Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. Leviticus 13:45-46
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten [lepers] cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:17-18
"Unclean! Unclean!"
Isn't that what we all are?
Aren't we all contagious?
Don't we infect all those around us?
Though my heart lives
ever alone
from it spreads contagion with
every polluted word
every secret thought
Don't I cry out "Unclean! Unclean!"
with every crooked darkling step?
covering my mouth lest
I release the death-stench of shame concealed
Aren't we all strangers to each other
sprung from a tainted race?
Oh, my brothers and sisters!
forgive me my contagion
Oh, my Father!
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow
I will cry "Clean! Clean!"
the blood of the Lamb
has made me clean!
Then how would I not
how can I not?
turn back and
at His feet
praise Him?
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned ... Romans 5:12 (ESV)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow ... Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:7, 10
See also Leviticus 14
Photo, Za'atar shrub in Jerusalem (biblical hyssop) by Gilabrand - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16720152
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