The Test for Leprosy

1Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“When someone has on the skin of his [a]body a swelling, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of [b]leprosy on the skin of his [c]body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 3The priest shall look at the infected area on the skin of the [d]body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his [e]body, it is an infection of leprosy; when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 4But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his [f]body, and [g]it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, then the priest shall [h]isolate the person who has the infection for seven days. 5Then the priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the infection has [i]not changed and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall [j]isolate him for seven more days. 6The priest shall then look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infected area has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean.

7“But if the rash spreads farther on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again to the priest. 8And the priest shall look, and if the rash has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.

9“When the infection of leprosy is on someone, then he shall be brought to the priest. 10The priest shall then look, and if there is a white swelling on the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is new raw flesh in the swelling, 11it is [k]a chronic leprosy on the skin of his [l]body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not [m]isolate him, for he is unclean. 12If the leprosy breaks out farther on the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the person who has the infection from his head even to his feet, [n]as far as the priest can see, 13then the priest shall look, and behold, if the leprosy has covered his entire [o]body, he shall pronounce the one who has the infection clean; it has all turned white and he is clean. 14But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15The priest shall look at the raw flesh, and he shall pronounce him unclean; the raw flesh is unclean, it is leprosy. 16Or if the raw flesh turns back and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest, 17and the priest shall look at him, and behold, if the infected area has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the one who has the infection clean; he is clean.

18“Now when the [p]body has a boil on its skin and it is healed, 19and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white, bright spot, then it shall be shown to the priest; 20and the priest shall look, and behold, if [q]it appears to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the infection of leprosy, it has broken out in the boil. 21But if the priest looks at it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it and it is not deeper than the skin and is faded, then the priest shall [r]isolate him for seven days; 22and if it spreads farther on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection. 23But if the bright spot remains in its place and does not spread, it is only the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

24“Or if the [s]body sustains in its skin a burn by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, 25then the priest shall look at it. And if the hair in the bright spot has turned white and it appears to be deeper than the skin, it is leprosy; it has broken out in the burn. Therefore, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection of leprosy. 26But if the priest looks at it, and indeed, there is no white hair in the bright spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall [t]isolate him for seven days; 27and the priest shall look at him on the seventh day. If it spreads farther in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infection of leprosy. 28But if the bright spot remains in its place and has not spread in the skin, but is dim, it is the swelling from the burn; and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is only the scar of the burn.

29“Now if a man or woman has an infection on the head or on the beard, 30then the priest shall look at the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and there is thin yellowish hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scale, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard. 31But if the priest looks at the infection of the scale, and indeed, it appears to be no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall [u]isolate the person with the scaly infection for seven days. 32And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the infection, and if the scale has not spread and no yellowish hair has [v]grown in it, and the appearance of the scale is no deeper than the skin, 33then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the scale; and the priest shall [w]isolate the person with the scale for seven more days. 34Then on the seventh day the priest shall look at the scale, and if the scale has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35But if the scale spreads farther in the skin after his cleansing, 36then the priest shall look at him, and if the scale has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for the yellowish hair; he is unclean. 37If in his sight the scale has remained, however, and black hair has grown in it, the scale has healed, and he is clean; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

38“When a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the [x]body, white bright spots, 39then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their [y]bodies are a faint white, it is [z]eczema that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

40“Now if a man [aa]loses the hair of his head, he is only bald; he is clean. 41And if his head becomes bald at the [ab]front and sides, he is bald on the forehead; he is clean. 42But if on the bald head or the bald forehead there occurs a reddish-white infection, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or on his bald forehead. 43Then the priest shall look at him; and if the swelling of the infection is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the [ac]body, 44he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his infection is on his head.

45“As for the person who has the leprous infection, his clothes shall be torn and the hair of his head shall be [ad]uncovered, and he shall cover his [ae]mustache and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; he shall live outside the camp.

47“When a garment has [af]a mark of leprosy in it, whether it is a wool garment or a linen garment, 48whether in [ag]warp or [ah]woof, of linen or of wool, whether in leather or in any article made of leather, 49if the [ai]mark is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in the [aj]warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, it is a leprous [ak]mark and it shall be shown to the priest. 50Then the priest shall look at the mark and shall [al]quarantine the article with the mark for seven days. 51He shall then look at the mark on the seventh day; if the mark has spread in the garment, whether in the [am]warp or in the woof, or in the leather, whatever the purpose for which the leather is used, the mark is a [an]leprous malignancy, it is unclean. 52So he shall burn the garment, whether it is the [ao]warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or any article of leather, in which the mark occurs; for it is a [ap]leprous malignancy. It shall be burned in the fire.

53“But if the priest looks, and indeed the mark has not spread in the garment, either in the [aq]warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, 54then the priest shall order them to wash the thing in which the mark occurs, and he shall [ar]quarantine it for seven more days. 55After the article with the mark has been washed, the priest shall again look, and if the mark has not changed its appearance, even if the mark has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire, whether an eating away has produced bareness on the back or on the front of it.

56“But if the priest looks, and indeed the mark has faded after it has been washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment or out of the leather, whether from the [as]warp or from the woof; 57yet if it appears again in the garment, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, it is an outbreak; the article with the mark shall be burned in the fire. 58But the garment, whether the warp or the woof, or any article of leather from which the mark has disappeared when you washed it, shall then be washed a second time and will be clean.”

59This is the law for the mark of leprosy in a garment of wool or linen, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.

[a] 2 Lit flesh
[b] 2 I.e., or a serious, unspecified disease, and so throughout the ch
[c] 2 Lit flesh
[d] 3 Lit flesh
[e] 3 Lit flesh
[f] 4 Lit flesh
[g] 4 Lit the appearance of it is not deeper
[h] 4 Lit separate
[i] 5 Lit stood
[j] 5 Lit separate
[k] 11 Lit aging
[l] 11 Lit flesh
[m] 11 Lit separate
[n] 12 Lit to the entire sight of the priest’s eyes
[o] 13 Lit flesh
[p] 18 Lit flesh
[q] 20 Lit the appearance of it is deeper
[r] 21 Lit separate
[s] 24 Lit flesh
[t] 26 Lit separate
[u] 31 Lit separate
[v] 32 Lit been
[w] 33 Lit separate
[x] 38 Lit flesh
[y] 39 Lit flesh
[z] 39 Lit vitiligo
[aa] 40 Lit becomes bald on his head
[ab] 41 Lit border of his face
[ac] 43 Lit flesh
[ad] 45 Or disheveled
[ae] 45 I.e., mouth
[af] 47 Lit an infection, and so throughout the ch
[ag] 48 I.e., lengthwise material in weaving
[ah] 48 I.e., material woven crosswise
[ai] 49 Lit infestation; possibly material already contaminated prior to weaving
[aj] 49 See notes v 48
[ak] 49 Lit infestation; possibly material already contaminated prior to weaving
[al] 50 Lit separate
[am] 51 See notes v 48
[an] 51 Lit malignant leprosy
[ao] 52 See notes v 48
[ap] 52 Lit malignant leprosy
[aq] 53 See notes v 48
[ar] 54 Lit separate
[as] 56 See notes v 48