The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying that when He gave the Israelites the land of Canaan, He might put a spreading mold or mildew in a house (vv. 33-34). If that happened, the owner had to go to the priest and say, “It seems to me that there is a plague in the house” (v. 35). The priest would tell everyone to leave the house before he entered to examine it. If he found greenish or reddish spots spreading in the walls, he would close the house for 7 days and check it again afterward. If the mildew had spread, the infected stones had to be removed. The plaster from the walls needed to be scraped and put outside the city. The house would then be repaired with new stones and new plaster (vv. 36-42).

If the mildew appeared again after the stones had been removed and the house had been replastered, the priest would examine it again. If the plague had spread, he would declare, “It is an unclean plague in the house” (vv. 43-44). The house would then be torn down, and its stones, timber, and plaster would be carried outside the city (v. 45). Anyone who entered the house while it was closed would be unclean until evening. Anyone who slept or ate there had to wash his clothes (vv. 46-47).

If the priest found that the mildew had not spread after the house was re-plastered, he would declare it clean. To complete the purification, he would take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. One bird would be killed over an earthen vessel containing running water, and its blood would be collected. The living bird, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop would be dipped into the blood. The priest would sprinkle the house seven times and then release the living bird. This completed the ceremony for making the house clean (vv. 48-57).

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