Introduction to the Sacrificial Regulations
1:1 Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him1 from the tent of meeting:2 1:2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `When3 someone4 among you presents an offering5 to the LORD,6 you7 must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock.8
Burnt Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd
1:3 "`If his offering is a burnt offering9 from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the doorway of the tent of meeting for its10 acceptance before the LORD. 1:4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement11 on his behalf. 1:5 Then the one presenting the offering12 must slaughter the bull13 before the LORD, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash14 the blood all around on the altar which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 1:6 Next, the one presenting the offering15 must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts, 1:7 and the sons of Aaron, the priests,16 must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 1:8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet17 on the wood that is on the fire on the altar.18 1:9 Finally, the one presenting the offering19 must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar20--it is21 a burnt offering, a gift22 of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Animal from the Flock
1:10 "`If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering23--from the sheep or the goats--he must present a flawless male, 1:11 and must slaughter it on the northern side of the altar before the LORD, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood all around on the altar. 1:12 Next, the one presenting the offering24 must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood which is on the fire, on the altar. 1:13 Then the one presenting the offering25 must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar--it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
From the Birds
1:14 "`If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering from the birds,26 he must present his offering to the LORD from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons.27 1:15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off28 its head and offer it29 up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out on the wall of the altar. 1:16 Then the priest30 must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail wing,31 and throw them32 to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes, 1:17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts.33 Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is on the fire--it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Grain Offering Regulations: Offering of Raw Flour
2:1 "`When a person presents an offering of grain1 to the LORD, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour,2 and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense3 on it. 2:2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest4 must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion5 up in smoke on the altar--it is6 a gift of a soothing aroma to the LORD. 2:3 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons7--it is8 most holy9 from the gifts of the LORD.
Processed Grain Offerings
2:4 "`When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of10 choice wheat flour baked into unleavened11 loaves12 mixed with olive oil or13 unleavened wafers smeared14 with olive oil. 2:5 If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened. 2:6 Crumble it in pieces15 and pour olive oil on it--it is a grain offering. 2:7 If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan,16 it must be made of choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil.17
2:8 "`You must bring the grain offering that must be made from these to the LORD. Present it to the priest,18 and he will bring it near to the altar. 2:9 Then the priest must take up19 from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar--it is20 a gift of a soothing aroma to the LORD. 2:10 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons--it is21 most holy from the gifts of the LORD.
Additional Grain Offering Regulations
2:11 "`No grain offering which you present to the LORD can be made with leaven,22 for you must not offer up in smoke any leaven or honey as a gift to the LORD.23 2:12 You can present them to the LORD as an offering of first fruit,24 but they must not go up to the altar for a soothing aroma. 2:13 Moreover, you must season every one of your grain offerings with salt; you must not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering25--on every one of your grain offerings you must present salt.
2:14 "`If you present a grain offering of first ripe grain to the LORD, you must present your grain offering of first ripe grain as soft kernels roasted in fire--crushed bits of fresh grain.26 2:15 And you must put olive oil on it and set frankincense on it--it is a grain offering. 2:16 Then the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke--some of its crushed bits, some of its olive oil, in addition to all of its frankincense--it is27 a gift to the LORD.
Peace Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd
3:1 "`Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice,1 if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the LORD a flawless male or a female.2 3:2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood all around on the altar.3 3:3 Then the one presenting the offering4 must present a gift to the LORD from the peace offering sacrifice: he must remove the fat which covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails,5 3:4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them which is on the sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver, which he is to remove along with the kidneys.6 3:5 Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on wood on the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the LORD.7
Animal from the Flock
3:6 "`If his offering for a peace offering sacrifice to the LORD is from the flock, he must present a flawless male or female.8 3:7 If he presents a sheep as his offering, he must present it before the LORD. 3:8 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it before the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood all around on the altar. 3:9 Then he must present a gift to the LORD from the peace offering sacrifice: he must remove the complete fatty tail up to the end of the spine, and the fat which covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails,9 3:10 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them which is on the sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver, which he is to remove along with the kidneys.10 3:11 Then the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar as a food gift to the LORD.11
3:12 "`If his offering is a goat he must present it before the LORD, 3:13 lay his hand on its head, and slaughter it before the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood all around on the altar. 3:14 Then he must present from it his offering as a gift to the LORD: the fat which covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails,12 3:15 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them which is on the sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver, which he is to remove along with the kidneys.13 3:16 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a food gift for a soothing aroma--all the fat belongs to the LORD. 3:17 This is14 a perpetual statute throughout your generations15 in all the places where you live: you must never eat any fat or any blood.'"16
Sin Offering Regulations
4:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:1 4:2 "Tell the Israelites, `When a person sins by straying2 from any of the commandments of the LORD which must not be violated, and violates one of them3--
For the Priest
4:3 "`If the anointed priest sins so that the people are guilty,4 on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the LORD5 for a sin offering.6 4:4 He must bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter the bull before the LORD. 4:5 Then the anointed priest must take some of the blood7 of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting. 4:6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle8 some of it9 seven times before the LORD toward10 the front of the veil-canopy11 of the sanctuary. 4:7 The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
4:8 "`Then he must take up all the fat from the sin offering bull:12 the fat which covers the entrails13 and all the fat which is on the entrails, 4:9 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them which is on the sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver which he is to remove along with the kidneys14 4:10 (just as it is taken up from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice)15 and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 4:11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung-- 4:12 all the rest of the bull16--he must bring outside the camp17 to a clean place,18 to the fatty ash pile,19 and he must burn it on the wood with fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.
