Purification of Disease-Infected Houses

14:33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan which I am about to give60 to you for a possession, and I put61 a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess,62 14:35 then whoever owns the house63 must come and declare to the priest, ‘Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.’ 14:36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared64 before the priest enters to examine the infection65 so that everything in the house66 does not become unclean,67 and afterward68 the priest will enter to examine the house. 14:37 He is to examine the infection, and if69 the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions,70 and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall,71 14:38 then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days.72 14:39 The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if73 the infection has spread in the walls of the house, 14:40 then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown74 outside the city75 into an unclean place. 14:41 Then he is to have the house scraped76 all around on the inside,77 and the plaster78 which is scraped off79 must be dumped outside the city80 into an unclean place. 14:42 They are then to take other stones and replace those stones,81 and he is to take other plaster and replaster the house.

14:43 “If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has pulled out the stones, scraped the house, and it is replastered,82 14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if83 the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean. 14:45 He must tear down the house,84 its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it85 outside the city to an unclean place. 14:46 Anyone who enters86 the house all the days the priest87 has quarantined it will be unclean until evening. 14:47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash his clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes.

14:48 “If, however, the priest enters88 and examines it, and the89 infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest is to pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed. 14:49 Then he90 is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop91 to decontaminate92 the house, 14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water.93 14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 14:52 So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric, 14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city94 into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.