Leprosy (The Plague of Sin)

1Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2"When someone has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that could become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 3The priest is to examine the infection on his skin, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean. 4If, however, the spot on his skin is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. 5On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if he sees that the infection is unchanged and has not spread on the skin, the priest must isolate him for another seven days. 6The priest will examine him again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is a rash. The person must wash his clothes and be clean. 7But if the rash spreads further on his skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he must present himself again to the priest. 8The priest will reexamine him, and if the rash has spread on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; he has a skin disease. 9When anyone develops a skin disease, he must be brought to the priest. 10The priest will examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11it is a chronic skin disease and the priest must pronounce him unclean. He need not isolate him, for he is unclean. 12But if the skin disease breaks out all over his skin so that it covers all the skin of the infected person from head to foot, as far as the priest can see, 13the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the infected person clean. Since it has all turned white, he is clean. 14But whenever raw flesh appears on someone, he will be unclean. 15When the priest sees the raw flesh, he must pronounce him unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; it is a skin disease. 16But if the raw flesh changes and turns white, he must go to the priest. 17The priest will reexamine him, and if the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the infected person clean; then he is clean. 18When a boil appears on someone's skin and it heals, 19and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, he must present himself to the priest. 20The priest shall examine it, and if it appears to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil. 21But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin and has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days. 22If it spreads any further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is an infection. 23But if the spot remains unchanged and does not spread, it is only the scar from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24When there is a burn on someone’s skin and the raw area of the burn becomes reddish-white or white, 25the priest must examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection. 26But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is not beneath the skin but has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days. 27On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine him, and if it has spread further on the skin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection. 28But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread on the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest is to pronounce him clean; for it is only the scar from the burn. 29If a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin, 30the priest shall examine the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a scaly outbreak, an infectious disease of the head or chin. 31But if the priest examines the scaly infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. 32On the seventh day the priest is to reexamine the infection, and if the scaly outbreak has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it, and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 33then the person must shave himself except for the scaly area. Then the priest shall isolate him for another seven days. 34On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scaly outbreak, and if it has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, the priest is to pronounce him clean. He must wash his clothes, and he will be clean. 35If, however, the scaly outbreak spreads further on the skin after his cleansing, 36the priest is to examine him, and if the scaly outbreak has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair; the person is unclean. 37If, however, in his sight the scaly outbreak is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, then it has healed. He is clean, and the priest is to pronounce him clean. 38When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin, 39the priest shall examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean. 40Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean. 41Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean. 42But if there is a reddish-white sore on the bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on it. 43The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white like a skin disease, 44the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head. 45A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!' 46As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.

1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2"This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest. 3The priest is to go outside the camp to examine him, and if the skin disease of the afflicted person has healed, 4the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed. 5Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. 6And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 7Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field. 8The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. 9On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean. 10On the eighth day he is to bring two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished ewe lamb a year old, a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil. 11The priest who performs the cleansing shall present the one to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 12Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and present it as a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil; and he must wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 13Then he is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15Then the priest shall take some of the log of olive oil, pour it into his left palm, 16dip his right forefinger into the oil in his left palm, and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 17And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 19Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering 20and offer it on the altar, with the grain offering, to make atonement for him, and he will be clean. 21If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, 22and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23On the eighth day he is to bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. 24The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 25And after he slaughters the lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26Then the priest is to pour some of the oil into his left palm 27and sprinkle with his right forefinger some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the LORD. 28The priest shall also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot—on the same places as the blood of the guilt offering. 29The rest of the oil in his palm, the priest is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 30Then he must sacrifice the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford, 31one 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 for the one to be cleansed. 32This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”

10As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous, 11and said to Moses, "My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb." 13So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!" 14But the LORD answered Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in." 15So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.

16But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the LORD, went in after him. 18They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, "Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the LORD. Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully; you will not receive honor from the LORD God." 19Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the LORD had afflicted him. 21So King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in isolation, leprous and cut off from the house of the LORD, while his son Jotham had charge of the royal palace to govern the people of the land.

20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, while not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21So Gehazi pursued Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” 22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’” 23But Naaman insisted, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged Gehazi to accept them. Then he tied up two talents of silver in two bags along with two sets of clothing and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they departed. 25When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied. 26But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants? 27Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.

1Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4And Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. 6And the letter that he took to the king of Israel stated: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!” 8Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.” 11But Naaman went away angry, saying, "I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy. 12Are not the Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?" So he turned and went away in a rage. 13Naaman's servants, however, approached him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'?" 14So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.

11Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. 12For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.

5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.