then the priest shall give orders to take two live clean birds, cedar wood, a scarlet string, and hyssop for the one who is to be cleansed.
Parallel translations
- WEB then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
- KJV Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
- BSB the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
- NKJV then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
- NLT he will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The priest commands two living clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop for the cleansing. It matters because these materials make up a vivid, God-given ritual of purification.
Overview
The elements gathered for the rite, two birds, cedar, scarlet, and hyssop, echo the materials of purification used elsewhere in the law. Hyssop especially is associated with the application of cleansing blood (Exodus 12:22; Psalm 51:7). Together they form a picture of atonement and cleansing that finds its fulfillment in Christ, whose blood truly purges the conscience.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 19:6The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer.
- Lev 14:6As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.
- Heb 9:19For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
- Ps 51:7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Exod 12:22You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
- Num 19:18A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave.
- Lev 12:8If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”
- Lev 1:14“‘If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves or of young pigeons.
- Lev 5:7“‘If he can’t afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to Yahweh; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
- Lev 14:49–52To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 14:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.