Tazria/M'tzora

Tazria

12:1] The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: 2] Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a woman at childbirth bears a male, she shall be impure seven days; she shall be impure as at the time of her condition of menstrual separation.— 3] On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.— 4] She shall remain in a state of blood purification for thirty-three days: she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until her period of purification is completed. 5] If she bears a female, she shall be impure two weeks as during her menstruation, and she shall remain in a state of blood purification for sixty-six days.

6] On the completion of her period of purification, for either son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purgation offering. 7] He shall offer it before the Eternal and make expiation on her behalf; she shall then be pure from her flow of blood. Such are the rituals concerning her who bears a child, male or female. 8] If, however, her means do not suffice for a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a purgation offering. The priest shall make expiation on her behalf, and she shall be pure.

13:1] The Eternal One spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2] When a person has on the skin of the body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of the body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. 3] The priest shall examine the affection on the skin of the body: if hair in the affected patch has turned white and the affection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, it is a leprous affection; when the priest sees it, he shall pronounce the person impure. 4] But if it is a white discoloration on the skin of the body which does not appear to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the affected person for seven days. 5] On the seventh day the priest shall conduct an examination, and if the affection has remained unchanged in color and the disease has not spread on the skin, the priest shall isolate that person for another seven days. 6] On the seventh day the priest shall again conduct an examination: if the affection has faded and has not spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce the person pure. It is a rash; after washing those clothes, that person shall be pure. 7] But if the rash should spread on the skin after the person has been seen by the priest and pronounced pure, that person shall again report to the priest. 8] And if the priest sees that the rash has spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce that person impure; it is leprosy.

9] When a person has a scaly affection, it shall be reported to the priest. 10] If the priest finds on the skin a white swelling which has turned some hair white, with a patch of undiscolored flesh in the swelling, 11] it is chronic leprosy on the skin of the body, and the priest shall pronounce the person impure; being impure, that person need not be isolated. 12] If the eruption spreads out over the skin so that it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, wherever the priest can see— 13] if the priest sees that the eruption has covered the whole body—he shall pronounce as pure the affected person, who is pure from having turned all white. 14] But as soon as undiscolored flesh appears in it, that person shall be impure; 15] when the priest sees the undiscolored flesh, he shall pronounce the person impure. The undiscolored flesh is impure; it is leprosy. 16] But if the undiscolored flesh again turns white, that person shall come to the priest, 17] and the priest shall conduct an examination: if the affection has turned white, the priest shall pronounce as pure the affected person, who is then pure.

18] When an inflammation appears on the skin of one’s body and it heals, 19] and a white swelling or a white discoloration streaked with red develops where the inflammation was, that person shall report to the priest. 20] If the priest finds that it appears lower than the rest of the skin and that the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce the person impure; it is a leprous affection that has broken out in the inflammation. 21] But if the priest finds that there is no white hair in it and it is not lower than the rest of the skin, and it is faded, the priest shall isolate that person for seven days. 22] If it should spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce the person impure; it is an affection. 23] But if the discoloration remains stationary, not having spread, it is the scar of the inflammation; the priest shall pronounce that person pure.

24] When the skin of one’s body sustains a burn by fire, and the patch from the burn is a discoloration, either white streaked with red, or white, 25] the priest shall examine it. If some hair has turned white in the discoloration, which itself appears to go deeper than the skin, it is leprosy that has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce the person impure; it is a leprous affection. 26] But if the priest finds that there is no white hair in the discoloration, and that it is not lower than the rest of the skin, and it is faded, the priest shall isolate that person for seven days. 27] On the seventh day the priest shall conduct an examination: if it has spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce the person impure; it is a leprous affection. 28] But if the discoloration has remained stationary, not having spread on the skin, and it is faded, it is the swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce that person pure, for it is the scar of the burn.

