Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 187
14:44–15:10
L e v itic u s
175
the house has been scraped and replastered, the priest must return and
inspect the house again. If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls
are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled.
It must be torn down, and all its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean. Those
who enter the house during the period of quarantine will be ceremonially
unclean until evening, and all who sleep or eat in the house must wash
their clothing.
“But if the priest returns for his inspection and finds that the mildew
has not reappeared in the house after the fresh plastering, he will pronounce it clean because the mildew is clearly gone. To purify the house the
priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop
branch. He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot filled with fresh
water. He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn,
and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and
into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times. When
the priest has purified the house in exactly this way, he will release the live
bird in the open fields outside the town. Through this process, the priest
will purify the house, and it will be ceremonially clean.
“These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases, including scabby sores; and mildew, whether on clothing or in a house; and
a swelling on the skin, a rash, or discolored skin. This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean.
“These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew.”
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Give the following instructions to
the people of Israel.
“Any man who has a bodily discharge is ceremonially unclean. This
defilement is caused by his discharge, whether the discharge continues
or stops. In either case the man is unclean. Any bed on which the man
with the discharge lies and anything on which he sits will be ceremonially
unclean. So if you touch the man’s bed, you must wash your clothes and
bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. If you
sit where the man with the discharge has sat, you must wash your clothes
and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. If
you touch the man with the discharge, you must wash your clothes and
bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. If the
man spits on you, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water,
and you will remain unclean until evening. Any saddle blanket on which
the man rides will be ceremonially unclean. If you touch anything that
