Rules About Skin Diseases

13 The 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 it. He must burn up the clothes or the woven or knitted cloth that is made out of wool or linen. He must burn up the leather articles. The mold destroys. So everything must be burned up.

53“But suppose the priest looks at the article carefully. The mold has not spread in the clothes. And it has not spread in the woven or knitted cloth or in the leather articles. 54Then he will order someone to wash the article that has the mold on it. After that, the priest must keep the articles away from everything else for another seven days.

55“After the article that has the mold on it has been washed, the priest must look at it carefully. Suppose the way the mold looks has not changed. Then even though the mold has not spread, it is not ‘clean.’ Burn it up. It does not matter which side of the article the mold is on.

56“But suppose the priest looks at it carefully. And suppose the mold has faded after the article has been washed. Then the priest must tear out the part that has mold on it. He must tear it out of the clothes or leather. He must tear it out of the woven or knitted cloth.

57“But suppose it shows up again in the clothes. Or suppose it shows up again in the woven or knitted cloth or in the leather articles. Then it is spreading. Everything that has the mold on it must be burned up.

58“The clothes that have been washed and do not have any more mold on them must be washed again. So must the woven or knitted cloth or the leather articles. Then they will be ‘clean.’ ”

59Those are the rules about what to do with anything that has mold on it. They apply to clothes that are made out of wool or linen. They apply to woven and knitted cloth and to leather articles. They give a priest directions about when to announce whether something is “clean” or not.