a totally healthy, year- old female lamb. He should also acquire about seven liters of wheat flour and mix it with olive oil in order to present it as a grain offering. Finally, he should acquire about a half of a liter of olive oil. BSB BSB: On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil.
11 UST The priest who judged the person to be pure should make the person whom he is cleansing, along with all of the required items and animals, stand in my presence at the entrance of the sacred tent. BSB BSB: The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
12 UST Then the priest should take one of the male lambs and present it to me to show that he will offer it as a restoring sacrifice. He should also do this with the olive oil. Then priest should lift the lamb and show off the olive oil in my presence in order to demonstrate that he will offer them as a presentation sacrifice. BSB BSB: Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
13 UST Then that person should kill the lamb in the same location in which people regularly kill the purifying and wholly burned sacrifices. This location should be somewhere that the priests have set apart for such sacred purposes. The person should kill the lamb here because the restoring sacrifice is like the purifying sacrifice in this regard: it belongs to the priest for his portion of food. Out of all the gifts that people offer to me, the portion of the sacrifice that the priests keep for themselves for food is specially set apart. BSB BSB: Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
14 UST { After catching some of the lamb’ s blood in a bowl,} the priest should take the blood of the restoring sacrifice and place some of it on the person whom the priest is cleansing— on the lobe of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. BSB BSB: The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt 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.
15 UST Then the priest should take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. BSB BSB: Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm,
16 UST The priest should then dip his right forefinger into the oil on his left palm and flick that oil seven times with his forefinger toward my presence in the Holy Place where I, Yahweh, live among the Israelites. BSB BSB: dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
17 UST Whatever oil is left on the priest’ s palm he should smear on the lobe of the right ear of the person whom the priest is cleansing, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. The priest should put the oil on top of the blood of the purifying sacrifice that he previously put on the person’ s extremities. BSB BSB: And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining 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 top of the blood of the guilt offering.
18 UST The priest should place whatever oil remains on his palm onto the head of the person whom he is cleansing. When the priest has done this, he will have cleansed the person in my presence in the sacred tent.{ I will restore the person and remove the impurity he acquired from his infectious skin disease.} BSB BSB: The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
19 UST Then the priest should prepare the purifying sacrifice so that he might make a sacrifice that I will accept on behalf of the person whom the priest judged to be clean. If he does this, I will fully cleanse the individual from the impurity that he acquired from his infection. After the priest has offered the purifying sacrifice, the individual whom the priest is cleansing should kill the other lamb so that the priest can begin to prepare the wholly burned sacrifice. BSB BSB: 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 UST The priest should make the wholly burned sacrifice and the grain offering go up to me in heaven by burning them on the altar in a way that causes smoke to go up. If he does this, the priest will have offered a sacrifice that I will accept on behalf of the individual whom the priest is cleansing. I will remove the impurity of his infection from him so that he will be pure once again. BSB BSB: and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean.
21 UST However, if the person whom the priest is cleansing is poor and cannot afford the two lambs, then he should acquire one lamb for the priest to offer as a restoring sacrifice by lifting it high to me. The individual should offer this lamb so that I might accept him and remove the impurity of his infection from him. In addition to the lamb, the individual should also acquire about two liters of wheat flour that he has mixed with olive oil and can offer as a grain offering. He should also acquire an additional half of a liter of olive oil. BSB BSB: If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
22 UST He should also acquire two doves or two pigeons— whichever he can afford. He should offer one of these birds as a purifying sacrifice and the other as a wholly burned sacrifice. BSB BSB: and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
23 UST Seven days after the priest judged him to be pure, the individual should bring the animals, the flour, and olive oil to the priest at the entrance of the sacred tent, where he may offer them in my presence. He should bring them all so that I may fully cleanse him from the impurity of his infection. BSB BSB: On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD.
24 UST Then the priest should take the lamb that the individual is offering as a restoring sacrifice. He should also take the olive oil. He should raise them up to show me that these are sacrifices that the individual will offer in my presence. BSB BSB: The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
25 UST Then the individual should kill the lamb that he is offering as a purifying sacrifice{ and catch some of its blood in a bowl.} The priest should take some of the lamb’ s blood and place it on the lobe of the right ear of the person whom the priest is cleansing, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. BSB BSB: And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt 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.
26 UST Then the priest should take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. BSB BSB: Then the priest is to pour some of the oil into his left palm
27 UST The priest{ should then dip his right forefinger into the oil on his left palm and} flick that oil seven times toward my presence in the Holy Place where I, Yahweh, live among the Israelites. BSB BSB: and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD.
28 UST Whatever oil is left on the priest’ s palm he should put on the lobe of the right ear of the person whom the priest is cleansing, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. The priest should put the oil on top of the blood of the restoring sacrifice that he previously put on the person’ s extremities. BSB BSB: The priest shall 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 places as the blood of the guilt offering.
