Leviticus 14:28-57

28 and 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 the great toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put;
29 and 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 the LORD.
30 And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or young pigeons such as he can afford,
31 one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a cereal offering; and the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for him who is being cleansed.
32 This is the law for him in whom is a leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing."
33 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
34 "When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession,
35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, 'There seems to me to be some sort of disease in my house.'
36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house.
37 And he shall examine the disease; and if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface,
38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.
39 And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look; and if the disease has spread in the walls of the house,
40 then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city;
41 and he shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped round about, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour into an unclean place outside the city;
42 then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house.
43 "If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it,
44 then the priest shall go and look; and if the disease has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is unclean.
45 And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city to an unclean place.
46 Moreover he who enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening;
47 and he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 "But if the priest comes and makes an examination, and the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed.
49 And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet stuff and hyssop,
50 and shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water,
51 and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet stuff, along with the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
52 Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet stuff;
53 and he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field; so he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean."
54 This is the law for any leprous disease: for an itch,
55 for leprosy in a garment or in a house,
56 and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot,
57 to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprosy.

Leviticus 14:28-57 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 14

This chapter treats of the purification of lepers, and the rules to be observed therein; and first what the priest was to do for his cleansing when brought to him, by making use of two birds, with cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop, as directed, Le 14:1-7; what he was to do for himself, shaving off all his hair, and washing his flesh and clothes in water, Le 14:8,9; the offerings to be offered up for him, two he lambs and one ewe lamb, and a meat offering, with a particular account of the use of the blood of the trespass offering, and of oil put upon the tip of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, Le 14:10-20; but if poor, only one lamb was required, a meat offering of one tenth deal, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons, and blood and oil used as before, Le 14:21-32; next follow an account of leprosy in an house, and the signs of it, and the rules to judge of it, Le 14:33-48; and the manner of cleansing from it, Le 14:49-53; and the chapter is closed with a recapitulation of the several laws concerning the various sorts of leprosy in this and the preceding chapter, Le 14:54-57.

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.