The Living Bible (38 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
And the Lord gave Moses these regulations concerning a person whose leprosy disappears:
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“The priest shall go out of the camp to examine him. If the priest sees that the leprosy is gone,
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he shall require two living birds of a kind permitted for food, and shall take some cedar wood, a scarlet string, and some hyssop branches, to be used for the purification ceremony of the one who is healed.
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The priest shall then order one of the birds killed in an earthenware pot held above running water.
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The other bird, still living, shall be dipped in the blood, along with the cedar wood, the scarlet thread, and the hyssop branch.
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Then the priest shall sprinkle the blood seven times upon the man cured of his leprosy, and the priest shall pronounce him cured, and shall let the living bird fly into the open field.
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“Then the man who is cured shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe himself, and return to live inside the camp; however, he must stay outside his tent for seven days.
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The seventh day he shall again shave all the hair from his head, beard, and eyebrows, and wash his clothes and bathe, and shall then be declared fully cured of his leprosy.
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“The next day, the eighth day, he shall take two male lambs without physical defect, one yearling ewe-lamb without physical defect, ten quarts of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, and a pint of olive oil;
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then the priest who examines him shall place the man and his offerings before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
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The priest shall take one of the lambs and the pint of olive oil and offer them to the Lord as a guilt offering by the gesture of waving them before the altar.
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Then he shall kill the lamb at the place where sin offerings and burnt offerings are killed, there at the Tabernacle; this guilt offering shall then be given to the priest for food, as in the case of a sin offering. It is a most holy offering.
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The priest shall take the blood from this guilt offering and smear some of it upon the tip of the right ear of the man being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot.
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“Then the priest shall take the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his left hand,
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and dip his right finger into it, and sprinkle it with his finger seven times before the Lord.
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Some of the oil remaining in his left hand shall then be placed by the priest upon the tip of the man’s right ear and the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot—just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering.
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The remainder of the oil in his hand shall be used to anoint the man’s head. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.
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“Then the priest must offer the sin offering and again
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perform the rite of atonement for the person being cleansed from his leprosy; and afterwards the priest shall kill the burnt offering,
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and offer it along with the grain offering upon the altar, making atonement for the man, who shall then be pronounced finally cleansed.
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“If he is so poor that he cannot afford two lambs, then he shall bring only one, a male lamb for the guilt offering, to be presented to the Lord in the rite of atonement by waving it before the altar; and only three quarts of fine white flour, mixed with olive oil, for a grain offering, and a pint of olive oil.
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“He shall also bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—whichever he is able to afford—and use one of the pair for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
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He shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle on the eighth day, for his ceremony of cleansing before the Lord.
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The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, and the pint of oil, and wave them before the altar as a gesture of offering to the Lord.
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Then he shall kill the lamb for the guilt offering and smear some of its blood upon the tip of the man’s right ear—the man on whose behalf the ceremony is being performed—and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the big toe of his right foot.
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“The priest shall then pour the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand,
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and with his right finger he is to sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord.
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Then he must put some of the olive oil from his hand upon the tip of the man’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot, just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering.
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The remaining oil in his hand shall be placed upon the head of the man being cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.
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“Then he must offer the two turtledoves or two young pigeons (whichever pair he is able to afford).
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One of the pair is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be sacrificed along with the grain offering; and the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord.”
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These, then, are the laws concerning those who are cleansed of leprosy but are not able to bring the sacrifices normally required for the ceremony of cleansing.
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Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When you arrive in the land of Canaan which I have given you, and I place leprosy in some house there,
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then the owner of the house shall come and report to the priest, ‘It seems to me that there may be leprosy in my house!’
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“The priest shall order the house to be emptied before he examines it, so that everything in the house will not be declared contaminated if he decides that there is leprosy there.
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If he finds greenish or reddish streaks in the walls of the house which seem to be beneath the surface of the wall,
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he shall close up the house for seven days,
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and return the seventh day to look at it again. If the spots have spread in the wall,
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then the priest shall order the removal of the spotted section of wall, and the material must be thrown into a defiled place outside the city.
