Leviticus 14:28-57

28 He will put some of the oil that is in his palm on the same places he put the blood of the Compensation-Offering, 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.
29 The priest will take what is left of the oil in his palm and put it on the head of the one to be cleansed, making atonement for him before God.
30 "At the last, he will sacrifice the doves or pigeons which are within his means,
31 one as an Absolution-Offering and the other as a Whole-Burnt-Offering along with the Grain-Offering. Following this procedure the priest will make atonement for the one to be cleansed before God."
32 These are the instructions to be followed for anyone who has a serious skin disease and cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.
33 God spoke to Moses and Aaron,
34 "When you enter the land of Canaan, which I'm giving to you as a possession, and I put a serious fungus in a house in the land of your possession,
35 the householder is to go and tell the priest, 'I have some kind of fungus in my house.'
36 The priest is to order the house vacated until he can come to examine the fungus, so that nothing in the house is declared unclean.
37 When the priest comes and examines the house, if the fungus on the walls of the house has greenish or rusty swelling that appears to go deeper than the surface of the wall,
38 the priest is to walk out the door and shut the house up for seven days.
39 On the seventh day he is to come back and conduct another examination; if the fungus has spread in the walls of the house,
40 he is to order that the stones affected by the fungus be torn out and thrown in a garbage dump outside the city.
41 He is to make sure the entire inside of the house is scraped and the plaster that is removed be taken away to the garbage dump outside the city.
42 Then he is to replace the stones and replaster the house.
43 "If the fungus breaks out again in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and plastered,
44 the priest is to come and conduct an examination; if the fungus has spread, it is a malignant fungus. The house is unclean.
45 The house has to be demolished - its stones, wood, and plaster are to be removed to the garbage dump outside the city.
46 Anyone who enters the house while it is closed up is unclean until evening.
47 Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash his clothes.
48 "But if when the priest comes and conducts his examination, he finds that the fungus has not spread after the house has been replastered, the priest is to declare that the house is clean; the fungus is cured.
49 He then is to purify the house by taking two birds, some cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop.
50 He will slaughter one bird over fresh water in a clay pot.
51 Then he will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet thread, and the living bird, dip them in the blood of the killed bird and the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times,
52 cleansing the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet thread.
53 Last of all, he will let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field. He has made atonement for the house; the house is clean.
54 "These are the procedures to be followed for every kind of serious skin disease or itch,
55 for mildew or fungus on clothing or in a house,
56 and for a swelling or blister or shiny spot
57 in order to determine when it is unclean and when it is clean. These are the procedures regarding infectious skin diseases and mildew and fungus."

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.

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.