Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘When a woman becomes pregnant and she gives birth to a male, then she shall be unclean seven days—as in the time of her menstrual bleeding, she shall become unclean. And on the eighth day his foreskin’s flesh shall be circumcised. And for thirty-three days she shall stay in the blood of her cleansing; she must not touch any holy object, and she may not come to the sanctuary until the fulfilling of the days of her cleansing. But if she gives birth to a female, then she shall be unclean for two weeks as in her menstruation, and for sixty-six days she shall stay through the blood of her cleansing. And at the fulfilling of the days of her cleansing, whether for a son or for a daughter, she must bring to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance a yearling male lamb as a burnt offering and young dove or a turtledove as a sin offering. And the priest shall present it before Yahweh, and he shall make atonement for her, so that she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the regulation of childbearing for the male or for the female. And if she cannot afford a sheep, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young doves—one as a burnt offering and one as a sin offering—and the priest shall make atonement for her, so that she shall be clean.’"

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "When a person has on his body’s skin a swelling or an epidermal eruption or a spot and it becomes an infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. And the priest shall examine the infection on his body’s skin, and if the hair in the infection turns white and the appearance of the infection is deeper than his body’s skin, it is an infectious skin disease, and the priest shall examine it, and he shall declare him unclean. But if a spot is white on his body’s skin and its appearance is not deeper than the skin and its hair does not turn white, then the priest shall confine the afflicted person for seven days. And the priest shall examine it on the seventh day, and if, in his eyes, the infection has stayed unchanged, the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall confine him for seven days a second time. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day for a second time, and if the infection has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall declare him clean—it is an epidermal eruption; and he shall wash his garments, and so he shall be clean. But if the epidermal eruption spreads further on the skin after showing himself to the priest for his cleansing, then he shall appear a second time to the priest. And the priest shall examine it, and if the epidermal eruption has spread on the skin, then the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease.

"When an infectious skin disease is on a person and he is brought to the priest, the priest shall examine it, and if a white swelling is on the skin and it turns the hair white and raw flesh is in the swelling, it is a chronic infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, and the priest shall declare him unclean; he shall not confine him, because he is unclean. And if the infectious skin disease breaks out all over on the skin and the infectious skin disease covers all of the afflicted person’s skin from his head to his feed, so far as the priest can see, then the priest shall examine it, and if the infectious skin disease covers his whole body, then he shall pronounce the afflicted person clean—all of it has turned white; he is clean. But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he shall become unclean. And the priest shall examine the raw flesh, and he shall pronounce him unclean—the raw flesh is unclean; it is an infectious skin disease. Or, when the raw flesh returns and it has changed to white, then he shall come to the priest, and the priest shall examine him, and if the infection has changed to white, then the priest shall pronounce the afflicted person clean—he is clean.

"And when someone’s body has a skin sore on his skin and it is healed and a white swelling or a pinkish spot appears in the skin sore’s place, then he shall show himself to the priest. And the priest shall examine it, and if its appearance is deeper than the skin and its hair has changed to white, then the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease; it has broken out in the skin sore. And if the priest examines it and if there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin and it is faded, then the priest shall confine him for seven days. But if it has spread further on the skin, then the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infection. But if the spot has stayed unchanged, it has not spread, it is the skin sore’s scar, so the priest shall declare him clean.

"Or when a body has a burn-spot from fire on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn-spot is pinkish or white, then the priest shall examine it, and if the hair turns white in the spot and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is an infectious skin disease—it has broken out in the burn-spot; so the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease. But if the priest examines it and if there is not white hair in the spot and it is not deeper than the skin and it is faded, then the priest shall confine him for seven days. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it has spread further on the skin, then the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease. But if it the spot has stayed unchanged in its place, it has not spread on the skin and it is faded, then it is the burn-spot’s swelling, so the priest shall declare him clean, because it is the burn-spot’s scar.

"And when a man or a woman has an infection on the head or in the beard, then the priest shall examine the infection, and if its appearance is deeper than the skin and in it is thin bright red hair, then the priest shall declare it unclean—it is a diseased area of skin; it is an infectious skin disease of the head or the beard. But if the priest examines the diseased area of the skin’s infection and if its appearance is not deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall confine the afflicted person with the diseased area of skin for seven days. And the priest shall examine the infection on the seventh day, and if the diseased area of skin has not spread and it does not have bright red hair in it and the diseased area of the skin’s appearance is not deeper than the skin, then he shall shave himself, but he shall not shave the diseased area of skin, and the priest shall confine the person with the diseased area of skin a second time for seven days. And the priest shall examine the diseased area of skin on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has not spread on the skin and its appearance is not deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean, and he shall wash his garments, and he shall be clean. But if the diseased area of skin has not spread further on the skin after his cleansing, then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased area of skin has spread on the skin, the priest shall not inspect for bright red hair—he is unclean. But if, in his eyes, the diseased area of skin has stayed unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the diseased area of skin is healed—he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

"And when a man or a woman has spots on their body’s skin, white spots, then the priest shall examine them, and if the spots on their body’s skin are a faded white, it is a skin rash; it has broken out on the skin—it is clean.

