Signs of Home Contamination

33 Then 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 mildew [fn] into a house in that land, 35 the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’

36 The 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.

37 He 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, 38 the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.

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

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

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

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