Leviticus 13

God Gives Instructions About Skin Diseases

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron.

2 If someone has a swelling, rash, or discolored spot on their skin that looks like a serious disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or one of his sons.

3 The priest will examine the sore. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore looks deeper than the skin, it is a serious skin disease. The priest must declare them unclean.

4 If the sore is just on the surface and the hair has not turned white, the priest must isolate the person for seven days.

5 On the seventh day, the priest will check again. If the sore has not changed or spread, the priest will isolate them for another seven days.

6 On the fourteenth day, if the sore looks faded and has not spread, the priest will declare them clean. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean.

7 If the sore spreads after they were declared clean, they must go back to the priest for another examination.

8 If the priest sees that the sore has spread, it is a skin disease, and they must be declared unclean.

Handling Chronic Skin Diseases

9 If someone has a chronic skin disease, they must be brought to the priest.

10 The priest will check. If there is white swelling, white hair, and raw flesh in the sore,

11 It is a chronic skin disease. The priest must declare them unclean and send them away. There is no need to isolate them since they are already unclean.

12 If the disease spreads and covers the person’s entire body,

13 The priest must examine them. If the whole body is covered in white sores, the priest must declare them clean because the disease has turned white.

14 But if raw flesh appears on them, they are unclean.

15 The priest must declare them unclean because raw flesh means they still have the disease.

16 If the raw flesh heals and turns white again, they must go back to the priest.

17 If the priest sees that it has turned white, the person is clean and must be declared clean.

Handling Boils That Leave Scars

18 If someone had a boil that healed,

19 But later a white swelling or reddish-white spot appears where the boil was, they must go to the priest.

20 If the priest sees that the spot is deeper than the skin and the hair has turned white, it is a skin disease, and they must be declared unclean.

21 If the spot is just on the surface and the hair has not turned white, the priest must isolate them for seven days.

22 If the spot spreads, the priest must declare them unclean.

23 But if it does not spread, it is just a scar from the boil, and they are clean.

Handling Burns That Leave Marks

24 If someone gets burned and the burn leaves a reddish-white or white mark,

25 The priest must examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the mark is deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease, and they are unclean.

26 If the hair has not turned white and the spot is not deeper than the skin, the priest must isolate them for seven days.

27 On the seventh day, if it spreads, the priest must declare them unclean.

28 If the spot does not spread and has faded, it is just a scar from the burn, and they are clean.

Handling Sores on the Head or Beard

29 If someone has a sore on their head or beard,

30 The priest must examine it. If it looks deeper than the skin and has thin yellow hair, it is a skin disease, and they are unclean.

31 If the spot is just on the surface and there is no yellow hair, the priest must isolate them for seven days.

32 On the seventh day, if the sore has not spread and no yellow hair has appeared, the priest must isolate them for another seven days.

33 On the fourteenth day, if the sore has not spread, they must shave but leave the sore alone. The priest will isolate them for another seven days.

34 If by the seventh day it has not spread and looks faded, the priest will declare them clean. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean.

35 If the sore spreads after they were declared clean,

36 The priest must check again. If the sore has spread, they are unclean. No need to look for yellow hair.

37 But if the sore has stopped spreading and black hair has grown back, they are healed and clean. The priest must declare them clean.

Handling White Spots on the Skin

38 If someone has white spots on their skin,

39 And the priest sees that they are just dull white patches, it is not a skin disease, and they are clean.

Handling Baldness & Skin Disease on the Head

40 If a man loses his hair and becomes bald, he is still clean.

41 If he loses hair just at the front of his head, he is still clean.

42 But if a reddish-white sore appears on his bald head, it is a skin disease.

43 The priest must examine him. If the sore is reddish-white and looks like a disease,

44 He must be declared unclean. He has a serious skin disease and is unclean.

How the Unclean Must Live

45 Anyone with a skin disease must wear torn clothes, leave their hair messy, cover their mouth, and shout, unclean, unclean.

46 As long as they have the disease, they are unclean and must live outside the camp.

Handling Mold in Clothing

47 If mold appears on clothing, whether wool or linen,

48 Or on anything made of leather,

49 And the mold is greenish or reddish, it must be shown to the priest.

50 The priest must isolate the item for seven days.

51 On the seventh day, if the mold has spread, the item is unclean and must be burned.

52 It must be completely destroyed by fire.

53 If the mold has not spread, the priest must isolate the item for another seven days.

54 If after washing, the mold is still there,

55 The mold is still unclean, and the item must be burned.

56 If the mold faded after washing, the priest must tear out the infected part.

57 If the mold comes back, the whole item must be burned.

58 If the mold does not return after washing, the item is clean.

Final Instructions on Skin Diseases & Mold

59 These are the rules for dealing with skin diseases and mold in clothing, wool, linen, or leather, to determine if they are clean or unclean.