For the Whole Congregation
4:13 "`If the whole congregation of Israel strays20 and a matter is concealed from the eyes of the assembly, and they violate one of the commandments of the LORD, which must not be violated,21 so they become guilty, 4:14 when the sin they have committed22 becomes known, the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering. They must bring it before the tent of meeting, 4:15 the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and someone must slaughter23 the bull before the LORD. 4:16 Then the anointed priest must bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting, 4:17 and the priest must dip his finger in the blood24 and sprinkle25 some of the blood seven times26 before the LORD toward27 the front of the veil-canopy.28 4:18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
4:19 "`Then the priest29 must take up all its fat from it30 and offer the fat31 up in smoke on the altar. 4:20 He must do to the rest of the bull just as he did to the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do to it.32 So the priest will make atonement33 on their behalf and they will be forgiven.34 4:21 He35 must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp36 and burn it just as he burned the first bull--it is the sin offering of the assembly.
For the Leader
4:22 "`Whenever37 a leader sins and violates one of the commandments of the LORD his God which must not be violated38 by straying,39 and he pleads guilty, 4:23 or his sin that he committed40 is made known to him,41 he must bring his offering, a flawless male goat.42 4:24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter43 it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD--it is a sin offering. 4:25 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering in his fingers and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 4:26 Then the priest44 must offer all of its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat of the peace offering sacrifice. So the priest will make atonement45 on his behalf from his sin and he will be forgiven.46
For the Common Person
4:27 "`If an individual common person sins by straying47 when he violates one of the commandments of the LORD which must not be violated,48 and he pleads guilty 4:28 or his sin that he committed49 is made known to him,50 he must bring his offering, a flawless female goat,51 for his sin52 that he committed. 4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter53 the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the burnt offering altar, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD. So the priest will make atonement54 on his behalf and he will be forgiven.55
4:32 "`But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female. 4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:34 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the burnt offering altar, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 4:35 Then the one who brought the offering56 must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on the other gifts of the LORD. So the priest will make atonement57 on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.58
Additional Sin Offering Regulations
5:1 "`When a person sins1 in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify2 and he is a witness--he either saw or knew what had happened3--if he does not make it known,4 then he will bear his punishment for iniquity.5 5:2 Or when there is6 a person who touches anything ceremonially7 unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or the carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, and it is hidden from him, but he himself has become unclean and is guilty;8 5:3 or when he touches human uncleanness with regard to anything by which he can become unclean9 and it is hidden from him, but he himself has come to know it and is guilty; 5:4 or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly10 with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, and it is hidden from him, but he himself has come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths11-- 5:5 when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things12 he must confess how he has sinned,13 5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt14 to the LORD for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement15 on his behalf for his sin.
5:7 "`If he cannot afford an animal from the flock,16 he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed,17 two turtledoves or two young pigeons,18 to the LORD, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. 5:8 He must bring them to the priest and present first the one that is for a sin offering. The priest19 must pinch20 its head at the nape of its neck, but must not sever the head from the body.21 5:9 Then he must sprinkle22 some of the blood of the sin offering on the wall of the altar, and the remainder of the blood23 must be squeezed out at the base of the altar--it is a sin offering. 5:10 The second bird24 he must make a burnt offering according to the standard regulation.25 So the priest will make atonement26 on behalf of this person from his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.27
5:11 "`If he cannot afford28 two turtledoves or two young pigeons,29 he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed30 a tenth of an ephah31 of choice wheat flour32 for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful, its memorial portion,33 and offer it up in smoke on the altar on the other gifts of the LORD--it is a sin offering. 5:13 So the priest will make atonement34 on his behalf for his sin which he has committed by doing one of these things,35 and he will be forgiven.36 The remainder of the offering37 will belong to the priest like the grain offering.'"38
Guilt Offering Regulations: Known Trespass
5:14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:39 5:15 "When a person commits a trespass40 and sins by straying41 from the regulations about the holy things of the LORD,42 then he must bring his penalty for guilt43 to the LORD, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel,44 for a guilt offering.45 5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated46 he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement47 on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.48
Unknown trespass
5:17 "If a person sins and violates any of the commandments of the LORD which must not be violated49 although he did not know it, but later realizes he is guilty, then he will bear his punishment for iniquity50 5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels,51 for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement52 on his behalf for his error which he committed53 (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven.54 5:19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty to the LORD."
