Cleansing from Skin Diseases
(Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16)

1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2This is the rite for a leper, when he is to be cleansed. He shall be brought to the priest, 3who, departing from the camp, when he has found the leprosy to be cleansed, 4shall instruct him who is to be purified to offer for himself two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar wood, and vermillion, and hyssop. 5And he shall order that one of the sparrows be immolated in an earthen vessel over living waters. 6But the other living one, with the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, he shall dip in the blood of the immolated sparrow. 7And he shall sprinkle him who is to be cleansed seven times, so that he may be purified justly. And he shall release the living sparrow, so that it may fly away into the field. 8And when the man will have washed his clothes, he shall shave all the hair from his body, and he shall be washed with water. And having been purified, he shall enter into the camp, only to this extent: that he may remain outside his own tent for seven days. 9And on the seventh day he shall shave the hair of his head, and his beard, and his eyebrows, as well as the hair of his entire body. And having washed his clothes again, and his body,

10on the eighth day, he shall take two immaculate lambs, and a one-year-old female sheep without blemish, and three tenths of fine wheat flour, which has been sprinkled with oil, as a sacrifice, and separately, one twelfth hin of oil. 11And when the priest purifying the man has presented him and all these things in the sight of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, 12he shall take a lamb and offer it for transgression, with the twelfth hin of oil. And having offered all these before the Lord, 13he shall immolate the lamb, where the victim for sin is usually immolated with the holocaust, that is, in the holy place. For just as with the one for sin, so also the victim for transgression belongs to the priest. It is the Holy of holies. 14And taking some of the blood of the victim, which was immolated for transgression, the priest shall place it upon the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and likewise the foot. 15And he shall send some of the twelfth hin of oil into his own left hand, 16and he shall dip his right finger in it, and he shall sprinkle it in the sight of the Lord seven times. 17But the oil which remains in his left hand, he shall pour over the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand as well as the foot, and upon the blood which was shed for transgression, 18and upon his head. 19And he shall pray for him in the sight of the Lord, and he shall accomplish the sacrifice on behalf of sin. Then he shall immolate the holocaust, 20and place it upon the altar with its libations, and the man will be duly cleansed.

21But if he is poor, and his hand is not able to find what has been said, he shall take a lamb as an offering for transgression, so that the priest may pray for him, and a tenth part of fine wheat flour sprinkled with oil, as a sacrifice, and a twelfth hin of oil, 22and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, of which one may be for sin, and the other as a holocaust. 23And he shall offer them on the eighth day of his purification to the priest at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony in the sight of the Lord. 24And he, receiving the lamb for transgression, and the twelfth hin of oil, shall lift them up together. 25And when the lamb has been immolated, he shall place some of its blood upon the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, as well as the foot. 26Yet truly, he shall send part of the oil into his own left hand, 27and dipping the finger of his right hand in it, he shall sprinkle it seven times before the Lord. 28And he shall touch the tip of the right ear of him who is being cleansed, and the thumb of his right hand, as well as the foot, in the place of the blood which was shed for transgression. 29But the remaining part of the oil which is in his left hand, he shall send upon the head of the one being purified, to appease the Lord on his behalf. 30And he shall offer a turtledove or a young pigeon, 31one for transgression, and the other as a holocaust, with their libations. 32This is the sacrifice of a leper, who is not able to obtain all of the things concerning his cleansing.

Signs of Home Contamination

33And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

34When you will have entered into the land of Canaan, which I will give to you as a possession, if there is the mark of leprosy in a building, 35he whose house it is shall go and report to the priest, saying: “It seems to me that the mark of leprosy is in my house.” 36And he shall instruct them to carry all things out of the house, before he would enter it and see whether it is leprosy, lest all that is in the house become unclean. And after this, he shall enter to examine the leprosy of the house. 37And when he will have seen in its walls something like little hollows, deformed with paleness or redness, and lower than the remaining surface, 38he shall exit by the door of the house, and immediately close it up for seven days. 39And returning on the seventh day, he shall examine it. If he finds that the leprosy has spread, 40he shall order the stones in which the leprosy is, to be dug out and cast outside the city in an unclean place, 41and that the house be scraped on the inside all around, and that the dust of the scrapings be scattered outside the city in an unclean place, 42and that other stones be put back, in place of those which had been taken away, and that the house be plastered with other mortar.

43But if, after the stones have been dug out, and the dust wiped away, and it is plastered with other clay, 44the priest, upon entering, will have seen that the leprosy has returned, and that the walls are sprinkled with spots, then it is a persistent leprosy and the house is unclean. 45And so they shall promptly destroy it, and shall cast its stones and timber, and also all the dust, outside the town in an unclean place. 46Whoever enters into the house when it is closed up shall be unclean until evening. 47And whoever will have slept in it, or eaten anything, shall wash his clothes.

Cleansing a Home

48But if the priest, upon entering, will have seen that the leprosy has not spread in the house, after it had been newly plastered, he shall purify it, restoring it to health. 49And for its purification, he shall take two sparrows, and cedar wood, and vermillion, as well as hyssop, 50and, having immolated one sparrow in an earthen vessel over living waters, 51he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living sparrow, and he shall dip all these in the blood of the immolated sparrow, and also in the living water, and he shall sprinkle the house seven times. 52And he shall purify it as much with the blood of the sparrow as with the living water, and with the living sparrow, and the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the vermillion. 53And when he has released the sparrow to fly freely away into the field, he shall pray for the house, and it shall be justly cleansed.

54This is the law of every kind of leprosy and plague: 55of the leprosy of garments and houses, 56of scars and erupting pustules, of a shining spot, when the appearance is also variegated, 57so that it can be known at what time a thing is clean or unclean.