Leviticus 14:2–32

^2*the following regulations about the ritual purification of a person cured of a dreaded skin disease. On the day he is to be pronounced clean, he shall be brought to the priest, ³and the priest shall take him outside the camp and examine him. If the disease is healed, ⁴the priest shall order two ritually clean birds to be brought, together with a piece of cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop. ⁵Then the priest shall order one of the birds to be killed over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water. ⁶He shall take the other bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the red cord, and the hyssop, in the blood of the bird that was killed. ⁷He shall sprinkle the blood seven times on the person who is to be purified from his skin disease, and then he shall pronounce him clean. He shall let the live bird fly away over the open fields. ⁸The person shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and have a bath; he will then be ritually clean. He may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent for seven days. ⁹On the seventh day he shall again shave his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on his body; he shall wash his clothes and have a bath, and then he will be ritually clean.

¹⁰On the eighth day he shall bring two male lambs and one female lamb a year old that are without any defects, three kilogrammes of flour mixed with olive oil, and a third of a litre of olive oil. ¹¹The priest shall take the person and these offerings to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord’s presence. ¹²Then the priest shall take one of the male lambs and together with the one-third of a litre of oil he shall offer it as a repayment offering. He shall present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. ¹³He shall kill the lamb in the place where the animals for the sin offerings and the burnt offerings are killed. He must do this because the repayment offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest and is very holy. ¹⁴The priest shall take some of the blood of the lamb and put it on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one who is to be declared ritually clean. ¹⁵The priest shall take some of the olive oil and pour it in the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶dip a finger of his right hand in it, and sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁷He shall take some of the oil that is in the palm of his hand and some of the blood of the lamb and put them on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one who is to be declared ritually clean. ¹⁸He shall put the rest of the oil that is in the palm of his hand on the person’s head. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification.

¹⁹Then the priest shall offer the sin offering and perform the ritual of purification. After that, he shall kill the animal for the burnt offering ²⁰and offer it with the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification, and the person will be ritually clean.

²¹If he is poor and cannot afford any more, he shall bring for his purification only one male lamb as his repayment offering, a special gift to the Lord for the priest. He shall bring only one kilogramme of flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering and a third of a litre of olive oil. ²²He shall also bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the sin offering and one for the burnt offering. ²³On the eighth day of his purification he shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent. ²⁴The priest shall take the lamb and the olive oil and present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. ²⁵He shall kill the lamb and take some of the blood and put it on the lobe of the person’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand ²⁷and with a finger of his right hand sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord’s presence. ²⁸He shall put some of the oil on the same places as he put the blood: on the lobe of the person’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁹The rest of the oil that is in his palm he shall put on the person’s head and in this way perform the ritual of purification. ³⁰Then he shall offer one of the doves or pigeons ³¹as the sin offering and the other as the burnt offering with the grain offering. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification. ³²This is the law for the one who has a dreaded skin disease but who cannot afford the normal offerings required for his purification.