Trespass by Deception and False Oath
6:1(5:20)1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:2 6:2 "When a person sins and commits a trespass3 against the LORD by deceiving his fellow citizen4 in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen,5 6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely6 concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin7-- 6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty,8 then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust,9 or the lost thing that he had found, 6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely.10 He must restore it in full11 and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty.12 6:6 Then he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels,13 for a guilt offering to the priest. 6:7 So the priest will make atonement14 on his behalf before the LORD and he will be forgiven15 for whatever he has done to become guilty."16
Sacrificial Instructions for the Priests: The Burnt Offering
6:8 (6:1)17 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:18 6:9 "Command Aaron and his sons, `This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth19 on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning in it.20 6:10 Then the priest must put on his linen robe and must put linen leggings over his bare flesh, and he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumed on the altar,21 and he must place them22 beside the altar. 6:11 Then he must take off his clothes and put on other clothes, and he must bring the fatty ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially23 clean place, 6:12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning in it.24 It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it. 6:13 A continual fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not be extinguished.
The Grain Offering of the Common Person
6:14 "`This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it25 before the LORD in front of the altar, 6:15 and the priest26 must take up with his hand some the choice wheat flour of the grain offering27 and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion28 up in smoke on the altar29 as a soothing aroma to the LORD.30 6:16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. 6:17 It must not be baked with leaven.31 I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy,32 like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion33 throughout your generations34 from the gifts of the LORD. Anyone who touches these gifts35 must be holy.'"36
The Grain Offering of the Priests
6:19 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:37 6:20 "This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the LORD on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah38 of choice wheat flour39 as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 6:21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked,40 so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces41 as a soothing aroma to the LORD. 6:22 The anointed priest who succeeds him42 from among his sons must do it. It is a perpetual statute; it must be offered up in smoke as a whole offering to the LORD. 6:23 Every grain offering of a priest must be a whole offering; it must not be eaten."
The Sin Offering
6:24 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:43 6:25 "Tell Aaron and his sons, `This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the LORD. It is most holy.44 6:26 The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. 6:27 Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever spatters some of its blood on a garment,45 you must wash46 whatever he spatters it on in a holy place. 6:28 Any clay vessel it is boiled in must be broken, and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel47 must be rubbed out and rinsed in water. 6:29 Any male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy.48 6:30 But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten. It must be burned with fire.
The Guilt Offering
7:1 "`This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. 7:2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they must slaughter the guilt offering, and the officiating priest1 must splash2 the blood all around on the altar. 7:3 Then the one making the offering3 must present all its fat: the fatty tail, the fat which covers the entrails, 7:4 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them which is on the sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver which he must remove along with the kidneys.4 7:5 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar5 as a gift to the LORD. It is a guilt offering. 7:6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.6 7:7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering;7 it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.
Priestly Portions of Burnt and Grain Offerings
7:8 "`The priest who presents someone's burnt offering, the hide of the burnt offering that he presented belongs to the priest; it is his. 7:9 Every grain offering which is baked in the oven or8 made in the pan9 or on the griddle belongs to the priest who presented it; it is his. 7:10 Every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, each one alike.10
The Peace Offering
7:11 "`This is the law of the peace offering sacrifice which he11 is to present to the LORD. 7:12 If he presents it on account of thanksgiving,12 along with the thank offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil,13 and well soaked14 ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour15 mixed with olive oil. 7:13 He must present this grain offering16 in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread which regularly accompany17 the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering. 7:14 He must present one of each kind of grain offering18 as a contribution offering19 to the LORD for the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering; it is his. 7:15 The meat of his20 thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning.