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Then he shall order the inside walls of the house scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in a defiled place outside the city.
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Other stones shall be brought to replace those that have been removed, new mortar used, and the house replastered.
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“But if the spots appear again,
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the priest shall come again and look, and if he sees that the spots have spread, it is leprosy, and the house is defiled.
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Then he shall order the destruction of the house—all its stones, timbers, and mortar shall be carried out of the city to a defiled place.
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Anyone entering the house while it is closed shall be defiled until evening.
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Anyone who lies down or eats in the house shall wash his clothing.
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“But if, when the priest comes again to look, the spots have not reappeared after the fresh plastering, then he will pronounce the house cleansed and declare the leprosy gone.
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He shall also perform the ceremony of cleansing, using two birds, cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop branches.
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He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in an earthenware bowl,
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and dip the cedar wood, hyssop branch, and scarlet thread, as well as the living bird, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water, and shall sprinkle the house seven times. In this way the house shall be cleansed.
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Then he shall let the live bird fly away into an open field outside the city. This is the method for making atonement for the house and cleansing it.”
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These, then, are the laws concerning the various places where leprosy may appear:
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in a garment or in a house,
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or in any swelling in one’s skin, or a scab from a burn, or a bright spot.
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In this way you will know whether or not it is actually leprosy. That is why these laws are given.
The Lord told Moses and Aaron to give the people of Israel these further instructions:
“Any man who has a genital discharge
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is ceremonially defiled.
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This applies not only while the discharge is active, but also for a time after it heals.
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Any bed he lies on and anything he sits on is contaminated:
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so anyone touching the man’s bed is ceremonially defiled until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.
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Anyone sitting on a seat the man has sat upon while defiled is himself ceremonially impure until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.
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The same instructions apply to anyone touching him.
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Anyone he spits on is ceremonially impure until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.
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Any saddle he rides on is defiled.
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Anyone touching or carrying anything else that was beneath him shall be defiled until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.
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If the defiled man touches anyone without first rinsing his hands, that person must wash his clothes and bathe himself and be defiled until evening.
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Any earthen pot touched by the defiled man must be broken, and every wooden utensil must be rinsed in water.
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“When the discharge stops, he shall begin a seven-day cleansing ceremony by washing his clothes and bathing in running water.
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On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and give them to the priest.
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The priest shall sacrifice them there, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; thus the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.
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“Whenever a man’s semen goes out from him, he shall take a complete bath and be ceremonially impure until the evening.
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Any clothing or bedding the semen spills on must be washed and remain ceremonially defiled until evening.
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After sexual intercourse, the woman as well as the man must bathe, and they are ceremonially defiled until the next evening.
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“Whenever a woman menstruates, she shall be in a state of ceremonial defilement for seven days afterwards, and during that time anyone touching her shall be defiled until evening.
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Anything she lies on or sits on during that time shall be defiled.
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Anyone touching her bed or anything she sits upon shall wash his clothes and bathe himself and be ceremonially defiled until evening.
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A man having sexual intercourse with her during this time is ceremonially defiled for seven days, and every bed he lies upon shall be defiled.
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“If the menstrual flow continues after the normal time, or at some irregular time during the month, the same rules apply as indicated above,
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so that anything she lies upon during that time is defiled, just as it would be during her normal menstrual period, and everything she sits on is in a similar state of defilement.
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Anyone touching her bed or anything she sits on shall be defiled, and shall wash his clothes and bathe and be defiled until evening.
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Seven days after the menstruating stops, she is no longer ceremonially defiled.
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“On the eighth day, she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle,
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and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for her before the Lord for her menstrual defilement.
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In this way you shall cleanse the people of Israel from their defilement, lest they die because of defiling my Tabernacle that is among them.”
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This, then, is the law for the man who is defiled by a genital disease
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or by a seminal emission;
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and for a woman’s menstrual period; and for anyone who has sexual intercourse with her while she is in her period of defilement afterwards.