Leviticus 14
One Bird Killed, One Let Go Alive
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The Initial Cleansing Rite
14:1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
14:2This is the law of the person with leprosy on the day he is cleansed: he shall be brought to the priest,
14:3and the priest shall go outside the camp and examine him. If the lesion of leprosy has healed in the person with leprosy,
14:4the priest shall give orders, and they shall take two living clean birds, cedarwood, spun scarlet thread, and hyssop for the person who has been cleansed.
14:5The priest shall give orders, and they shall slaughter one bird into an earthenware vessel over living water.
14:6He shall take the living bird, cedarwood, spun scarlet thread, and hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over the living water.
14:7He shall sprinkle the person cleansed from leprosy seven times, and he shall be clean. He shall release the living bird into the plain.
14:8The person who has been cleansed shall wash his garments, shave off all his hair, bathe in water, and be clean. Afterward he shall enter the camp, but he shall remain outside his house for seven days.
14:9On the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair: his head, his beard, and his eyebrows; he shall shave off all his hair. He shall wash his garments, bathe his body in water, and be clean.
Offerings on the Eighth Day
14:10On the eighth day he shall take two unblemished year-old lambs, one unblemished year-old sheep, three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a sacrifice, and one kotyle of oil,
14:11The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the person being cleansed and these things before the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Testimony.
14:12The priest shall take one lamb and present it for the offense offering, with the kotyle of oil, and separate it as a separated portion before the Lord.
14:13They shall slaughter the lamb in a holy place where they slaughter the whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin. The offering for sin is like the offense offering: it belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
14:14The priest shall take some of the offense offering’s blood and put it on the right earlobe of the person being cleansed, the extremity of his right hand, and the extremity of his right foot.
14:15The priest shall take some of the kotyle of oil and pour it onto the priest’s left hand,
14:16and dip his right finger into the oil on his left hand and sprinkle with his finger seven times before the Lord.
14:17The priest shall put the oil remaining in his hand on the right earlobe of the person being cleansed, the extremity of his right hand, and the extremity of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the offense offering.
14:18The priest shall put the remaining oil in his hand on the head of the person who has been cleansed. The priest shall make propitiation for him before the Lord.
14:19The priest shall prepare the offering for sin and make propitiation for the unclean person being cleansed from his sin. Afterward the priest shall slaughter the whole burnt offering.
14:20The priest shall offer up the whole burnt offering and sacrifice on the altar before the Lord. The priest shall make propitiation for him, and he shall be cleansed.
Provision for Limited Means
14:21If he is poor and his hand cannot provide, he shall take one lamb for his offense as a portion set apart, to make propitiation for him, a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil for a sacrifice, and one kotyle of oil,
14:22and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever his hand can provide, one for sin and one for a whole burnt offering.
14:23On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Testimony before the Lord.
14:24The priest shall take the lamb of the offense offering and the kotyle of oil, and place them as a presentation before the Lord.
14:25He shall slaughter the lamb of the offense offering. The priest shall take some of its blood and put it on the right earlobe of the person being cleansed, the extremity of his right hand, and the extremity of his right foot.
14:26The priest shall pour some of the oil onto the priest’s left hand,
14:27With his right finger the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil in his left hand seven times before the Lord.
14:28The priest shall put some of the oil on his hand on the right earlobe of the person being cleansed, the extremity of his right hand, and the extremity of his right foot, on the place of the offense offering’s blood.
14:29He shall put the remaining oil in the priest’s hand on the head of the person who has been cleansed, and the priest shall make propitiation for him before the Lord.
14:30He shall prepare one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, as his hand can provide,
14:31one for sin and one for a whole burnt offering, together with the sacrifice. The priest shall make propitiation before the Lord for the person being cleansed.
14:32This is the law for the one with a lesion of leprosy and for the one whose hand cannot provide for his cleansing.
Examination of a House
14:33The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
14:34When you enter the land of the Canaanites, which I give you as a possession, and I put a lesion of leprosy in the houses of the land possessed by you,
14:35the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying: Something like a lesion has appeared to me in the house.
14:36The priest shall command that the house be emptied before he enters to examine the lesion, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. Afterward the priest shall enter to examine the house.
14:37He shall examine the lesion in the walls of the house, greenish or fiery-red hollows whose appearance is lower than the walls,
14:38the priest shall leave the house, go to its door, and isolate the house for seven days.
14:39On the seventh day the priest shall return and examine the house. If the lesion has not spread in the walls of the house,
14:40the priest shall command them to remove the stones that have the lesion and throw them outside the city into an unclean place.
14:41They shall scrape the house all around inside and pour the dust outside the city into an unclean place.
14:42They shall take other scraped stones and put them in place of those stones. They shall take other earth and plaster the house.
A Returning Lesion and Purification
14:43If a lesion comes again and springs up in the house after the stones have been removed and the house scraped and plastered,
14:44the priest shall enter and examine it. If the lesion has spread in the house, it is persistent leprosy in the house; it is unclean.
14:45They shall demolish the house, and carry its timbers, its stones, and all its dust outside the city into an unclean place.
14:46Whoever enters the house during any of the days it is isolated shall be unclean until evening.
14:47Whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his garments and be unclean until evening, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his garments and be unclean until evening.
14:48But if the priest comes in and examines it, and the lesion has not spread at all in the house after it was plastered, the priest shall declare the house clean, for the lesion has healed.
14:49To purify the house he shall take two living clean birds, cedarwood, spun scarlet thread, and hyssop.
14:50He shall slaughter one bird into an earthenware vessel over living water,
14:51and take the cedarwood, spun scarlet thread, hyssop, and living bird, dip it in the blood of the bird slaughtered over living water, and sprinkle the house with them seven times,
14:52He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the living water, the living bird, the cedarwood, the hyssop, and the spun scarlet thread.
14:53He shall release the living bird outside the city into the plain, make expiation for the house, and it shall be clean.
The Governing Distinction
14:54This is the law concerning every lesion of leprosy and every broken patch,
14:55for leprosy of a garment or house,
14:56for a scar, a mark, or a shining spot,
14:57to explain on what day it is unclean and on what day it shall be cleansed. This is the law of leprosy.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.