Leviticus 12–15

Becoming “Clean” After Having a Baby

12The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²“Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘Suppose a woman becomes pregnant and has a baby boy. Then she will be “unclean” for seven days. It is the same as when she is “unclean” during her monthly period. ³On the eighth day the boy must be circumcised.

⁴“ ‘After that, the woman must wait for 33 days to be made pure from her bleeding. She must not touch anything that is sacred until the 33 days are over. During that time she must not go to the sacred tent.

⁵“ ‘But suppose she has a baby girl. Then she will be “unclean” for two weeks. It is the same as during her period. After the two weeks, she must wait for 66 days to be made pure from her bleeding.

⁶“ ‘After she has waited the required number of days to be made pure, she must bring two offerings. She must take them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. She must bring a lamb that is a year old for a burnt offering. She must also bring a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. ⁷The priest must offer them to the Lord. They will pay for her sin. Then she will be “clean” from her bleeding.

“ ‘Those are the rules for a woman who has a baby boy or girl.

⁸“ ‘But suppose she can’t afford a lamb. Then she must bring two doves or two young pigeons. One is for a burnt offering. The other is for a sin offering. The priest will sacrifice those offerings. That will pay for her sin. And she will be “clean.” ’ ”

Rules About Skin Diseases

13The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He told them to say to the people, ²“Suppose someone’s skin has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot. And suppose it could become a skin disease. Then he must be brought to the priest Aaron. Or he must be brought to a priest who is in Aaron’s family line.

³“The priest must look carefully at the sore on the person’s skin. He must see whether the hair in the sore has turned white. He must also see whether the sore seems to be under the skin. If the sore is white and is under the skin, it is a skin disease. When the priest looks that person over carefully, he must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’

⁴“Suppose the spot on the skin is white but does not seem to be under the skin. And suppose the hair in the spot has not turned white. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for seven days. ⁵On the seventh day the priest must look carefully at the sore again. Suppose it has not changed and has not spread in the skin. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for another seven days. ⁶On the seventh day the priest must look carefully at the sore again. If it has faded and has not spread, he must announce that the person is ‘clean.’ It is only a rash. He must wash his clothes. He will be ‘clean.’

⁷“But suppose the rash spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest a second time. Then he must appear in front of the priest again. ⁸The priest must look carefully at the sore. If the rash has spread, he must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’ He has a skin disease.

⁹“When anyone has a skin disease, he must be brought to the priest. ¹⁰The priest must look him over carefully. Suppose there is a white swelling in the skin. Suppose it has turned the hair white. And suppose there are open sores in the swelling. ¹¹Then the person has a skin disease that will never go away. The priest must announce that he is ‘unclean.’ The priest must not make the person stay away from everyone else. He is already ‘unclean.’

¹²“Suppose the disease breaks out all over his skin. And suppose it covers him from head to foot, as far as the priest can tell. ¹³Then the priest must look him over carefully. If the disease has covered his whole body, the priest must announce that he is ‘clean.’ All of his skin has turned white. So he is ‘clean.’

¹⁴“But when open sores appear on his skin, he will not be ‘clean.’ ¹⁵When the priest sees the open sores, he must announce that he is ‘unclean.’ The open sores are not ‘clean.’ He has a skin disease.

¹⁶“But if the open sores change and turn white, he must go to the priest. ¹⁷The priest must look him over carefully. If the sores have turned white, the priest must announce that the person is ‘clean.’ Then he will be ‘clean.’

¹⁸“Suppose someone has a boil on his skin and it heals. ¹⁹And suppose a white swelling or shiny pink spot appears where the boil was. Then he must show himself to the priest.

²⁰“The priest must look at the boil carefully. Suppose it seems to be under the skin. And suppose the hair in it has turned white. Then the priest must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’ A skin disease has broken out where the boil was.

²¹“But suppose that when the priest looks at the boil carefully, there is no white hair in it. The boil is not under the skin. And it has faded. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for seven days. ²²If the boil is spreading in the skin, the priest must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’ He has a skin disease.

²³“But suppose the spot has not changed. And suppose it has not spread. Then it is only a scar from the boil. And the priest must announce that the person is ‘clean.’