29] If a man or a woman has an affection on the head or in the beard, 30] the priest shall examine the affection. If it appears to go deeper than the skin and there is thin yellow hair in it, the priest shall pronounce the person impure; it is a scall, a scaly eruption in the hair or beard. 31] But if the priest finds that the scall affection does not appear to go deeper than the skin, yet there is no black hair in it, the priest shall isolate the person with the scall affection for seven days. 32] On the seventh day the priest shall examine the affection. If the scall has not spread and no yellow hair has appeared in it, and the scall does not appear to go deeper than the skin, 33] the person with the scall shall shave—but without shaving the scall; the priest shall isolate that person for another seven days. 34] On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scall. If the scall has not spread on the skin, and does not appear to go deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce the person pure; after washing those clothes, that person shall be pure. 35] If, however, the scall should spread on the skin after the person has been pronounced pure, 36] the priest shall conduct an examination. If the scall has spread on the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair: the person is impure. 37] But if the scall has remained unchanged in color, and black hair has grown in it, the scall is healed; the person is pure. The priest shall pronounce that person pure.

38] If a man or a woman has the skin of the body streaked with white discolorations, 39] and the priest sees that the discolorations on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is a tetter broken out on the skin; that person is pure.

40] If a man loses the hair of his head and becomes bald, he is pure. 41] If he loses the hair on the front part of his head and becomes bald at the forehead, he is pure. 42] But if a white affection streaked with red appears on the bald part in the front or at the back of the head, it is a scaly eruption that is spreading over the bald part in the front or at the back of the head. 43] The priest shall examine him: if the swollen affection on the bald part in the front or at the back of his head is white streaked with red, like the leprosy of body skin in appearance, 44] he is among the leprous; he is impure. The priest shall pronounce him impure; he has the affection on his head.

45] As for the person with a leprous affection: the clothes shall be rent, the head shall be left bare, and the upper lip shall be covered over; and that person shall call out, “Impure! Impure!” 46] The person shall be impure as long as the disease is present. Being impure, that person shall dwell apart—in a dwelling outside the camp.

47] When an eruptive affection occurs in a cloth of wool or linen fabric, 48] in the warp or in the woof of the linen or the wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin; 49] if the affection in the cloth or the skin, in the warp or the woof, or in any article of skin, is streaky green or red, it is an eruptive affection. It shall be shown to the priest; 50] and the priest, after examining the affection, shall isolate the affected article for seven days. 51] On the seventh day he shall examine the affection: if the affection has spread in the cloth—whether in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, for whatever purpose the skin may be used—the affection is a malignant eruption; it is impure. 52] The cloth—whether warp or woof in wool or linen, or any article of skin—in which the affection is found, shall be burned, for it is a malignant eruption; it shall be consumed in fire. 53] But if the priest sees that the affection in the cloth—whether in warp or in woof, or in any article of skin—has not spread, 54] the priest shall order the affected article washed, and he shall isolate it for another seven days. 55] And if, after the affected article has been washed, the priest sees that the affection has not changed color and that it has not spread, it is impure. It shall be consumed in fire; it is a fret, whether on its inner side or on its outer side. 56] But if the priest sees that the affected part, after it has been washed, is faded, he shall tear it out from the cloth or skin, whether in the warp or in the woof; 57] and if it occurs again in the cloth—whether in warp or in woof—or in any article of skin, it is a wild growth; the affected article shall be consumed in fire. 58] If, however, the affection disappears from the cloth—warp or woof—or from any article of skin that has been washed, it shall be washed again, and it shall be pure.

59] Such is the procedure for eruptive affections of cloth, woolen or linen, in warp or in woof, or of any article of skin, for pronouncing it pure or impure.

