The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Leviticus
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Chapter 14
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The Lord also told Moses,
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This is the ceremonial to be used when a leper is to be pronounced no longer unclean. He must needs present himself before the priest;
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the priest, therefore, will go out of the camp to find him, and if it appears that leprosy no longer defiles him,
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he will tell him what offerings to make by way of purgation for himself. These are, two living birds, of such a kind as may be used for food, cedar-wood, and scarlet stuff, and hyssop.
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One of the birds must have its blood shed over spring water held in an earthenware pot;
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the one which is left alive must be dipped (together with the cedar-wood, the scarlet stuff, and the hyssop) into the dead bird’s blood,
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and with this the priest must sprinkle the defiled man seven times, to effect his due cleansing. Then the living bird must be allowed to fly away into the open.
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And now the man must wash his clothes, shave the hair on his body, and bathe in water; so purified, he will enter the camp, but on the condition that he does not go into his tent for a whole week.
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On the seventh day he must shave all his hair, head and beard and eyebrows and all, and he must wash again, both his clothes and his body.
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On the eighth day he will take two lambs and a yearling ewe, all without blemish, three tenths of a bushel of flour, kneaded with oil, for a bloodless offering, and a pint of oil besides.
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The priest who is pronouncing him clean will bring him into the divine presence, together with these gifts of his, at the door of the tabernacle which bears record of me;
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and there he will take one of the lambs and offer it as a victim for wrong done. He will take the pint of oil, too, and all the rest, and hold them up in the Lord’s presence.
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The lamb must be immolated on holy ground, where the offerings for faults and the burnt-sacrifices are offered; and the victim for wrong done, like the victim for a fault, becomes the property of the priest; it is set apart for holy uses.
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The priest will take some of the blood from this victim which is offered for wrong done, and set a mark with it on the man he is pronouncing clean; on the tip of his right ear, his right thumb, and the great toe of his right foot.
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Then he will take some of the oil in his left hand,
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dip a finger of his right hand in it, and sprinkle it seven times in the Lord’s presence.
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The rest of the oil in his left hand he will use to anoint the man he is cleansing; over the victim’s blood smeared on ear and finger and toe,
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and finally on his head.
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So he will intercede for him in the Lord’s presence, and offer, first a sacrifice for his fault, then a burnt-sacrifice;
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this he will put on the altar, with its accompanying gifts, and so the man will be duly declared clean.
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If he is poor, and cannot lay his hand on all the victims aforesaid, he must bring a lamb by way of offering for wrong done, with which the priest will make intercession for him, the tenth of a bushel of flour, kneaded with oil, for a bloodless offering, and a pint of oil,
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and two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, one by way of offering for his fault, and the other as a burnt-sacrifice.
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These he will bring before the priest at the tabernacle door in the divine presence, on the eighth day of the cleansing.
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The priest will take the lamb, the offering for wrong done, and the pint of oil, and hold them up together;
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then he will immolate the lamb, and set a mark with its blood on the man he is pronouncing clean, on the right ear, the right thumb, the great toe of the right foot.
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Then he will take some of the oil in his left hand,
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dip in his right hand, sprinkle the oil seven times in the Lord’s presence,
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anoint the stains on ear, thumb and toe,
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and pour the rest of the oil in his hand over the head of the man who is being cleansed, to win him the Lord’s favour again.
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Finally he will offer the two birds, whether turtle-dove, or young pigeon;
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one of them as for a fault and one by way of burnt-sacrifice, together with the gifts that accompany it.
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Such is the offering to be made by a leper who cannot afford the full price of his cleansing.
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This was a further message the Lord gave to Moses and Aaron:
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When you reach the home I mean to give you in the land of Chanaan, it may be that a house will suffer infection.
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If so, the owner of it will go and tell the priest that his house is suspect of leprosy;
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and the priest, before going to ascertain whether it is leprous or not, will have everything taken out of the house, for fear that all its contents might become defiled. Then he will go in to examine the infection in the house;
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and if he sees dents in the surface of the walls that are pale or reddish in colour,
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he will go out of doors and shut the house up for a week.
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And if, when he comes back to examine it on the seventh day, he finds that the infection has spread,
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he will order the stones that are infected to be prised out, and thrown into a refuse pit, away from the city;
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the inside of the house, too, must be scraped all round, and the dust scraped from it must also be scattered over the refuse pit.
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Then other stones will be put in, in place of the old, and the house will be plastered afresh.
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If, after the removal of the stones, and the scraping, and the new plastering,
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the priest comes in and finds that the infection has returned, and the walls are still disfigured with spots, this is malignant leprosy, and the house is unclean.
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It must be destroyed at once, stone and wood and plaster alike must be thrown into a refuse pit, away from the town.
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Anyone who has entered it since the priest shut it up will be unclean till evening comes,
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and anyone who has slept or eaten there must wash his clothes.
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But if the priest finds that the infection has not spread in the house after the new plastering, he will cleanse it, in token that it is now free of disease.
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To effect this cleansing, he will take two birds, some cedar-wood, and scarlet stuff, and hyssop,
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shed the blood of one bird into spring water in an earthenware pot,
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dip the cedar-wood, the scarlet stuff, the hyssop, and the living bird into the water stained with the dead bird’s blood, and sprinkle it over the house seven times.
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So, by the use of blood and water and a living bird and cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet stuff, the cleansing will be effected;
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and letting the bird fly away into the open, the priest will make intercession for the house, and it will be duly declared clean.
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Such are the rules for all leprosy and scab,
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for the infection that breaks out in garments or in houses,
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for scars and ulcers, and for shiny patches on the skin that change their colour;
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such are the means for ascertaining when it is time to declare anything clean or unclean.