²⁴“Suppose someone has a burn on his skin. And suppose a white or shiny pink spot shows up in the open sores of the burn. ²⁵Then the priest must look at the spot carefully. Suppose the hair in it has turned white. And suppose the spot seems to be under the skin. Then the person has a skin disease. It has broken out where he was burned. The priest must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’ He has a skin disease.

²⁶“But suppose the priest looks at the spot carefully. Suppose there is no white hair in it. Suppose the spot is not under the skin. And suppose it has faded. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for seven days. ²⁷On the seventh day the priest must look him over carefully. If the spot is spreading in the skin, the priest must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’ He has a skin disease.

²⁸“But suppose the spot has not changed. It has not spread in the skin. And it has faded. Then the burn has caused it to swell. The priest must announce that the person is ‘clean.’ It is only a scar from the burn.

²⁹“Suppose a man or woman has a sore on the head or chin. ³⁰Then the priest must look at the sore carefully. Suppose it seems to be under the skin. And suppose the hair in the sore is yellow and thin. Then the priest must announce that the person is ‘unclean.’ The sore is an itch. It is a skin disease on the head or chin.

³¹“But suppose the priest looks carefully at that kind of sore. It does not seem to be under the skin. And there is no black hair in it. Then the priest must make the person stay away from everyone else for seven days.

³²“On the seventh day the priest must look at the sore carefully. Suppose the itch has not spread in the skin. It does not have any yellow hair in it. And it does not seem to be under the skin. ³³Then the person must shave his head. But he must not shave the area where the disease is. And the priest must make him stay away from everyone else for another seven days.

³⁴“On the seventh day the priest must look at the itch carefully. Suppose it has not spread in the skin. And suppose it does not seem to be under the skin. Then the priest must announce that the person is ‘clean.’ He must wash his clothes. He will be ‘clean.’

³⁵“But suppose the itch spreads in the skin after the priest announces that the person is ‘clean.’ ³⁶Then the priest must look him over carefully. Suppose the itch has spread. Then the priest does not have to look for yellow hair. The person is not ‘clean.’

³⁷“But suppose the itch has been stopped and black hair has grown in it, as far as the priest can tell. Then the itch is healed. The person is ‘clean.’ The priest must announce that he is ‘clean.’

³⁸“Suppose a man or woman has white spots on the skin. ³⁹Then the priest must look at them carefully. Suppose he sees that the spots are dull white. Then a harmless rash has broken out on the skin. That person is ‘clean.’

⁴⁰“Suppose a man loses all of the hair on his head. Then he is ‘clean.’ ⁴¹Suppose he loses only the hair on the front of his head. Then he is ‘clean.’

⁴²“But suppose he has a shiny pink sore on his head where his hair was. Then he has a skin disease. It is breaking out on his whole head or on the front of his head.

⁴³“The priest must look him over carefully. Suppose the swollen sore on his head or on the front of it is pink and shiny. And suppose it looks like a skin disease. ⁴⁴Then he has a skin disease. He is not ‘clean.’ The priest must announce that the man is ‘unclean.’ That is because he has a sore on his head.

⁴⁵“Suppose someone has a skin disease that makes him ‘unclean.’ Then he must wear torn clothes. He must let his hair hang loose. He must cover the lower part of his face. He must cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶As long as he has the disease, he remains ‘unclean.’ He must live alone. He must live outside the camp.

Rules About Mold

⁴⁷“Suppose some clothes have mold on them. The clothes could be made out of wool or linen. ⁴⁸Or there could be cloth that is woven or knitted out of linen or wool. There could be pieces of leather. Or there could be articles that are made out of leather. ⁴⁹And suppose the mold that is on the clothes or on the woven or knitted cloth looks green or red. Or suppose the green or red mold is on the pieces of leather or the leather articles. Then it is mold that spreads. It must be shown to the priest.

⁵⁰“The priest must look at it carefully. He must keep the article with the mold on it away from everything else for seven days. ⁵¹On the seventh day he must look at it carefully. Suppose the mold has spread in the clothes or in the woven or knitted cloth. Or suppose it has spread on the pieces of leather or on the leather articles. Then it is mold that destroys. The article is not ‘clean.’

⁵²“The priest must burn up everything that has the mold in…