Rules for Cleansing from Skin Diseases

14 The Lord said to Moses, ² “These are the teachings for the time at which people who had a harmful skin disease are made clean.

“The person shall be brought to the priest, ³ and the priest must go outside the camp and look at the one who had the skin disease. If the skin disease is healed, ⁴ the priest will command that two living, clean birds, a piece of cedar wood, a piece of red string, and a hyssop plant be brought for cleansing the person with the skin disease.

⁵ “The priest must order one bird to be killed in a clay bowl containing fresh water. ⁶ Then he will take the living bird, the piece of cedar wood, the red string, and the hyssop; all these he will dip into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. ⁷ The priest will sprinkle the blood seven times on the person being cleansed from the skin disease. He must announce that the person is clean and then go to an open field and let the living bird go free.

⁸ “The person to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water. Then he will be clean and may go into the camp, though he must stay outside his tent for the first seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—the hair from his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he will be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day the person who had the skin disease must take two male lambs that have nothing wrong with them and a year-old female lamb that has nothing wrong with it. He must also take six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and two-thirds of a pint of olive oil. ¹¹ The priest who is to announce that the person is clean must bring him and his sacrifices before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. ¹² The priest will take one of the male lambs and offer it with the olive oil as a penalty offering; he will present them before the Lord as an offering. ¹³ Then he will kill the male lamb in the holy place, where the sin offering and the whole burnt offering are killed. The penalty offering is like the sin offering—it belongs to the priest and it is most holy.

¹⁴ “The priest will take some of the blood of the penalty offering and put it on the bottom of the right ear of the person to be made clean. He will also put some of it on the thumb of the person’s right hand and on the big toe of the person’s right foot. ¹⁵ Then the priest will take some of the oil and pour it into his own left hand. ¹⁶ He will dip a finger of his right hand into the oil that is in his left hand, and with his finger he will sprinkle some of the oil seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷ The priest will put some oil from his hand on the bottom of the right ear of the person to be made clean, some on the thumb of the person’s right hand, and some on the big toe of the person’s right foot. The oil will go on these places on top of the blood for the penalty offering. ¹⁸ He will put the rest of the oil that is in his left hand on the head of the person to be made clean. In this way the priest will make that person clean so he can belong to the Lord again.

¹⁹ “Next the priest will offer the sin offering to make that person clean so he can belong to the Lord again. After this the priest will kill the animal for the whole burnt offering, ²⁰ and he will offer the burnt offering and grain offering on the altar. In this way he will make that person clean so he can belong to the Lord again.

²¹ “But if the person is poor and unable to afford these offerings, he must take one male lamb for a penalty offering. It will be presented to the Lord to make him clean so he can belong to the Lord again. The person must also take two quarts of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering. He must also take two-thirds of a pint of olive oil ²² and two doves or two young pigeons, which he can afford. One bird is for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. ²³ On the eighth day the person will bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, before the Lord. ²⁴ The priest will take the lamb for the penalty offering and the oil, and he will present them as an offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then he will kill the lamb of the penalty offering, take some of its blood, and put it on the bottom of the right ear of the person to be made clean. The priest will put some of this blood on the thumb of the person’s right hand and some on the big toe of the person’s right foot. ²⁶ He will also pour some of the oil into his own left hand. ²⁷ Then with a finger of his right hand, he will sprinkle some of the oil from his left hand seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ The priest will take some of the oil from his hand and put it on the bottom of the right ear of the person to be made clean. He will also put some of it on the thumb of the person’s right hand and some on the big toe of the person’s right foot. The oil will go on these places on top of the blood from the penalty offering. ²⁹ The priest must put the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the head of the person to be made clean, to make him clean so he can belong to the Lord again. ³⁰ Then the priest will offer one of the doves or young pigeons, which the person can afford. ³¹ He must offer one of the birds for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering, along with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make the person clean so he can belong to the Lord again; he will become clean.

³² “These are the teachings for making a person clean after he has had a skin disease, if he cannot afford the regular sacrifices for becoming clean.”