Leviticus 14:43-53

43 But if after that the stones be taken away, and the dust is borne out, and [with] other earth (it) is daubed (and it is daubed with other mortar),
44 the priest entereth, and seeth the leprosy turned again, and the walls sprinkled with spots, the leprosy is then steadfastly dwelling, and the house is unclean; (the priest entereth, and seeth that the leprosy hath returned, and that the walls be sprinkled with spots, then the leprosy is steadfastly dwelling, and the house is unclean;)
45 which house they shall destroy anon, and they shall cast out of the city, into an unclean place, the stones thereof, and the wood, and all the dust. (which house they shall destroy at once, and its stones, and its wood, and all of its dust, they shall throw into an unclean place outside the city.)
46 He that entereth into the house, when it is shut (up), shall be unclean till to eventide,
47 and he that sleepeth [in it,] and eateth anything therein, he shall wash his clothes.
48 That if the priest entereth, and seeth that the leprosy increased not in the house, after that it was daubed the second time, the priest shall cleanse it; for health is yielded [again] thereto. (But if the priest entereth, and seeth that the leprosy hath not grown again, or not spread, in the house, after that it was daubed the second time, the priest shall pronounce it to be clean; for health hath been restored to it, that is, the plague hath been cured.)
49 And to the cleansing thereof (And for its cleansing), the priest shall take two sparrows, and cedar wood, and vermilion, that is, a red thread, and hyssop.
50 And when one sparrow is offered in a vessel of earth, on quick waters, (And when one sparrow is offered in an earthen, or a clay, vessel, filled with fresh water,)
51 the priest shall take the cedar wood, and hyssop, and the red thread, and the quick sparrow, and he shall dip, or wet, all these things in the blood of the sparrow offered, or slain, and in the quick waters; and he shall sprinkle the house seven times; (the priest shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the red thread, and the living sparrow, and he shall dip all these things in the blood of the slain sparrow, and in the fresh water; and he shall sprinkle the house seven times;)
52 and he shall cleanse it as well in the blood of the sparrow, as in the living waters, and in the quick sparrow, and in the cedar wood, and in the hyssop, and (the) red thread. (and so he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the sparrow, and the fresh water, and the living sparrow, and the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the red thread.)
53 And when he hath let go the sparrow to fly away into the field freely, he shall pray for the house, and it shall be cleansed rightfully. (And when he hath let the sparrow go, to fly away freely into the field, he shall pray for the house, and so by this rite it shall be made clean.)

Leviticus 14:43-53 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.