Leviticus 13:1–46

SKIN DISEASES

13The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ²“When a person has a swelling,^D scab,^E or spot on the skin of his body, and it may be a serious disease on the skin^a of his body, he is to be brought to the priest Aaron or to one of his sons, the priests. ³The priest will examine the sore^b on the skin of his body. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is in fact a serious skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean. ⁴But if the spot on the skin of his body is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the stricken person for seven days.^{c 5}The priest will then reexamine him on the seventh day. If he sees that the sore remains unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine him for another seven days. ⁶The priest will examine him again on the seventh day. If the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean;^d it is a scab. The person is to wash his clothes and will become clean. ⁷But if the scab spreads further on his skin after he has presented himself to the priest for his cleansing,^e he is to present himself again to the priest. ⁸The priest will examine him, and if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest must pronounce him unclean; he has a serious skin disease.

⁹“When a case of serious skin disease may have developed on a person, he is to be brought to the priest. ¹⁰The priest will examine him. If there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is a patch of raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹it is a chronic serious disease on the skin of his body, and the priest must pronounce him unclean.^f He need not quarantine him, for he is unclean. ¹²But if the skin disease breaks out all over the skin so that it covers all the skin of the stricken person from his head to his feet so far as the priest can see, ¹³the priest will look, and if the skin disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the stricken person clean.^g Since he has turned totally white, he is clean. ¹⁴But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. ¹⁵When the priest examines the raw flesh, he must pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean; this is a serious skin disease. ¹⁶But if the raw flesh changes^A and^B turns white, he is to go to the priest. ¹⁷The priest will examine him, and if the sore has turned white, the priest must pronounce the stricken person clean; he is clean.

¹⁸“When a boil appears on the skin^h of someone’s bodyⁱ and it heals, ¹⁹and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, the person is to present himself to the priest. ²⁰The priest will make an examination, and if the spot seems to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a case of serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil. ²¹But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin but is faded, the priest will quarantine him seven days. ²²If it spreads further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is in fact a disease. ²³But if the spot remains where it is and does not spread, it is only the scar from the boil. The priest is to pronounce him clean.

²⁴“When there is a burn on the skin of one’s body produced by fire, and the patch made raw by the burn becomes reddish-white or white, ²⁵the priest is to examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a serious skin disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a serious skin disease. ²⁶But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in the spot and it is not beneath the skin but is faded, the priest will quarantine him seven days. ²⁷The priest will reexamine him on the seventh day. If it has spread further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is in fact a case of serious skin disease. ²⁸But if the spot has remained where it was and has not spread on the skin but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn. The priest is to pronounce him clean, for it is only the scar from the burn.

²⁹“When a man or woman has a condition on the head or chin, ³⁰the priest is to examine the condition. If it appears to be deeper than the skin,^j and the hair in it is yellow and sparse, the priest must pronounce the person unclean. It is a scaly outbreak, a serious skin disease of the head or chin. ³¹When the priest examines the scaly condition, if it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest will quarantine the person with the scaly condition for seven days. ³²The priest will reexamine the condition on the seventh day. If the scaly outbreak has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ³³the person is to shave himself^a but not shave the scaly area. Then the priest will quarantine the person who has the scaly outbreak for another seven days. ³⁴The priest will examine the scaly outbreak on the seventh day, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce the person clean. He is to wash his clothes, and he will be clean. ³⁵But if the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶the priest is to examine the person. If the scaly outbreak has spread on the skin, the priest does not need to look for yellow hair; the person is unclean. ³⁷But if as far as he can see, the scaly outbreak remains unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed; he is clean. The priest is to pronounce the person clean.

³⁸“When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin of the body, ³⁹the priest is to make an examination. If the spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is only a rash^A that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean.

⁴⁰“If a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald,^b but he is clean. ⁴¹Or if he loses the hair at his hairline, he is bald on his forehead, but he is clean. ⁴²But if there is a reddish-white condition on the bald head or forehead, it is a serious skin disease breaking out on his head or forehead.^{c 43}The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the condition on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white, like the appearance of a serious skin disease on his body, ⁴⁴the man is afflicted with a serious skin disease;^d he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; the infection is on his head.

⁴⁵“The person who has a case of serious skin disease is to have his clothes torn^e and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth^f and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ ⁴⁶He will remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.^g