English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
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God spoke to Moses and Aaron,
2 "When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests,
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"When someone has a swelling or a blister or a shiny spot on the skin that might signal a serious skin disease on the body, bring him to Aaron the priest or to one of his priest sons.
3 and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.
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The priest will examine the sore on the skin. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears more than skin deep, it is a serious skin disease and infectious. After the priest has examined it, he will pronounce the person unclean.
4 But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days.
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"If the shiny spot on the skin is white but appears to be only on the surface and the hair has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days.
5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days.
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On the seventh day the priest will examine it again; if, in his judgment, the sore is the same and has not spread, the priest will keep him in quarantine for another seven days.
6 And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
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On the seventh day the priest will examine him a second time; if the sore has faded and hasn't spread, the priest will declare him clean - it is a harmless rash. The person can go home and wash his clothes; he is clean.
7 But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest.
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But if the sore spreads after he has shown himself to the priest and been declared clean, he must come back again to the priest
8 And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.
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who will conduct another examination. If the sore has spread, the priest will pronounce him unclean - it is a serious skin disease and infectious.
9 "When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest,
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"Whenever someone has a serious and infectious skin disease, you must bring him to the priest.
10 and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling,
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The priest will examine him; if there is a white swelling in the skin, the hair is turning white, and there is an open sore in the swelling,
11 it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean.
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it is a chronic skin disease. The priest will pronounce him unclean. But he doesn't need to quarantine him because he's already given his diagnosis of unclean.
12 And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see,
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If a serious disease breaks out that covers all the skin from head to foot, wherever the priest looks,
13 then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean.
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the priest will make a thorough examination; if the disease covers his entire body, he will pronounce the person with the sore clean - since it has turned all white, he is clean.
14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean.
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But if they are open, running sores, he is unclean.
15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease.
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The priest will examine the open sores and pronounce him unclean. The open sores are unclean; they are evidence of a serious skin disease.
16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest,
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But if the open sores dry up and turn white, he is to come back to the priest
17 and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.
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who will reexamine him; if the sores have turned white, the priest will pronounce the person with the sores clean. He is clean.
18 "If there is in the skin of one's body a boil and it heals,
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"When a person has a boil and it heals
19 and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest.
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and in place of the boil there is white swelling or a reddish-white shiny spot, the person must present himself to the priest
20 And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil.
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for an examination. If it looks like it has penetrated the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest will pronounce him unclean. It is a serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil.
21 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days.
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But if the examination shows that there is no white hair in it and it is only skin deep and has faded, the priest will put him in quarantine for seven days.
22 And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease.
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If it then spreads over the skin, the priest will diagnose him as unclean. It is infectious.
23 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
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But if the shiny spot has not changed and hasn't spread, it's only a scar from the boil. The priest will pronounce him clean.
24 "Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white,
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"When a person has a burn on his skin and the raw flesh turns into a reddish-white or white shiny spot,
25 the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease.
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the priest is to examine it. If the hair has turned white in the shiny spot and it looks like it's more than skin deep, a serious skin disease has erupted in the area of the burn. The priest will pronounce him unclean; it is a serious skin disease and infectious.
26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days,
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But if on examination there is no white hair in the shiny spot and it doesn't look to be more than skin deep but has faded, the priest will put him in quarantine for seven days.
27 and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease.
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On the seventh day the priest will reexamine him. If by then it has spread over the skin, the priest will diagnose him as unclean; it is a serious skin disease and infectious.
28 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.
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If by that time the shiny spot has stayed the same and has not spread but has faded, it is only a swelling from the burn. The priest will pronounce him clean; it's only a scar from the burn.
29 "When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard,
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"If a man or woman develops a sore on the head or chin,
30 the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard.
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the priest will offer a diagnosis. If it looks as if it is under the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, he will pronounce the person ritually unclean. It is an itch, an infectious skin disease.
31 And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days,
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But if when he examines the itch, he finds it is only skin deep and there is no black hair in it, he will put the person in quarantine for seven days.
32 and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin,
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On the seventh day he will reexamine the sore; if the itch has not spread, there is no yellow hair in it, and it looks as if the itch is only skin deep,
33 then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days.
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the person must shave, except for the itch; the priest will send him back to quarantine for another seven days.
34 And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
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If the itch has not spread, and looks to be only skin deep, the priest will pronounce him clean. The person can go home and wash his clothes; he is clean.
35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing,
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But if the itch spreads after being pronounced clean,
36 then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean.
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the priest must reexamine it; if the itch has spread in the skin, he doesn't have to look any farther, for yellow hair, for instance; he is unclean.
37 But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
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But if he sees that the itch is unchanged and black hair has begun to grow in it, the itch is healed. The person is clean and the priest will pronounce him clean.
38 "When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots,
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"When a man or woman gets shiny or white shiny spots on the skin,
39 the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.
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the priest is to make an examination; if the shiny spots are dull white, it is only a rash that has broken out: The person is clean.
40 "If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean.
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"When a man loses his hair and goes bald, he is clean.
41 And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean.
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If he loses his hair from his forehead, he is bald and he is clean.
42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead.
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But if he has a reddish-white sore on scalp or forehead, it means a serious skin disease is breaking out.
43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body,
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The priest is to examine it; if the swollen sore on his scalp or forehead is reddish-white like the appearance of the sore of a serious skin disease,
44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
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he has a serious skin disease and is unclean. The priest has to pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.
45 "The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.'
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"Any person with a serious skin disease must wear torn clothes, leave his hair loose and unbrushed, cover his upper lip, and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!'
46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
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As long as anyone has the sores, that one continues to be ritually unclean. That person must live alone; he or she must live outside the camp.
47 "When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment,
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"If clothing - woolen or linen clothing,
48 in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin,
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woven or knitted cloth of linen or wool, leather or leatherwork - is infected with a patch of serious fungus
49 if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest.
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and if the spot in the clothing or the leather or the woven or the knitted material or anything made of leather is greenish or rusty, that is a sign of serious fungus. Show it to the priest.
50 And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days.
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The priest will examine the spot and then confiscate the material for seven days.
51 Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent leprous disease; it is unclean.
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On the seventh day he will reexamine the spot. If it has spread in the garment - the woven or knitted or leather material - it is the spot of a persistent serious fungus and the material is unclean.
52 And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.
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He must burn the garment. Because of the persistent and contaminating fungus, the material must be burned.
53 "And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin,
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But if when the priest examines it the spot has not spread in the garment,
54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days.
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the priest will command the owner to wash the material that has the spot, and he will confiscate it for another seven days.
55 And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front.
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He'll then make another examination after it has been washed; if the spot hasn't changed in appearance, even though it hasn't spread, it is still unclean. Burn it up, whether the fungus has affected the back or the front.
56 "But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof.
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If, when the priest makes his examination, the spot has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear the spot from the garment.
57 Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease.
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But if it reappears, it is a fresh outbreak - throw whatever has the spot in the fire.
58 But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean."
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If the garment is washed and the spot has gone away, then wash it a second time; it is clean.
59 This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.
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"These are the instructions regarding a spot of serious fungus in clothing of wool or linen, woven or knitted material, or any article of leather, for pronouncing them clean or unclean."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.