Leviticus 14:33-53

33Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 34“When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew1 into a house in that land, 35the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’

36The priest must order that the house be cleared before he enters it to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will become unclean. After this, the priest shall go in to inspect the house.

37He is to examine the house, and if the mildew on the walls consists of green or red depressions that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall, 38the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.

39On the seventh day the priest is to return and inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls, 40he must order that the contaminated stones be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. 41And he shall have the inside of the house scraped completely and the plaster that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the city.

42So different stones must be obtained to replace the contaminated ones, as well as additional mortar to replaster the house.

43If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and replastered, 44the priest must come and inspect it.

If the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. 45It must be torn down with its stones, its timbers, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. 46Anyone who enters the house during any of the days that it is closed up will be unclean until evening. 47And anyone who sleeps in the house or eats in it must wash his clothes.

48If, however, the priest comes and inspects it, and the mildew has not spread after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone.

49He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house; 50and he shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.

51Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52And he shall cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn.

53Finally, he is to release the live bird into the open fields outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.