7:16 "`If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice,21 it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day,22 7:17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned with fire on the third day. 7:18 If some of the meat of his peace offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it, since it is spoiled,23 and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity.24 7:19 The meat which touches anything ceremonially25 unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned with fire. As for ceremonially clean meat,26 everyone who is ceremonially clean may eat the meat. 7:20 The person who eats meat from the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the LORD while his uncleanness persists,27 that person will be cut off from his people.28 7:21 When a person touches anything unclean--whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature29--and eats some of the meat of the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the LORD, that person will be cut off from his people.'"30
Sacrificial Instructions for the Common People: Fat and Blood
7:22 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:31 7:23 "Tell the Israelites, `You must not eat any fat of an ox, sheep, or goat. 7:24 Moreover, fat of a carcass32 and fat of an animal torn by beasts may be used for any other purpose,33 but you must certainly never eat it. 7:25 If anyone eats fat from the animal from which he presents a gift to the LORD, the person who eats will be cut off from his people.34 7:26 And you must not eat any blood of the birds or the domesticated land animals in any of the places where you live.35 7:27 Any person who eats any blood, that person will be cut off from his people.'"36
Priestly portions of Peace Offerings
7:28 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:37 7:29 "Tell the Israelites, `The one who presents his peace offering sacrifice to the LORD must bring his offering to the LORD from his peace offering sacrifice. 7:30 With his own hands he must bring the LORD's gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast38 to wave the breast as a wave offering before the LORD,39 7:31 and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. 7:32 The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering40 to the priest from your peace offering sacrifices. 7:33 The one from the sons of Aaron who presents the blood of the peace offering and fat, the right thigh will belong to him as a share, 7:34 for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites from their peace offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion.'"41
7:35 This is the allotment of Aaron and the allotment of his sons from the LORD's gifts on the day Moses42 presented them to serve as priests43 to the LORD. 7:36 This is what the LORD commanded to give to them from the Israelites on the day Moses44 anointed them45--a perpetual allotted portion throughout their generations.46
Summary of Sacrificial Regulations in Leviticus 6:8-7:36
7:37 This is the law47 for the burnt offering, the grain offering,48 the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering,49 and the peace offering sacrifice, 7:38 which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai.
Ordination of the Priests
8:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:1 8:2 "Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, the sin offering bull, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, 8:3 and assemble the whole congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting."2 8:4 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded him, and the congregation assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 8:5 Then Moses said to the congregation: "This is what the LORD has commanded to be done."
Clothing Aaron
8:6 So Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 8:7 Then he3 put the tunic4 on Aaron,5 wrapped the sash around him,6 and clothed him with the robe.7 Next he put the ephod on him8 and placed on him9 the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened it closely to him with it.10 8:8 He then set the breastpiece11 on him and put the Urim and Thummim12 into the breastpiece. 8:9 Finally, he set the turban13 on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem,14 to the front of the turban just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Anointing the Tabernacle and Aaron, and Clothing Aaron's Sons
8:10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them.15 8:11 Next he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and so anointed the altar, all its vessels, and the wash basin and its stand to consecrate them. 8:12 He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate him. 8:13 Moses also brought forward the sons of Aaron, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them,16 and wrapped headdresses on them17 just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Consecration Offerings
8:14 Then he brought near the sin offering bull18 and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin offering bull, 8:15 and he slaughtered it.19 Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar,20 and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it.21 8:16 Then he22 took all the fat that was on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat,23 and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar,24 8:17 but the rest of the bull--its hide, its flesh, and its dung--he burned with fire outside the camp just as the LORD had commanded Moses.25
8:18 Then he presented the burnt offering ram and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 8:19 and he slaughtered it.26 Moses then splashed the blood all around on the altar. 8:20 Then he27 cut the ram into parts,28 and Moses offered the head, the parts, and the suet up in smoke, 8:21 but the entrails and the legs he washed with water,29 and Moses offered the whole ram up in smoke on the altar--it was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, a gift to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.30
8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination,31 and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram 8:23 and he slaughtered it.32 Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron's right earlobe,33 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe34 of his right foot. 8:24 Next he brought the sons of Aaron forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood all around on the altar.
8:25 Then he took the fat--the fatty tail,35 all the fat that was on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat36--and the right thigh,37 8:26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer,38 and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. 8:27 He then put the whole thing on the palms39 of Aaron and his sons, and he waved40 them as a wave offering before the LORD.41 8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar42 on top of the burnt offering--they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the LORD. 8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the LORD from the ram of ordination. It was Moses' share just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Anointing Aaron, his Sons, and their Garments
8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. 8:31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, "Boil the meat at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and there you are to eat it and the bread which is in the ordination offering basket, just as I have commanded43 saying, `Aaron and his sons are to eat it,' 8:32 but the remainder of the meat and the bread44 you must burn with fire. 8:33 And you must not go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day of the fulfillment of your days of ordination, because you must be ordained seven days.45 8:34 What has been done46 on this day the LORD has commanded to be done47 to make atonement for you. 8:35 You must live at the doorway of the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the LORD so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded." 8:36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.
