Leviticus 14:33-15:15

New International Version - UK

Cleansing from defiling moulds

³³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mould in a house in that land, ³⁵ the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, “I have seen something that looks like a defiling mould in my house.” ³⁶ The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mould, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. ³⁷ He is to examine the mould on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, ³⁸ the priest shall go out of the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mould has spread on the walls, ⁴⁰ he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴¹ He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴² Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

⁴³ ‘If the defiling mould reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, ⁴⁴ the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mould has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mould; the house is unclean. ⁴⁵ It must be torn down – its stones, timbers and all the plaster – and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

⁴⁶ ‘Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. ⁴⁷ Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.

⁴⁸ ‘But if the priest comes to examine it and the mould has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the defiling mould is gone. ⁴⁹ To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. ⁵⁰ He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁵¹ Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³ Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.’

⁵⁴ These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore, ⁵⁵ for defiling moulds in fabric or in a house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot, ⁵⁷ to determine when something is clean or unclean.

These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling moulds.

Discharges causing uncleanness

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When any man has an unusual bodily discharge, such a discharge is unclean. ³ Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:

⁴ ‘“Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. ⁵ Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. ⁶ Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁷ ‘“Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁸ ‘“If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, they must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁹ ‘“Everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean, ¹⁰ and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will be unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

¹¹ ‘“Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.

¹² ‘“A clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water.

¹³ ‘“When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with fresh water, and he will be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering^[a] and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.