M'tzora

14:1] The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: 2] This shall be the ritual for a leper at the time of being purified. When it has been reported to the priest, 3] the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest sees that the leper has been healed of the scaly affection, 4] the priest shall order two live pure birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop to be brought for the one to be purified. 5] The priest shall order one of the birds slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel; 6] and he shall take the live bird, along with the cedar wood, the crimson stuff, and the hyssop, and dip them together with the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. 7] He shall then sprinkle it seven times on the one to be purified of the eruption and effect the purification; and he shall set the live bird free in the open country. 8] The one to be purified shall wash those clothes, shave off all hair, and bathe in water—and then shall be pure. After that, the camp may be entered but one must remain outside one’s tent seven days. 9] On the seventh day all hair shall be shaved off—of head, beard [if any], and eyebrows. Having shaved off all hair, the person shall wash those clothes and bathe the body in water—and then shall be pure. 10] On the eighth day that person shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, three-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering, and one log of oil. 11] These shall be presented before the Eternal, with the party to be purified, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, by the priest who performs the purification.

12] The priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it with the log of oil as a reparation offering, and he shall elevate them as an elevation offering before the Eternal. 13] The lamb shall be slaughtered at the spot in the sacred area where the purgation offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. For the reparation offering, like the purgation offering, goes to the priest; it is most holy. 14] The priest shall take some of the blood of the reparation offering, and the priest shall put it on the ridge of the right ear of the one who is being purified, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. 15] The priest shall then take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16] And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in the palm of his left hand and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Eternal. 17] Some of the oil left in his palm shall be put by the priest on the ridge of the right ear of the one being purified, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot—over the blood of the reparation offering. 18] The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one being purified. Thus the priest shall make expiation for that person before the Eternal. 19] The priest shall then offer the purgation offering and make expiation for the one being purified of defilement. Last, the burnt offering shall be slaughtered, 20] and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar; the priest shall make expiation for that person, who shall then be pure.

21] If, however, one is poor and without sufficient means, that person shall take one male lamb for a reparation offering, to be elevated in expiation, one-tenth of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering, and a log of oil; 22] and two turtledoves or two pigeons—depending on that person’s means—the one to be the purgation offering and the other the burnt offering. 23] On the eighth day of purification, the person shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, before the Eternal. 24] The priest shall take the lamb of reparation offering and the log of oil, and elevate them as an elevation offering before the Eternal. 25] When the lamb of reparation offering has been slaughtered, the priest shall take some of the blood of the reparation offering and put it on the ridge of the right ear of the one being purified, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot. 26] The priest shall then pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27] and with the finger of his right hand the priest shall sprinkle some of the oil that is in the palm of his left hand seven times before the Eternal. 28] Some of the oil in his palm shall be put by the priest on the ridge of the right ear of the one being purified, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot, over the same places as the blood of the reparation offering; 29] and what is left of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one being purified, to make expiation for that person before the Eternal. 30] That person shall then offer one of the turtledoves or pigeons, depending on the person’s means— 31] whichever that person can afford—the one as a purgation offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the meal offering. Thus the priest shall make expiation before the Eternal for the one being purified. 32] Such is the ritual for one who has a scaly affection and whose means for purification are limited.

33] The Eternal One spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

34] When you enter the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict an eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess, 35] the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, “Something like a plague has appeared upon my house.” 36] The priest shall order the house cleared before the priest enters to examine the plague, so that nothing in the house may become impure; after that the priest shall enter to examine the house. 37] If, when he examines the plague, the plague in the walls of the house is found to consist of greenish or reddish streaks that appear to go deep into the wall, 38] the priest shall come out of the house to the entrance of the house, and close up the house for seven days. 39] On the seventh day the priest shall return. If he sees that the plague has spread on the walls of the house, 40] the priest shall order the stones with the plague in them to be pulled out and cast outside the city into an impure place. 41] The house shall be scraped inside all around, and the coating that is scraped off shall be dumped outside the city in an impure place. 42] They shall take other stones and replace those stones with them, and take other coating and plaster the house.

43] If the plague again breaks out in the house, after the stones have been pulled out and after the house has been scraped and replastered, 44] the priest shall come to examine: if the plague has spread in the house, it is a malignant eruption in the house; it is impure. 45] The house shall be torn down—its stones and timber and all the coating on the house—and taken to an impure place outside the city.

