EJ&T: Leviticus 14: Cleaning ceremonies for people and houses with leprosy

In the Every Jot and Tittle project, I am listing all of the Bible's commandments from Genesis to Revelation, in accordance with Jesus's words in Matthew 5:18-19. I have no idea how many commandments I'll find, but Jewish tradition claims there are 613. See here for a list of those that I've found so far.

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Perform this ceremony after you are healed of leprosy.

After you are healed of leprosy, go find a priest. The priest will inspect you to verify that you have been healed.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: The priest shall inspect the person to verify that the person has been healed of leprosy. Leviticus 14:1-3

He will then tell you to get two live birds, some cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop branches.

Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. Leviticus 14:4

The priest will kill one of the birds and drain its blood into a bowl.

And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water Leviticus 14:5

Next he will take the living bird (along with the scarlet thread and hyssop branches) and dip it into the blood of the dead bird.

As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water Leviticus 14:6

The priest will sprinkle you with the dead bird's blood seven times. When finished, he'll pronounce you clean and let the bloody bird fly away.

And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. Leviticus 14:7

After the ceremony you must must wash your clothes and shave off all of your hair.

And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. Leviticus 14:8

On the seventh day, after you've shaved off all your hair including beard and eyebrows, wash your body in water and you'll be clean.

But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. Leviticus 14:9

On the eighth day, get two unblemished rams, one year-old unblemished lamb, 300 ml olive oil, and 2 kilograms of your best flour mixed with oil.

And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. Leviticus 14:10

The priest will present you and your things to God at the door of the tabernacle. Then he'll kill the lamb for a trespass offering and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord. It is most holy

And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering , and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy. Leviticus 14:11-13

Then he will take some of the blood and put it on the tip of your right ear, and on your right thumb, and on your right big toe.

And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: Leviticus 14:14

Next he will take some of the oil and pour it on the palm of his right hand.He'll then dip his right finger in the oil and sprinkle the oil with his finger seven times in front of God.

And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: Leviticus 14:15-16

He will then wipe some of the oil on the tip of your right ear, right thumb, and big toe on top of the blood that he wiped on you before.

And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: Leviticus 14:17

Then the priest will pour whatever oil is left over on top of your head.

And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD. Leviticus 14:18

Finally, he will make a sin and burnt offering for you. When he finishes with that, you'll be clean.

And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean. Leviticus 14:19-20

If you are too poor to pay for the above ceremony, you can skip the two birds and the ram, and substitute a couple doves or pigeons instead. You've got to do all the rest the stuff though: kill the lamb for a trespass offering, spread blood and oil on your right ear, thumb, big toe, etc. The works.

And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the LORD. And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand: And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD: And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering: And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD. And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD. This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing. Leviticus 14:21-32

What to do when your house has leprosy.

If God puts some leprosy in your house, then go to a priest and tell him that it seems to you like your house has leprosy.

And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house. Leviticus 14:33-35

The priest will tell you to get out of the house and let him take a look.

Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. Leviticus 14:36

He will then perform a home inspection for leprosy; if he finds any green or red streaks that are lower than the wall, he will shut up the house for seven days.

And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: Leviticus 14:37-38

After seven days, the priest will return for another inspection. If the leprosy has spread, he will have the stones in the walls removed, the house scraped, and the stones replaced and plastered.

And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house; Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house.Leviticus 14:39-42

If the leprosy comes back, then the priest will return to your house and inspect it again. If he sees any, it is an unclean fretting leprosy.

And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered; Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house; it is unclean. Leviticus 14:43-44

The priest will then break down your house and carry the pieces to an unclean place.

And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place. Leviticus 14:

In the meantime, whoever went into your house while it was shut up will be unlcean until the evening. And whoever slept or eat in your house must wash his or her clothes.

Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes. Leviticus 14:46-47

On the other hand, if the priest comes in and finds that the leprosy hasn't spread after it was plastered, the the priest will pronounce the house clean.

And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. Leviticus 14:

Once the priest has declared your house clean, he will get two birds, some cedar wood, and hyssop branches. Then he'll kill one of the birds and drain its blood in a bowl and dip the live bird in the dead bird's blood. Next he'll clean the house by sprinkling it seven times with the bird's blood. Finally he'll let the living bird go free and the house will be clean.

And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean. Leviticus 14:49-53