Leviticus 12:1 – 13:46

Impurity From Childbirth

Leviticus 12

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses and told him ² to tell the Israelites these things:

When a woman produces offspring ^[1] and gives birth to a male, she will become unclean for seven days just as she is unclean during the time of her monthly period. ³ On the eighth day, the foreskin of his flesh ^[2] shall be circumcised. ⁴ She will remain in the process of being purified from her flow of blood for thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing nor enter the sanctuary until her period of purification is complete.

⁵ If she gives birth to a female, she will become unclean for two weeks as she does during her monthly period. She shall remain in the process of being purified from her flow of blood for sixty-six days.

⁶ At the completion of her time of purification for either a son or a daughter, she shall bring a lamb in its first year as a whole burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ He shall present it before the Lord and make atonement for her, so that she may be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman who gives birth to a male or female.

⁸ If, however, she cannot afford a sheep or a goat, she may bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, one as a whole burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, so that she will be clean.

The Diagnosis of Impurity From Skin Diseases

Leviticus 13

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

² When a person has a discoloration or a scab or a shiny patch ^[3] on the skin of his body, ^[4] which may become an outbreak of an impure skin disease ^[5] on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who are priests. ³ The priest shall examine the infection on the skin of his body. If the hair on the infection has turned white and if the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. After the priest has examined it, he shall declare it unclean. ^[6]

⁴ But if there is a white shiny patch on the skin of his body that does not appear to be any deeper than the skin and if its hair has not turned white, the priest shall quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. ⁵ On the seventh day the priest shall examine him, and if, in his judgment, the infection has stayed the same and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days a second time. ⁶ On the seventh day the priest shall examine him a second time. If the infection has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall declare it clean. It is only a scab. After he washes his clothes, he will be clean. ⁷ But if the scab on his skin spreads after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, he shall show himself to the priest once again. ⁸ The priest shall examine him. If the scab has spread on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an impure skin disease.

⁹ When a person has an outbreak of a skin disease, he shall be brought to the priest. ¹⁰ The priest shall examine him. If there is white discoloration in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is a sore of raw flesh in the discoloration, ¹¹ it is a persistent skin disease on his body. The priest shall declare him unclean. He shall not hold him in quarantine, because he is unclean.

¹² But if the disease breaks out all over the skin, so that a diseased condition covers all the skin with the infection, from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see, ¹³ then the priest shall examine him. If the condition covers the whole of his body, he shall declare the infected area clean, since the whole of it has turned white. He is clean. ¹⁴ But as soon as raw flesh reappears on him, he becomes unclean. ¹⁵ The priest shall examine the raw flesh and declare it unclean. The raw flesh is unclean. It is an impure skin disease. ¹⁶ If, however, the raw flesh once again turns white, he shall come to the priest again. ¹⁷ The priest shall examine it. If the infected area has turned white, the priest shall declare the infection clean. He is clean.

¹⁸ When someone’s body has a boil on the skin that has healed, ¹⁹ and a white discoloration or shiny, reddish-white patch develops on the site of the boil, he shall show himself to the priest. ²⁰ The priest shall examine him. If the infection appears deeper than the skin and if its hair has turned white, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. It has broken out in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it and finds that the hair in it is not white, and it is not deeper than the skin, but it has faded, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. ²² If the outbreak spreads on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an infection. ²³ But if the shiny patch remains the same and it does not spread, it is the scar of a boil. The priest shall declare him clean.

²⁴ When someone’s body has a burn on the skin, and the sore from the burn becomes a shiny, reddish-white or white patch, ²⁵ the priest shall examine it. If the hair in the shiny patch has turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is an impure skin disease. It has broken out in the burn. The priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of an impure skin disease. ²⁶ But if the priest examines it and finds that the hair in the shiny patch is not white or it is not deeper than the skin, but it has faded, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the priest shall examine it. If it should spread on the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean. It is an outbreak of a skin disease. ²⁸ But if the patch remains the same, without spreading on the skin, and if it has faded, it is the discoloration from a burn. The priest shall declare him clean, because it is the scar of a burn.

²⁹ When a man or a woman has an outbreak on the head or on the chin, ³⁰ the priest shall examine the outbreak. If it appears deeper than the skin and if the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall declare the person unclean. It is a lesion. ^[7] It is an impure skin disease of the head or the chin. ³¹ If the priest examines the infected area of the sore and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall quarantine the person who has the outbreak of the sore for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest shall examine the infected area. If the lesion has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and if the outbreak appears no deeper than the skin, ³³ the man shall shave himself, without shaving the infected area. The priest shall quarantine the person with the lesion a second time for seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day the priest shall examine the lesion. If the lesion has not spread on the skin and it appears no deeper than the skin, the priest shall declare him clean. After he washes his clothes, he will be clean. ³⁵ If, however, the lesion spreads on the skin after his purification, ³⁶ the priest shall examine it. If the lesion has spread on the skin, the priest does not need to look for the yellow hair. The person is unclean. ³⁷ But, if in the priest’s judgment the lesion has stayed the same and black hair has grown in it, the lesion is healed. That person is clean. The priest shall declare him clean.

³⁸ When a man or a woman has many shiny white patches on the skin of his or her body, ³⁹ the priest shall examine that person. If the patches on the skin of the body are a faded white, it is a rash that has broken out on the skin. That person is clean.

⁴⁰ When a man loses hair from the top of his head, he is bald, but he is clean. ⁴¹ If he loses hair from his forehead, he has a receding hairline, but he is clean. ⁴² But if he has a reddish-white infection on his bald crown or on his bald forehead, it is an impure skin disease that has broken out on his bald head or on his bald forehead. ⁴³ The priest shall examine it. If the discoloration of the infection is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead and it looks like the disease on the skin of the body, ⁴⁴ he has an impure skin disease. He is unclean. The priest shall declare him completely unclean. It is an infection on his head.

⁴⁵ The person with the skin disease who has an infection on him must wear torn clothes and let his hair be disheveled. He must cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” ⁴⁶ For as long as the infection is on him he shall remain unclean. He is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.