Inauguration of Tabernacle Worship
9:1 On the eighth day1 Moses summoned2 Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 9:2 and said to Aaron, "Take for yourself a calf--a bull of the herd--for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both flawless, and present them before the LORD." 9:3 Then he spoke to the Israelites, "Take a male goat3 for a sin offering and a year old calf and lamb, flawless ones,4 for a burnt offering, 9:4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with olive oil, for today the LORD is going to appear5 to you." 9:5 So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of6 the tent of meeting and the whole congregation presented them and stood before the LORD. 9:6 Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do7 so that the glory of the LORD may appear8 to you." 9:7 Moses then said to Aaron, "Approach the altar and make your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement on behalf of yourself and on behalf of the people;9 and also make the people's offering and make atonement on behalf of them just as the LORD has commanded."
The Sin Offering for the Priests
9:8 So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the sin offering calf which was for himself. 9:9 Then the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 9:10 The fat and the kidneys and the protruding lobe of10 the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar just as the LORD had commanded Moses, 9:11 but the flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.11
The Burnt Offering for the Priests
9:12 He then slaughtered the burnt offering, and the sons of Aaron handed12 the blood to him and he splashed13 it all around on the altar. 9:13 The burnt offering itself they handed14 to him by its parts, including the head,15 and he offered them up in smoke on the altar, 9:14 and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.
The Offerings for the People
9:15 Then he presented the people's offering. He took the sin offering male goat which was for the people, slaughtered it, and performed a decontamination rite with it16 like the first one.17 9:16 He then presented the burnt offering, and did it according to the standard regulation.18 9:17 Next he presented the grain offering, filled his hand with some of it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.19 9:18 Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram--the peace offering sacrifices which were for the people--and the sons of Aaron handed20 the blood to him and he splashed it all around on the altar. 9:19 As for the fat from the ox and from the ram21--the fatty tail, the fat which covers the entrails,22 the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver-- 9:20 they23 set the fat parts on the breasts and he offered the fat parts up in smoke on the altar. 9:21 Finally Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the LORD just as Moses had commanded.
9:22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. 9:23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the tent of meeting and went out and blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 9:24 Then fire went out from the presence of the LORD24 and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.25
Nadab and Abihu
10:1 Then1 the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire2 before the LORD, which he had not commanded them to do. 10:2 So fire went out from the presence of the LORD3 and consumed them so that they died before the LORD. 10:3 Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke: `Among the ones close to me I will show myself holy,4 and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.'"5 So Aaron kept silent. 10:4 Moses then called to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, "Come near, carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp." 10:5 So they came near and carried them away in their tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had spoken. 10:6 Then Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, "Do not6 dishevel the hair of your heads;7 and do not tear your garments, so that you do not die and so that wrath does not come on the whole congregation. Your brothers, all the house of Israel, are to mourn the burning which the LORD has caused,8 10:7 but you must not go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is on you." So they acted according to the word of Moses.
Perpetual Statutes the Lord spoke to Aaron
10:8 Then LORD spoke to Aaron, 10:9 "Do not drink wine or strong drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter into the tent of meeting so that you do not die, which is a perpetual statute throughout your generations,9 10:10 as well as10 to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,11 10:11 and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."
Perpetual Statutes Moses spoke to Aaron
10:12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his remaining sons, "Take the grain offering which remains from the gifts of the LORD and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 10:13 You must eat it in a holy place because it is your allotted portion12 and the allotted portion of your sons from the gifts13 of the LORD, for this is what I have been commanded.14 10:14 Also, the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering you must eat in a ceremonially15 clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you, for they have been given as your allotted portion and the allotted portion of your sons from the peace offering sacrifices of the Israelites.16 10:15 The thigh of the contribution offering and the breast of the wave offering they must bring in addition to the gifts of the fat parts to wave them as a wave offering before the LORD, and it will belong to you and your sons with you for a perpetual statute just as the LORD has commanded."
