Leviticus 14

Ceremonial Cleansing Rituals Leviticus 14:9–20

⁹Verse 9. It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water, then he shall be clean. ¹⁰Verse 10. “On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without defect, and one ewe lamb a year old without defect, and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹Verse 11. The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹²Verse 12. “The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ¹³Verse 13. He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. ¹⁴Verse 14. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

¹⁵Verse 15. The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. ¹⁶Verse 16. The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh. ¹⁷Verse 17. The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.

¹⁸Verse 18. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh. ¹⁹Verse 19. “The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; ²⁰Verse 20. and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

Provision for the Poor Leviticus 14:21–32

²¹Verse 21. “If he is poor, and can’t afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil; ²²Verse 22. and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. ²³Verse 23. “On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh.

²⁴Verse 24. The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵Verse 25. He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶Verse 26. The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand; ²⁷Verse 27. and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh.

²⁸Verse 28. Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. ²⁹Verse 29. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh. ³⁰Verse 30. He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he is able to afford,

³¹Verse 31. even such as he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh.” ³²Verse 32. This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.

Laws for Houses with Mildew Leviticus 14:33–48

³³Verse 33. Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ³⁴Verse 34. “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession, ³⁵Verse 35. then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.’ ³⁶Verse 36. The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean. Afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.

³⁷Verse 37. He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall; ³⁸Verse 38. then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days. ³⁹Verse 39. The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house, ⁴⁰Verse 40. then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city:

⁴¹Verse 41. and he shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over, and they shall pour out the mortar, that they scraped off, outside of the city into an unclean place. ⁴²Verse 42. They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. ⁴³Verse 43. “If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house, after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered; ⁴⁴Verse 44. then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean.

⁴⁵Verse 45. He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place. ⁴⁶Verse 46. “Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁷Verse 47. He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes. ⁴⁸Verse 48. “If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

Purification of the House Leviticus 14:49–53

⁴⁹Verse 49. To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. ⁵⁰Verse 50. He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. ⁵¹Verse 51. He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵²Verse 52. He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet; ⁵³Verse 53. but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.”

Summary of Cleansing Laws Leviticus 14:54–57

⁵⁴Verse 54. This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch, ⁵⁵Verse 55. and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house, ⁵⁶Verse 56. and for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot; ⁵⁷Verse 57. to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.