Leviticus 14:1-32

Cleansing Skin Diseases

1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
2 "This is the law concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing. He is to be brought to the priest,
3 who will go outside the camp and examine [him].[a] If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,[b]
4 the priest will order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop[c] be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.
5 Then the priest will order that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot.
6 He is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them all into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.
7 He will then sprinkle [the blood] seven times on the one who is to be cleansed from the skin disease. He is to pronounce him clean and release the live bird over the open countryside.[d]
8 The one who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; he is clean. Afterwards he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.
9 He is to shave off all his hair [again] on the seventh day: his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair.[e] He is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; he is clean.
10 "On the eighth day he must take two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished year-old ewe lamb, a grain offering of three quarts[f] of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one-third of a quart[g] of olive oil.
11 The priest who performs the cleansing will place the person who is to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
12 The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a restitution offering, along with the one-third quart[h] of olive oil, and he must wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.
13 He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered,[i] for like the sin offering, the restitution offering belongs to the priest;[j] it is especially holy.
14 The priest is to take some of the blood from the restitution offering and put [it] on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.[k]
15 Then the priest will take some of the one-third of a quart[l] of olive oil and pour it into his left palm.
16 The priest will dip his right finger into the oil in his left palm and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.
17 From the oil remaining in his palm the priest will put some on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the restitution offering.[m]
18 What is left of the oil in the priest's palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord.
19 The priest must sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be purified from his uncleanness. Afterwards he will slaughter the burnt offering.
20 The priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. The priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean.[n]
21 "But if he is poor and cannot afford [these],[o] [p] he is to take one male lamb for a restitution offering to be waved in order to make atonement for him, along with two quarts[q]/ 10 of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering,[r] one-third of a quart[s] of olive oil,
22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford,[t] one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.[u]
23 On the eighth day he is to bring these things for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord.[v]
24 The priest will take the male lamb for the restitution offering and the one-third of a quart[w] of olive oil, and wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord.[x]
25 After he slaughters the male lamb for the restitution offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the restitution offering and put [it] on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
26 Then the priest will pour some of the oil into his left palm.
27 With his right finger the priest will sprinkle some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the Lord.
28 The priest will also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the [same] place as the blood of the restitution offering.[y]
29 What is left of the oil in the priest's palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord.[z]
30 He must then sacrifice one type of what he can afford,[aa] either the turtledoves or young pigeons,
31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, [sacrificing] what he can afford[ab] [ac] together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord for the one to be cleansed.[ad]
32 This is the law for someone who has[ae] a skin disease and cannot afford[af] the cost of his cleansing."

Leviticus 14:1-32 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.

Footnotes 32

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