The Problem with the Inaugural Sin Offering
10:16 Later Moses sought diligently for the sin offering male goat,17 but it had actually been burnt.18 So he became angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's remaining sons, saying, 10:17 "Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation,19 to make atonement on their behalf before the LORD. 10:18 See here!20 Its blood was not brought into the holy place within.21 You should surely have eaten it in the sanctuary just as I commanded." 10:19 But Aaron spoke to Moses, "See here!22 Just today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten a sin offering today would the LORD have been pleased?"23 10:20 When Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied.24
Clean and Unclean Land Creatures
11:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 11:2 "Tell the Israelites, `This is the kind of creature you may eat from among all the animals1 that are on the land. 11:3 Any that divides the hoof--that completely splits the hooves in two2--and that also chews the cud3 among the animals, you may eat. 11:4 However, these4 you must not eat from among those that chew the cud and that divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud5 but there is no dividing the hoof;6 it is unclean to you.7 11:5 The rock badger,8 because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. 11:6 The hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. 11:7 The pig, because it divides the hoof--completely splits the hoof in two9--but does not chew the cud;10 it is unclean to you. 11:8 You must not eat from their meat and you must not touch their carcass;11 they are unclean to you.
Clean and Unclean Water Creatures
11:9 "`These you can eat from all creatures that are in the water: any creatures in the water that have both fins and scales,12 whether in the sea or in the streams,13 you may eat. 11:10 But any creatures that do not have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, from all the swarming things of the water and from all the living creatures that are in the water, are detestable to you. 11:11 Since they are detestable to you, you must not eat their meat and their carcass you must detest. 11:12 Any creature in the water that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.
Clean and Unclean Birds
11:13 "`These you are to detest from among the birds--they must not be eaten, because they are detestable:14 the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 11:14 the kite, the buzzard of any kind,15 11:15 every kind of crow,16 11:16 the eagle owl,17 the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, the hawk of any kind, 11:17 the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl, 11:18 the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey, 11:19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
Clean and Unclean Insects
11:20 "`Every winged swarming thing that walks on all fours18 is detestable to you. 11:21 However, this you may eat from all the winged swarming things that walk on all fours, that have jointed legs19 to hop with on the land. 11:22 These you may eat from them:20 the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, the grasshopper of any kind. 11:23 But any other winged swarming thing that has four legs is detestable to you.
Carcass Uncleanness
11:24 "`By these21 you defile yourselves; anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening, 11:25 and anyone who carries their carcass must wash his garments and will be unclean until the evening.
Inedible Land Quadrupeds
11:26 "`All22 animals that divide the hoof but do not completely split it in two23 and do not chew the cud24 are unclean to you; anyone who touches them becomes unclean.25 11:27 All that walk on their hands among all the creatures that walk on all fours,26 they are unclean to you. Anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening, 11:28 and the one who carries their carcass must wash his garments and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
Creatures that Swarm on the Land
11:29 "`Now this is what is unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the land:27 the rat, the mouse, the large lizard of any kind, 11:30 the gecko, the spotted lizard, the lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. 11:31 These are the ones that are unclean to you among all the swarming things. Anyone who touches them when they die will be unclean until evening. 11:32 Also, anything they fall on28 when they die will become unclean--any wood vessel or garment or article of leather or sackcloth. Any such vessel with which work is done must be immersed in water29 and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean. 11:33 As for any clay vessel they fall into,30 everything in it31 will become unclean and you must break it. 11:34 Any food that may be eaten which becomes soaked with water32 will become unclean. Any drink that may be drunk in any vessel will become unclean.33 11:35 Anything their carcass may fall on will become unclean. An oven or small stove must be smashed to pieces; they are unclean, and they will stay unclean34 to you. 11:36 However, a spring or a cistern which collects water35 will be clean, but one who touches their carcass will be unclean. 11:37 Now, if such a carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown,36 it is clean, 11:38 but if water is put on the seed and such a carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
Edible Land Quadrupeds
11:39 "`Now if an animal37 that you may eat dies,38 whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening. 11:40 One who eats from its carcass must wash his garments and be unclean until the evening, and whoever carries its carcass must wash his garments and be unclean until the evening. 11:41 Every swarming thing that swarms on the land is detestable; it must not be eaten. 11:42 You must not eat anything that crawls39 on its belly or anything that walks on all fours or on any number of legs40 of all the swarming things that swarm on the land, because they are detestable. 11:43 Do not make yourselves detestable by any of the swarming things.41 You must not defile yourselves by them and become unclean by them, 11:44 for I am the LORD your God and you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any of the swarming things that creep on the ground, 11:45 for I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God42 and you are to be holy because I am holy. 11:46 This is the law43 of the land animals, the birds, all the living creatures that move in the water, and all the creatures44 that swarm on the land, 11:47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the living creatures that may be eaten and the living creatures that must not be eaten.'"