"And if a man becomes bald, his head is bald, he is clean. And if he becomes bald from his forehead, his head is bald, he is clean. But if a pinkish infection occurs on the bald spot or on the bald forehead, it is an infectious skin disease that sprouts on his bald spot or on his bald forehead. So the priest shall examine him, and if the infection’s swelling is pinkish on his bald spot or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of an infectious skin disease on the body, he is a man afflicted with a skin disease—he is unclean; the priest certainly shall declare him unclean—his infection is on his head.

"As for the person who is afflicted with a skin disease, his garments must be torn and his hair must be allowed to hang loosely, and he must cover his upper lip, and he must call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ For all the days during which the infection is on him, he shall be unclean; he must live alone; his dwelling must be outside the camp."

"And when the garment has an infectious skin disease on it, on a wool garment or on a linen garment, or on woven material or on a linen fabric, or on wool or on leather or on any work of leather, and if the infection is yellowish green or reddish on the garment or on the leather or on the woven material or on the fabric or on any leather object, it is an infectious skin disease and it shall be shown to the priest. And the priest shall examine the infection, and he shall confine the infected article for seven days. And he shall examine the infection on the seventh day; if the infection has spread on the garment or on the woven material or on the fabric or on the leather, for any work for which the leather is used, the infection is a destructive skin disease—it is unclean. And he shall burn the garment or the woven material or the fabric, whether wool or linen, or any leather object that has the infection, because it is an infectious skin disease, which is destructive—it must be burned in the fire.

"But if the priest examines it and if the infection has not spread on the garment or on the woven material or on the fabric or on any leather object, then the priest shall command, and someone shall wash that on which the infection is, and he shall confine it a second time for seven days. And the priest shall examine it after the infection has been washed off, and if the infection has not changed its outward appearance and the infection has not spread, it is unclean; he must burn it in the fire; it is a fungus on its back or on its front. But if the priest examines it and if the infection is faded after it has been washed off, then he shall tear it from the garment or from the leather or from the woven material or from the fabric. And if it appears again on the garment or on the woven material or on the fabric or on any leather object, it is spreading; you must burn in the fire that which has the infection in it. And the garment or the woven material or the fabric or any leather object that he might wash and the infection is removed from them then shall be washed a second time, and it shall be clean."

This is the regulation of the infectious skin disease in the wool garment or the linen or the woven material or the fabric or any leather object to declare it clean or to declare it unclean.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "This is the regulation of the person afflicted with a skin disease at the time of his cleansing. And he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go outside the camp, and the priest shall examine him, and if the skin disease’s infection is healed on the afflicted person, then the priest shall command, and he shall take two living, clean birds and cedar wood and a crimson thread and hyssop for the one who presents himself for cleansing. Then the priest shall command someone to slaughter one bird over fresh water in a clay vessel. He must take the living bird and the cedar wood and the crimson thread and the hyssop, and he shall dip them and the living bird in the bird’s blood slaughtered over the fresh water. And he shall spatter the blood seven times on the one who presents himself for cleansing from the infectious skin disease, and he shall declare him clean, and he shall send the living bird into the open field. Then the one who presents himself for cleansing shall wash his garments, and he shall shave off all his hair, and he shall wash himself in the water; thus he shall be clean, and afterward he shall enter the camp, but he shall stay outside his tent for seven days. And then on the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—he must shave his head and his beard and his eyebrows and all the rest of his hair—and he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body in the water; thus he shall be clean.

"And on the eighth day he must take two male lambs without defect and one ewe-lamb in its first year without defect and three-tenths of an ephah of finely milled flour mixed with oil as a grain offering and one log of oil. And the priest who cleanses him shall present the man who presents himself for cleansing and these things before the tent of assembly’s entrance. Then the priest shall take the one male lamb, and he shall present it as a guilt offering, and the log of oil, and he shall wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. And he shall slaughter the male lamb in the place where he slaughters the sin offering and the burnt offering in the sanctuary’s space, because as the sin offering belongs to the priest, so also the guilt offering—it is a most holy thing. And the priest shall take some of the guilt offering’s blood, and the priest shall put it on the right ear’s lobe of the one who presents himself for cleansing and on his right hand’s thumb and on his right foot’s big toe. And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and he shall pour it on his left palm; and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is on his left palm, and he shall spatter some of the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh. Then the priest shall put some of the remaining oil, which is on his palm, on the right ear’s lobe of the one to be cleansed and on his right hand’s thumb and on his right foot’s big toe, on top of the guilt offering’s blood. And the remaining oil that is on the priest’s palm he shall put on the head of the one who presents himself for cleansing, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh. Thus the priest shall sacrifice the sin offering, and he shall make atonement for the one who presents himself for cleansing from his uncleanness, and afterward he shall slaughter the burnt offering. Then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar, and the priest shall make atonement for him, and so he shall be clean.