46] Whoever enters the house while it is closed up shall be impure until evening. 47] Whoever sleeps in the house must wash those clothes, and whoever eats in the house must wash those clothes.

48] If, however, the priest comes and sees that the plague has not spread in the house after the house was replastered, the priest shall pronounce the house pure, for the plague has healed. 49] To purge the house, he shall take two birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop. 50] He shall slaughter the one bird over fresh water in an earthen vessel. 51] He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the crimson stuff, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle on the house seven times. 52] Having purged the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the crimson stuff, 53] he shall set the live bird free outside the city in the open country. Thus he shall make expiation for the house, and it shall be pure.

54] Such is the ritual for every eruptive affection—for scalls, 55] for an eruption on a cloth or a house, 56] for swellings, for rashes, or for discolorations— 57] to determine when they are impure and when they are pure. Such is the ritual concerning eruptions.

15:1] The Eternal One spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2] Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:

When any man has a discharge issuing from his member, he is impure. 3] The impurity from his discharge shall mean the following—whether his member runs with the discharge or is stopped up so that there is no discharge, his impurity means this: 4] Any bedding on which the one with the discharge lies shall be impure, and every object on which he sits shall be impure. 5] All those who touch his bedding shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 6] All those who sit on an object on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 7] All those who touch the body of the one with the discharge shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 8] If the one with a discharge spits on someone who is pure, the latter shall wash those clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 9] Any means for riding that the one with a discharge has mounted shall be impure; 10] all those who touch anything that was under him shall be impure until evening; and all those who carry such things shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 11] All those whom the one with a discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 12] An earthen vessel that the one with a discharge touches shall be broken; and any wooden implement shall be rinsed with water.

13] When the one with a discharge becomes purified of his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his purification, wash those clothes, and bathe his body in fresh water; then he shall be pure. 14] On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Eternal at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. 15] The priest shall offer them, the one as a purgation offering and the other as a burnt offering. Thus the priest shall make expiation on his behalf, for his discharge, before the Eternal.

16] When a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and remain impure until evening. 17] All cloth or leather on which semen falls shall be washed in water and remain impure until evening. 18] Likewise for a woman: when a man has carnal relations with her, both shall bathe in water and remain impure until evening.

19] When a woman has a discharge, her discharge being blood from her body, she shall remain in her menstrual separation seven days; whoever touches her shall be impure until evening. 20] Anything that she lies on during her menstrual separation shall be impure; and anything that she sits on shall be impure. 21] All those who touch her bedding shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening; 22] and all those who touch any object on which she has sat shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening. 23] Be it the bedding or be it the object on which she has sat, on touching it one shall be impure until evening. 24] And if a man lies with her, her menstrual separation applies to him; he shall be impure seven days, and any bedding on which he lies shall become impure.

25] When a woman has had a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual separation, or when she has a discharge beyond her period of menstrual separation, she shall be impure, as though at the time of her menstrual separation, as long as her discharge lasts. 26] Any bedding on which she lies while her discharge lasts shall be for her like bedding during her menstrual separation; and any object on which she sits shall become impure, as it does during her menstrual separation: 27] All those who touch them shall be impure—and shall wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain impure until evening.

28] When she becomes purified of her discharge, she shall count off seven days, and after that she shall be pure. 29] On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 30] The priest shall offer the one as a purgation offering and the other as a burnt offering; and the priest shall make expiation on her behalf, for her impure discharge, before the Eternal.

31] You shall put the Israelites on guard against their impurity, lest they die through their impurity by defiling My Tabernacle which is among them.

32] Such is the ritual concerning one who has a discharge: concerning him who has an emission of semen and becomes impure thereby; 33] and concerning her whose condition is that of menstrual separation; and concerning anyone, male or female, who has a discharge; and concerning a man who lies with an impure woman.