Purification of a Woman after Childbirth
12:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 12:2 "Tell the Israelites, `When a woman produces offspring1 and bears a male child,2 she will be unclean seven days, as she is unclean during the days of her menstruation.3 12:3 On4 the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin5 must be circumcised. 12:4 Then she will remain6 thirty-three days in blood purity.7 She must not touch anything holy and she must not enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.8 12:5 If she bears a female child, she will be impure fourteen days as during her menstrual flow, and she will remain sixty-six days in9 blood purity.10
12:6 "`When11 the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a one year old lamb12 for a burnt offering13 and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering14 to the doorway of the tent of meeting, to the priest. 12:7 He15 is to present it before the LORD and make atonement16 on her behalf, and she will be clean17 from her flow of blood.18 This is the law of the one who bears a child, for the male or the female child. 12:8 If she cannot afford a sheep,19 then she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons,20 one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering, and the priest is to make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.'"21
Infections on the Skin
13:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: 13:2 "When someone has1 a swelling2 or a scab3 or a bright spot4 on the skin of his body5 that may become a diseased infection,6 he must be brought to Aaron the priest or one of his sons, the priests.7 13:3 The priest must then examine the infection8 on the skin of the body, and if the hair9 in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body,10 then it is a diseased infection,11 so when the priest examines it12 he must pronounce the person unclean.13
A Bright Spot on the Skin
13:4 "If14 it is a white bright spot on the skin of his body, but it does not appear to be deeper than the skin,15 and the hair has not turned white, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the infection for seven days.16 13:5 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if17 as far as he can see the infection has stayed the same18 and has not spread on the skin,19 then the priest is to quarantine the person for another seven days.20 13:6 The priest must then examine it on the second seventh day,21 and if22 the infection has faded and has not spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person clean.23 It is a scab,24 so he must wash his clothes25 and be clean. 13:7 If, however, the scab is spreading further26 on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, then he must show himself to the priest a second time. 13:8 The priest must then examine it,27 and if28 the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean.29 It is a disease.
A Swelling on the Skin
13:9 "When someone has a diseased infection,30 he must be brought to the priest. 13:10 The priest will then examine it,31 and if32 a white swelling is on the skin, it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling,33 13:11 it is a chronic34 disease on the skin of his body,35 so the priest is to pronounce him unclean.36 The priest37 must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean.38 13:12 If, however, the disease breaks out39 on the skin so that the disease covers all the skin of the person with the infection40 from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see,41 13:13 the priest must then examine it,42 and if43 the disease covers his whole body, he is to pronounce the person with the infection clean.44 He has turned all white, so he is clean.45 13:14 But whenever raw flesh appears in it46 he will be unclean, 13:15 so the priest is to examine the raw flesh47 and pronounce him unclean.48 13:16 If, however,49 the raw flesh once again turns white,50 then he must come to the priest. 13:17 The priest will then examine it,51 and if52 the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the person with the infection clean53--he is clean.
A Boil on the Skin
13:18 "When someone's body has a boil on its skin54 and it heals, 13:19 and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish white bright spot, he must show himself to the priest.55 13:20 The priest will then examine it,56 and if57 it appears to be deeper than the skin58 and its hair has turned white, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean.59 It is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil.60 13:21 If, however,61 the priest examines it, and62 there is no white hair in it, it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days.63 13:22 If 64 it is spreading further65 on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean.66 It is an infection. 13:23 But if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread,67 it is the scar of the boil, so the priest is to pronounce him clean.68
A Burn on the Skin
13:24 "When a body has a burn on its skin69 and the raw area of the burn becomes a reddish white or white bright spot, 13:25 the priest must examine it,70 and if71 the hair has turned white in the bright spot and it appears to be deeper than the skin,72 it is a disease that has broken out in the burn.73 The priest is to pronounce the person unclean.74 It is a diseased infection.75 13:26 If, however,76 the priest examines it and77 there is no white hair in the bright spot, it is not deeper than the skin,78 and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days.79 13:27 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if it is spreading further80 on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. It is a diseased infection.81 13:28 But if the bright spot stays in its place, has not spread on the skin,82 and it has faded, then it is the swelling of the burn, so the priest is to pronounce him clean,83 because it is the scar of the burn.
