Leviticus 14

EasyEnglish Bible

Rules for the people after a disease of the skin leaves them

14 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘These rules are for a person who has had a disease on his skin. They are rules about how to make him clean. When the disease leaves the person, you must bring him to the priest. ³ The priest must go outside the camp and he must look at the person. If the disease has gone away, ⁴ he must speak to the person. He must tell the person that he must bring two birds. They must be birds that are good for food. The birds must be alive. They must also bring wood from the cedar tree, red wool and some hyssop. ⁵ The priest will bring a pot with water in it. He will hold one of the birds over the pot and he will kill it. ⁶ The priest will take the other bird and the wood from the cedar tree. He will take the red wool and the hyssop. He will put all of them into the blood of the dead bird. ⁷ The priest will shake the blood over the person who had the disease. He will do this seven times. The priest will then say that the person is clean. The priest will let the live bird go. It will fly away.

⁸ The person who had the disease must wash his clothes. He must wash his body with water and he must cut off all his hair. Then he will be clean. He can go into the camp. But he must stay outside the home that he has made from animal skins for seven days. ⁹ On day seven, he must cut all the hair off his head and his face. He must wash his clothes and his body with water.

¹⁰ On the eighth day, the person must bring two young male sheep and one female sheep. The female sheep must be one year old. Both the animals must be perfect. He must also bring three tenths (3/10) of an ephah of flour (about six litres) mixed with oil. And he must bring a cup of olive oil. ¹¹ The priest who is making him clean must be there. He must bring the person to the door of the Tent of Meeting. The person must bring with him his offerings to the Lord.

¹² The priest must take one of the male sheep and the oil. He must lift them up to the Lord as a gift. ¹³ He must kill the sheep at the north side of the altar. That is where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering. The gift is holy. It is food for the priests. ¹⁴ The priest must put some of the blood on the lowest part of the person's right ear. He must put blood on the thumb of the person's right hand. And he must put blood on the big toe of the person's right foot. ¹⁵ The priest must pour some of the oil into his own left hand. ¹⁶ He must put a finger from his right hand into the oil. He must shake the oil seven times in front of the Lord's altar. ¹⁷ The priest must put oil on the lowest part of the person's right ear. He must put some of the oil on the thumb of the person's right hand. He must put some of the oil on the big toe of the person's right foot. He will put the oil on top of the offering's blood. ¹⁸ The priest must put the oil that he did not use on the person's head. This makes his atonement in front of the Lord.

¹⁹ Then the priest must offer the sin offering. That will make atonement for the man who will become clean. Then the priest must kill another sheep. It is a burnt offering. ²⁰ The priest must sacrifice the dead animal. It is a burnt offering. The priest must offer it on the altar. He must burn the flour and the oil with it on the altar. All this will make atonement for the person. This makes the person who had the disease clean.

²¹ If the person is poor, he must bring one young male sheep. And he must bring a tenth of an ephah of flour (about 2 litres) mixed with oil. And he must give a cup of olive oil. The priest must lift them to the Lord. ²² The person must also bring two birds. They must be doves or pigeons. These will be his gift. One bird is for a sin offering and the other one is for a burnt offering.

²³ On the eighth day, the person must bring his gifts to the Lord. He must bring them to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ²⁴ The priest will take the young sheep and the oil and he will lift them up to the Lord. ²⁵ He will kill the sheep. He will put some of its blood on the lowest part of the person's ear. He will put the blood on the thumb of the person's right hand. He will put the blood on the big toe of the person's right foot. ²⁶ The priest will pour some of the oil into his own left hand. ²⁷ He will put a finger from his right hand into the oil. He will shake it seven times in front of the Lord's altar. ²⁸ He will put oil from his hand on the lowest part of the person's ear. He will also put oil on the thumb of the person's right hand. He will put oil on the big toe of the person's right foot. ²⁹ The priest will put the oil that he did not use on the person's head. Then the Lord can see that he is clean. ³⁰ The priest will kill the pigeons or doves. ³¹ One bird is for a sin offering. The priest will burn the other bird with the grain offering. This is how the priest will make atonement in front of the Lord. He will do it for the person who was not clean.

³² These are the rules for a person who had a disease in his skin. They are for a disease that he might give to other people. They are for people who are too poor to buy three sheep.’

Rules for a house that has a disease called mildew

³³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ ‘Canaan is my gift to you, to belong to you for ever. When you go into that land, I may put a disease called mildew^[a] in a house there. ³⁵ If a person finds mildew in his house, he must tell the priest. He must say, “I have found something like mildew in my house.” ³⁶ The priest will tell the person what he should do. The person must take everything out of the house. If he does, those things will still be clean. Then the priest will go into the house. ³⁷ He will look at the walls of the house. He will look for a green or red mark. If the mark goes into the wall, ³⁸ the priest will leave the house. He will shut it up for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day, the priest will return to the house. The mildew may be bigger. ⁴⁰ The priest must say, “You must remove the stones that have mildew.” The person must put the stones outside the town. He must put them in a special place. ⁴¹ The person must cut the clay from inside the walls of the house. The person must put the clay from the walls outside the town. The person must put it in a place for things that are not clean. ⁴² The person who lives in the house must get some more stones. He must get some more clay. Then he can mend the wall.

⁴³ A person might find mildew on the wall that he has mended. He must tell the priest. ⁴⁴ The priest will look at the house. If the mildew is on more of the mended wall, the house is not clean. ⁴⁵ The person must break the house into pieces. The person who lives in the house must put the stones outside the town. He must put the wood and the clay outside the town. He must put them in the place for things that are not clean.

⁴⁶ A person may go into the house while it is shut up. If he does, he will not become clean until evening. ⁴⁷ Any person who sleeps in a house with mildew must wash his clothes. And any person who eats in a house with mildew must wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ If a person mends his house, the priest must look at it. There may not be any mildew. The priest will then say that it is clean. ⁴⁹ The person must take two birds and some wood from the cedar tree. He must take red wool and hyssop. ⁵⁰ The priest will bring a pot with water in it. He will hold one of the birds over the pot and he will kill it. ⁵¹ The priest will take the other bird and the wood from the cedar tree. He will take the red wool and the hyssop. He will put all of them into the blood of the dead bird. He will shake the blood and water over the house seven times. This will make the house clean. ⁵² The priest will use the birds and the wood from the cedar tree. And he will use the wool and the hyssop to make the house clean. ⁵³ Then the priest will take the living bird outside the town. He will let the bird fly away. That will make atonement for the house. The person may then live in the house again.’

Moses tells the people what these rules are for

⁵⁴ These are the rules for a disease in a person's skin. ⁵⁵ These are the rules for mildew in clothes or in a house. ⁵⁶ These are the rules for a mark on or under the skin. ⁵⁷ These rules decide when a person has a disease. And they decide when he is clean. They show when a house has a disease. They are the rules for diseases in the skin and for mildew.