Leviticus 23

Leviticus 23

The Appointed Festivals

1 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.

³ “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

⁴ “In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

⁵ “The Lord’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.^[a] 6 On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly. ⁸ For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly.”

Celebration of First Harvest

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. ¹¹ On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. ¹² On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts^[b] of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart^[c] of wine as a liquid offering. ¹⁴ Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

The Festival of Harvest

¹⁵ “From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off seven full weeks. ¹⁶ Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the Lord from the first of your crops. ¹⁸ Along with the bread, present seven one-year-old male lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a peace offering.

²⁰ “The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests. ²¹ That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.^[d]

²² “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Festival of Trumpets

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[e] you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. ²⁵ You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.^[f] You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves^[g] and present special gifts to the Lord. ²⁸ Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with^[h] the Lord your God. ²⁹ All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. ³⁰ And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. ³¹ You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. ³² This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”

The Festival of Shelters

³³ And the Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters^[i] on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement.^[j] This festival to the Lord will last for seven days. ³⁵ On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work. ³⁶ For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day.

³⁷ (“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day. ³⁸ These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the Lord.)

³⁹ “Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month,^[k] after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees^[l]—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month^[m] from generation to generation. ⁴² For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. ⁴³ This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the Lord.

Leviticus 22

Leviticus 22

1 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful with the sacred gifts that the Israelites set apart for me, so they do not bring shame on my holy name. I am the Lord. ³ Give them the following instructions.

“In all future generations, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean when he approaches the sacred offerings that the people of Israel consecrate to the Lord, he must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

⁴ “If any of Aaron’s descendants has a skin disease^[a] or any kind of discharge that makes him ceremonially unclean, he may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has been pronounced clean. He also becomes unclean by touching a corpse, or by having an emission of semen,⁵ or by touching a small animal that is unclean, or by touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason. ⁶ The man who is defiled in any of these ways will remain unclean until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has bathed himself in water.⁷ When the sun goes down, he will be ceremonially clean again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food. ⁸ He may not eat an animal that has died a natural death or has been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile him. I am the Lord.

⁹ “The priests must follow my instructions carefully. Otherwise they will be punished for their sin and will die for violating my instructions. I am the Lord who makes them holy.

¹⁰ “No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings. Even guests and hired workers in a priest’s home are not allowed to eat them. ¹¹ However, if the priest buys a slave for himself, the slave may eat from the sacred offerings. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter marries someone outside the priestly family, she may no longer eat the sacred offerings. ¹³ But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father’s home as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food again. Otherwise, no one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings.

¹⁴ “Any such person who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an additional 20 percent. ¹⁵ The priests must not let the Israelites defile the sacred offerings brought to the Lord ¹⁶ by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. This would bring guilt upon them and require them to pay compensation. I am the Lordwho makes them holy.”

Worthy and Unworthy Offerings

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

“If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, ¹⁹ you^[b] will be accepted only if your offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male goat. ²⁰ Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf.

²¹ “If you present a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind. ²² You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or that has a wart, a skin sore, or scabs. Such animals must never be offered on the altar as special gifts to the Lord. ²³ If a bull^[c] or lamb has a leg that is too long or too short, it may be offered as a voluntary offering, but it may not be offered to fulfill a vow. ²⁴ If an animal has damaged testicles or is castrated, you may not offer it to the Lord. You must never do this in your own land, ²⁵ and you must not accept such an animal from foreigners and then offer it as a sacrifice to your God. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, for they are mutilated or defective.”

²⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸ But you must not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring on the same day, whether from the herd or the flock. ²⁹ When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, sacrifice it properly so you will be accepted. ³⁰ Eat the entire sacrificial animal on the day it is presented. Do not leave any of it until the next morning. I am the Lord.

³¹ “You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord.³² Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who makes you holy. ³³ It was I who rescued you from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the Lord.”

Bible Sabbath Fellowship Friday February 9th, 2018 @ 10pm est

Host Paul Nison and 9 other guest fellowship and discuss Torah related topics.

If you would like to be on the panel email me at the website http://www.TorahLifeMinistries.org contact tab.

Join me for my next raw food health retreat at this link
http://healthwatchman.com/florida-raw-retreat/

The Torah Portion for this week
Torah Portion #18 Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18)
https://youtu.be/lxRWCtiElc4

Leviticus 20

Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18

Forbidden Sexual Practices

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. ³ So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. ⁴ You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.⁵ If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

⁶ “You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord.

⁷ “Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

⁸ “Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.

⁹ “Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.

¹⁰ “Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself.

¹¹ “Do not have sexual relations with your stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s wives, for she is your sister.

¹² “Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s close relative.

¹³ “Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.

¹⁴ “Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt.

¹⁵ “Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

¹⁶ “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.

¹⁷ “Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take^[a] her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act.

¹⁸ “While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.

¹⁹ “Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity.

²⁰ “Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.

²¹ “Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²² “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

²³ “A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.

²⁴ “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. ²⁵ Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. ²⁶ You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

²⁷ “All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled. ²⁸ So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now. ²⁹ Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel. ³⁰ So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 17

Leviticus 17

Prohibitions against Eating Blood

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel. This is what the Lord has commanded.