"But if he is poor and he cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering as a wave offering to make atonement for himself and one-tenth of an ephah of finely milled flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil, and two turtledoves or two young doves that he can afford, and one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. And he shall bring them to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance before Yahweh on the eighth day for his cleansing. And the priest shall take the male lamb for the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh; and he shall slaughter the male lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest shall take some of the guilt offering’s blood, and he shall put it on the right ear’s lobe of the one who presents himself for cleansing and on his right hand’s thumb and on his right foot’s big toe. Then the priest shall pour out some of the oil on his own left palm, and with his right finger the priest shall spatter some of the oil that is on his left palm seven times before Yahweh. Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is on his palm on the right ear’s lobe of the one who presents himself for cleansing and on his right hand’s thumb and on his right foot’s big toe on the place of the guilt offering’s blood. And the remaining oil that is on the priest’s palm he shall put on the head of the one who presents himself for cleansing to make atonement for him before Yahweh. And he shall sacrifice one of the turtledoves or the young doves that he can afford, even what he can afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering in addition to the grain offering, and the priest shall make atonement for the one who presents himself for cleansing before Yahweh. This is the regulation of the one on whom is an infectious skin disease who cannot afford the cost for his cleansing."

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am about to give to you as your possession, and I put mildew in a house in the land of your possession, then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘It appears to me that an infection is in the house.’ And the priest shall issue a command, and they shall clear out the house before the priest comes to examine the infection, so that all that is in the house might not become unclean; and afterward the priest shall go to examine the house. And he shall examine the infection, and if the infection on the house’s wall has yellowish-green or reddish spots and its appearance is deeper than the surface of the wall, then the priest shall go out from the house to the house’s entrance, and he shall confine the house for seven days. And the priest shall return on the seventh day, and he shall examine the infection, and if the infection has spread on the house’s wall, the priest shall issue a command and they shall remove the stones on which is the infection, and they shall throw them outside the city on an unclean place. Then they shall scrape off the plaster from all around the house, and they shall pour out the plaster, which they scraped off, outside the city on an unclean place. And they shall take other stones, and they shall put them in place of those stones, and they shall take other plaster, and they shall replaster the house.

"But if the infection should return and it breaks out in the house after they have removed the stones and after scraping off the plaster of the house and after it has been replastered, then the priest shall come, and he shall examine the infection, and if the infection has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house—it is unclean. So he shall break down the house, its stones and its wood and all of the house’s plaster, and he shall bring it all outside the city to an unclean place. And the person who enters into the house during all the days that he confined it shall become unclean until the evening. And the person who sleeps in the house must wash his garments, and the person who eats in the house shall wash his garments.

"And if the priest comes again and examines the house and if the infection has not spread in the house after being replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the infection is healed. And he shall take two birds and cedar wood and a crimson thread and hyssop to cleanse the house; and he shall slaughter the first bird over fresh water on a clay vessel. Then he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the crimson thread and the living bird, and he shall dip them in the slaughtered bird’s blood and in the fresh water, and he shall spatter them on the house seven times. Thus he shall purify the house with the bird’s blood and with the fresh water and with the living bird and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the crimson thread. And he shall send the living bird outside the city into the open field; and so he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

"This is the instruction for any infectious skin disease and for the diseased area of skin, and for a mildew of the garment and for the house, and for the swelling and for the epidermal eruption and for the spot, to teach when something is unclean and when something is clean. This is the regulation of the infectious skin disease."

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in the things relating to God, in order that he can offer both gifts and sacrifices on behalf of sins, being able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and led astray, since he himself also is surrounded by weakness, and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins for himself also, as well as for the people. And someone does not take for himself the honor, but is called by God, just as Aaron also was. Thus also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but the one who said to him,

just as also in another place he says,

who in the days of his flesh offered up both prayers and supplications, with loud crying and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard as a result of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered, and being perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey him, being designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Concerning this we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. For indeed, although you ought to be teachers by this time, you have need of someone to teach you again the beginning elements of the oracles of God, and you have need of milk, not solid food. For everyone who partakes of milk is unacquainted with the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have trained their faculties for the distinguishing of both good and evil.