29 UST The priest should pour whatever oil remains on his palm onto the head of the person whom the priest is cleansing. When the priest has done this, I will have cleansed the person in his presence.{ I will restore the person and remove the impurity he acquired from his infectious skin disease.} BSB BSB: The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
30 UST Then the priest should take one of the birds that the person has been able to afford— whichever type, the dove or the pigeon— and prepare it for the sacrifice. BSB BSB: Then he must sacrifice the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford,
31 UST { The priest should kill the birds that the person acquired and butcher them in the usual way.} He should offer one as a purifying sacrifice and the other as a wholly burned sacrifice. The priest should do this by placing them on the altar so that he might offer in my presence a sacrifice that I will accept on behalf of the person whom the priest has judged to be clean. I will restore the individual and remove the impurity of his infection from him. BSB BSB: 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 UST This is what the person with an infectious skin disease, and who is also poor and cannot afford the usual offerings, should do so that I can cleanse him from the impurity of his infection.” BSB BSB: This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”
Signs of Home Contamination 33 UST Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses, BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
34 UST “I am about to give the people of Israel the land of Canaan, which will belong to them permanently. When the people enter that land, it may happen that I cause an infectious mildew to appear in or on one of the people’ s family homes. BSB BSB: “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew into a house in that land,
35 UST Whenever that happens, the owner of the house should go and inform the priest that there is something in his house that looks like mildew. BSB BSB: the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’
36 UST The priest should tell him to take everything out of the house before the priest comes to examine the mildew. If the owner does not do this, the priest should judge everything and everyone in the house to be impure. However, if the person does what the priest asks, then the priest should enter the house to examine it. BSB BSB: The priest must order that the house be cleared before he enters it to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will become unclean. After this, the priest shall go in to inspect the house.
37 UST The priest should then inspect the house for mildew. Specifically, he should look to see if the mildew has broken out into spots that are greenish or reddish in color on the plaster on the walls. He should also look to see if the mildew appears to be deeper than the surface of the plaster. BSB BSB: He is to examine the house, and if the mildew on the walls consists of green or red depressions that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall,
38 UST If the priest sees these things, then he should immediately leave the house through the front door and quarantine the house for a full week. BSB BSB: the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.
39 UST On the last day of that week- long quarantine, the priest should return to the house and inspect it again. He should look to see if the mildew on the plaster of the walls has spread. BSB BSB: On the seventh day the priest is to return and inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls,
40 UST If it has, then the priest should tell the owner and residents of the house to tear out every stone in the wall that bears the mildew and cast the infected stones wherever people dispose of impure items outside of the city BSB BSB: he must order that the contaminated stones be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city.
41 UST After the owner has removed all the infected stones, he must scrape all around the inside of the house. The owner must dispose of all the plaster that he scrapes off in the same location where people dispose of impure items outside of the city BSB BSB: And he shall have the inside of the house scraped completely and the plaster that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the city.
42 UST Then the owner of the house should acquire new stones to replace the ones that bear the mildew. He should also acquire new plaster and replaster the stones in the walls of the house. BSB BSB: So different stones must be obtained to replace the contaminated ones, as well as additional mortar to replaster the house.
43 UST It may happen that the mildew returns and spreads on the walls of the house after the owner of the house has removed the infected stones, scraped the walls clean, and replastered them. BSB BSB: If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and replastered,
44 UST If this has happened, then the priest should go to the house and examine it again. He should look to see if the mildew has spread on the plaster of the walls of the house. If it has, then the mildew is actually a malignant mold. The priest should judge the house to be impure{ and no one should live in it.} BSB BSB: the priest must come and inspect it. If the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean.
45 UST The owner of the house must completely tear it down. He should remove the stones, the timber, and all the plaster. The owner of the house should dispose of everything wherever people dispose of impure items outside of the city. BSB BSB: It must be torn down with its stones, its timbers, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.
46 UST Suppose someone goes into that house during the quarantine. Then the priest must declare that this person will be impure until the evening of the day on which he entered the house. BSB BSB: Anyone who enters the house during any of the days that it is closed up will be unclean until evening.
47 UST Anyone who sleeps in that house or eats in it during that time must wash and clean his clothes. BSB BSB: And anyone who sleeps in the house or eats in it must wash his clothes.
Cleansing a Home 48 UST Alternatively, whenever the priest comes to examine the house after the owner has replastered it, the priest may determine that the mildew has not spread on the walls. If it has not, then, because the cleaning process has stopped the mold, the priest should judge the house to be pure again. BSB BSB: If, however, the priest comes and inspects it, and the mildew has not spread after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone.
49 UST For the priest to purify the house, he will need two birds, some cedar wood, crimson thread, and some hyssop branches. BSB BSB: He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house;
50 UST The owner of the house should kill one of the birds while suspending it over a clay pot containing fresh water. BSB BSB: and he shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.
51 UST Then the priest should take the cedar wood, the hyssop branches, the crimson thread, and the bird which is still alive. He should dip them into the mixture of the blood of the bird, which the owner of the house has just killed, and the fresh water. He should flick some of that blood and water onto the house seven times. BSB BSB: Then he shall 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.
52 UST By doing this with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop branches, and the crimson thread, the priest will be able to purify the house. BSB BSB: And he shall cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn.
53 UST The priest should release the bird that is still alive and allow it to fly away outside the city toward an open field. By doing this, he will have asked me to accept the house and remove from it the impurity that the house acquired from the infectious mold. When I do this, the house will be pure once again. BSB BSB: Finally, he is to release the live bird into the open fields outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.
54 UST So, those are the instructions for handling any infections that are symptoms of infectious skin diseases, itchy skin irritations, BSB BSB: This is the law for any infectious skin disease, for a scaly outbreak,
55 UST infections in fabric or in a house, BSB BSB: for mildew in clothing or in a house,
56 UST and swellings, rashes, or discolored spots on someone’ s skin. BSB BSB: and for a swelling, rash, or spot,
57 UST These instructions will teach the priests and the people of Israel how to determine when something or someone is impure and when they are pure. These are the instructions for handling various types of infectious diseases.” BSB BSB: to determine when something is clean or unclean. This is the law regarding skin diseases and mildew.”
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