³ “If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull^[a] or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp ⁴ instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle^[b] to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer.^[c] Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. ⁵ The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings.⁶ Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord’s altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols.^[d] This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

⁸ “Give them this command as well. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹ but does not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from the community.

¹⁰ “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people, ¹¹ for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord.^[e] It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible. ¹² That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood—neither you nor the foreigners living among you.’

¹³ “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴ The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.

¹⁵ “And if any native-born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or was torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially unclean until evening, but then they will be clean. ¹⁶ But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be punished for their sin.”

Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16  The Day of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

³ “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. ⁵ Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.^[a] 7 Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[b] 8 He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. ⁹ Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. ¹⁰ The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.^[c]

¹¹ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, ¹² he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain. ¹³ There in the Lord’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.^[d] If he follows these instructions, he will not die. ¹⁴ Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood. ¹⁶ Through this process, he will purify^[e] the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites. ¹⁷ No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the Lord.

¹⁸ “Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the Lord. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.

²⁰ “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. ²¹ He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. ²² As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

²³ “When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there.²⁴ Then he must bathe himself with water in a sacred place, put on his regular garments, and go out to sacrifice a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people. Through this process, he will purify himself and the people, making them right with the Lord. ²⁵ He must then burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man chosen to drive the scapegoat into the wilderness of Azazel must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he may return to the camp.

²⁷ “The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.

²⁹ “On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[f] you must deny yourselves.^[g]Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you. ³⁰ On that day offerings of purification will be made for you,^[h] and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins. ³¹ It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. ³² In future generations, the purification^[i] ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments ³³ and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. ³⁴ This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.”

Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the Lord had commanded him.

Bible Sabbath Fellowship Friday February 2nd, 2018 @ 10pm est

Host Paul Nison and 9 other guest fellowship and discuss Torah related topics.

If you would like to be on the panel email me at the website http://www.TorahLifeMinistries.org contact tab.

The Torah Portion for this week
Torah Portion # 17 Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:26)
https://youtu.be/tDlouWQfP-o

Leviticus 14

Leviticus 14 

Cleansing From Defiling Skin Diseases

1 The Lord said to Moses, ² “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: ³ The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease,^[a]4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. ⁵ Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁶ He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. ⁷ Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.

⁸ “The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe with water; then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day they must shave off all their hair; they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah^[b] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log^[c] of oil. ¹¹ The priest who pronounces them clean shall presentboth the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

¹² “Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. ¹³ He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering^[d] and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. ¹⁴ The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. ¹⁵ The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶ dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lordseven times. ¹⁷ The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸ The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for them before the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering ²⁰ and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them, and they will be clean.

²¹ “If, however, they are poor and cannot afford these, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah^[e] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, ²² and two doves or two young pigeons, such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

²³ “On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. ²⁴ The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering,together with the log of oil, and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. ²⁵ He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. ²⁶ The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand,²⁷ and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. ²⁹ The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord.³⁰ Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford,³¹ one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.”

³² These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease and who cannot afford the regular offerings for their cleansing.

Cleansing From Defiling Molds

³³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, ³⁵ the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ ³⁶ The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. ³⁷ He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall,³⁸ the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls,⁴⁰ he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴¹ He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴² Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

⁴³ “If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, ⁴⁴ the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean. ⁴⁵ It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

⁴⁶ “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening.⁴⁷ Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the defiling mold is gone. ⁴⁹ To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. ⁵⁰ He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁵¹ Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn.⁵³ Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁴ These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore, ⁵⁵ for defiling molds in fabric or in a house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot, ⁵⁷ to determine when something is clean or unclean.

These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.

Leviticus 13

Leviticus 13 

Serious Skin Diseases

1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “If anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin that might develop into a serious skin disease,^[a] that person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons.^[b] 3 The priest will examine the affected area of the skin. If the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, it is a serious skin disease, and the priest who examines it must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean.

⁴ “But if the affected area of the skin is only a white discoloration and does not appear to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair on the spot has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days. ⁵ On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has not changed and the problem has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine the person for seven more days. ⁶ On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has faded and has not spread, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. It was only a rash. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean. ⁷ But if the rash continues to spread after the person has been examined by the priest and has been pronounced clean, the infected person must return to be examined again. ⁸ If the priest finds that the rash has spread, he must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is indeed a skin disease.

⁹ “Anyone who develops a serious skin disease must go to the priest for an examination. ¹⁰ If the priest finds a white swelling on the skin, and some hair on the spot has turned white, and there is an open sore in the affected area, ¹¹ it is a chronic skin disease, and the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. In such cases the person need not be quarantined, for it is obvious that the skin is defiled by the disease.

¹² “Now suppose the disease has spread all over the person’s skin, covering the body from head to foot. ¹³ When the priest examines the infected person and finds that the disease covers the entire body, he will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. Since the skin has turned completely white, the person is clean. ¹⁴ But if any open sores appear, the infected person will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. ¹⁵ The priest must make this pronouncement as soon as he sees an open sore, since open sores indicate the presence of a skin disease. ¹⁶ However, if the open sores heal and turn white like the rest of the skin, the person must return to the priest ¹⁷ for another examination. If the affected areas have indeed turned white, the priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean by declaring, ‘You are clean!’

¹⁸ “If anyone has a boil on the skin that has started to heal, ¹⁹ but a white swelling or a reddish white spot develops in its place, that person must go to the priest to be examined.²⁰ If the priest examines it and finds it to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair in the affected area has turned white, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. The boil has become a serious skin disease. ²¹ But if the priest finds no white hair on the affected area and the problem appears to be no more than skin-deep and has faded, the priest must quarantine the person for seven days. ²² If during that time the affected area spreads on the skin, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, because it is a serious disease. ²³ But if the area grows no larger and does not spread, it is merely the scar from the boil, and the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean.

²⁴ “If anyone has suffered a burn on the skin and the burned area changes color, becoming either reddish white or shiny white, ²⁵ the priest must examine it. If he finds that the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, a skin disease has broken out in the burn. The priest must then pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is clearly a serious skin disease. ²⁶ But if the priest finds no white hair on the affected area and the problem appears to be no more than skin-deep and has faded, the priest must quarantine the infected person for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the priest must examine the person again. If the affected area has spread on the skin, the priest must pronounce that person ceremonially unclean, for it is clearly a serious skin disease. ²⁸ But if the affected area has not changed or spread on the skin and has faded, it is simply a swelling from the burn. The priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean, for it is only the scar from the burn.

²⁹ “If anyone, either a man or woman, has a sore on the head or chin, ³⁰ the priest must examine it. If he finds it is more than skin-deep and has fine yellow hair on it, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. It is a scabby sore of the head or chin. ³¹ If the priest examines the scabby sore and finds that it is only skin-deep but there is no black hair on it, he must quarantine the person for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest must examine the sore again. If he finds that the scabby sore has not spread, and there is no yellow hair on it, and it appears to be only skin-deep, ³³ the person must shave off all hair except the hair on the affected area. Then the priest must quarantine the person for another seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day he will examine the sore again. If it has not spread and appears to be no more than skin-deep, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean.³⁵ But if the scabby sore begins to spread after the person is pronounced clean, ³⁶ the priest must do another examination. If he finds that the sore has spread, the priest does not need to look for yellow hair. The infected person is ceremonially unclean. ³⁷ But if the color of the scabby sore does not change and black hair has grown on it, it has healed. The priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean.

³⁸ “If anyone, either a man or woman, has shiny white patches on the skin, ³⁹ the priest must examine the affected area. If he finds that the shiny patches are only pale white, this is a harmless skin rash, and the person is ceremonially clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man loses his hair and his head becomes bald, he is still ceremonially clean. ⁴¹ And if he loses hair on his forehead, he simply has a bald forehead; he is still clean. ⁴² However, if a reddish white sore appears on the bald area on top of his head or on his forehead, this is a skin disease. ⁴³ The priest must examine him, and if he finds swelling around the reddish white sore anywhere on the man’s head and it looks like a skin disease, ⁴⁴ the man is indeed infected with a skin disease and is unclean. The priest must pronounce him ceremonially unclean because of the sore on his head.

⁴⁵ “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed.^[c] They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶ As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.

Treatment of Contaminated Clothing

⁴⁷ “Now suppose mildew^[d] contaminates some woolen or linen clothing, ⁴⁸ woolen or linen fabric, the hide of an animal, or anything made of leather. ⁴⁹ If the contaminated area in the clothing, the animal hide, the fabric, or the leather article has turned greenish or reddish, it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ After examining the affected spot, the priest will put the article in quarantine for seven days. ⁵¹ On the seventh day the priest must inspect it again. If the contaminated area has spread, the clothing or fabric or leather is clearly contaminated by a serious mildew and is ceremonially unclean. ⁵² The priest must burn the item—the clothing, the woolen or linen fabric, or piece of leather—for it has been contaminated by a serious mildew. It must be completely destroyed by fire.

⁵³ “But if the priest examines it and finds that the contaminated area has not spread in the clothing, the fabric, or the leather, ⁵⁴ the priest will order the object to be washed and then quarantined for seven more days. ⁵⁵ Then the priest must examine the object again. If he finds that the contaminated area has not changed color after being washed, even if it did not spread, the object is defiled. It must be completely burned up, whether the contaminated spot^[e] is on the inside or outside. ⁵⁶ But if the priest examines it and finds that the contaminated area has faded after being washed, he must cut the spot from the clothing, the fabric, or the leather. ⁵⁷ If the spot later reappears on the clothing, the fabric, or the leather article, the mildew is clearly spreading, and the contaminated object must be burned up.⁵⁸ But if the spot disappears from the clothing, the fabric, or the leather article after it has been washed, it must be washed again; then it will be ceremonially clean.

⁵⁹ “These are the instructions for dealing with mildew that contaminates woolen or linen clothing or fabric or anything made of leather. This is how the priest will determine whether these items are ceremonially clean or unclean.”