Scall on the Head or in the Beard
13:29 "When a man or a woman has an infection on the head or in the beard,84 13:30 the priest is to examine the infection,85 and if86 it appears to be deeper than the skin87 and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean.88 It is scall,89 a disease of the head or the beard.90 13:31 But if the priest examines the scall infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin,91 and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall infection for seven days.92 13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day, and if93 the scall has not spread, there is no black hair in it, and the scall does not appear to be deeper than the skin,94 13:33 then the individual is to shave himself,95 but he must not shave the scall, and the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall for another seven days.96 13:34 The priest must then examine the scall on the seventh day, and if97 the scall has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin,98 then the priest is to pronounce him clean.99 So he is to wash his clothes and be clean. 13:35 If, however, the scall spreads further100 on the skin after his purification, 13:36 then the priest is to examine it, and if101 the scall has spread on the skin the priest is not to search further for reddish yellow hair.102 He is unclean. 13:37 If as far as the priest can see the scall has stayed the same103 and black hair has sprouted in it, the scall has been healed. He is clean, so the priest is to pronounce him clean.104
Bright White Spots on the Skin
13:38 "When a man or a woman has bright spots--white bright spots--on the skin of their body, 13:39 the priest is to examine them,105 and if106 the bright spots on the skin of their body are faded white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin. He is clean.107
Baldness on the Head
13:40 "When a man's head is bare so that he is balding in back,108 he is clean. 13:41 If his head is bare on the forehead109 so that he is balding in front,110 he is clean. 13:42 But if there is a reddish white infection in the back or front bald area, it is a disease breaking out in his back or front bald area. 13:43 The priest is to examine it,111 and if112 the swelling of the infection is reddish white in the back or front bald area like the appearance of a disease on the skin of the body,113 13:44 he is a diseased man. He is unclean. The priest must surely pronounce him unclean because of his infection on his head.114
The Life of the Skin Diseased Person
13:45 "As for the diseased person who has the infection,115 his garments must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache,116 and he must call out `Unclean! Unclean!' 13:46 The whole time he has the infection117 he will be continually unclean. He must live in isolation, and his place of residence must be outside the camp.
Infections in Garments, Cloth, or Leather
13:47 "When a garment has a diseased infection in it,118 whether a wool or linen garment,119 13:48 or in the warp or woof120 of the linen or the wool, or in leather or anything made of leather,121 13:49 if the infection122 in the garment or leather or warp or woof or any article of leather is yellowish green or reddish, it is a diseased infection and it must be shown to the priest. 13:50 The priest is to examine and then quarantine the article with the infection for seven days.123 13:51 He must then examine the infection on the seventh day. If the infection has spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in the leather--whatever the article into which the leather was made124--the infection is a malignant disease. It is unclean. 13:52 He must burn the garment or the warp or the woof, whether wool or linen, or any article of leather which has the infection in it. Because it is a malignant disease it must be burned up in the fire. 13:53 But if the priest examines it and125 the infection has not spread in the garment or in the warp or in the woof or in any article of leather, 13:54 the priest is to command that they wash whatever has the infection and quarantine it for a another seven days.126 13:55 The priest must then examine it after the infection has been washed out, and if127 the infection has not changed its appearance128 even though the infection has not spread, it is unclean. You must burn it up in the fire. It is a fungus, whether on the back side or front side of the article.129 13:56 But if the priest has examined it and130 the infection has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear it out of131 the garment or the leather or the warp or the woof. 13:57 Then if132 it still appears again in the garment or the warp or the woof, or in any article of leather, it is an outbreak. Whatever has the infection in it you must burn up in the fire. 13:58 But the garment or the warp or the woof or any article of leather which you wash and infection disappears from it133 is to be washed a second time and it will be clean."
Summary of Infection Regulations
13:59 This is the law134 of the diseased infection in the garment of wool or linen, or the warp or woof, or any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.135
Purification of Diseased Skin Infections
14:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 14:2 "This is the law of the diseased person on the day of his purification, when1 he is brought to the priest.2 14:3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine the infection.3 If the infection of the diseased person has been healed,4 14:4 then the priest will command that two live clean birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric,5 and some twigs of hyssop6 be taken up7 for the one being cleansed.8 14:5 The priest will then command that one bird be slaughtered9 into a clay vessel over fresh water.10 14:6 Then11 he is to take the live bird along with the piece of cedar wood, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the twigs of hyssop, and he is to dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over the fresh water, 14:7 and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed12 from the disease, pronounce him clean,13 and send the live bird away over the open countryside.14
The Seven Days of Purification
14:8 "The one being cleansed15 must then wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water, and so be clean.16 Then afterwards he may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent seven days. 14:9 When the seventh day comes17 he must shave all his hair--his head, his beard, his eyebrows, even all his hair he must shave--and he must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and so be clean.18
The Eighth Day Atonement Rituals
14:10 "On the eighth day he19 must take two flawless male lambs, one flawless yearling female lamb, three-tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a grain offering mixed with olive oil,20 and one log of olive oil,21 14:11 and the priest who pronounces him clean will have the man who is being cleansed stand along with these offerings22 before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
14:12 "The priest is to take one male lamb23 and present it for a guilt offering24 along with the log of olive oil and present them as a wave offering before the LORD.25 14:13 He must then slaughter26 the male lamb in the place where27 the sin offering28 and the burnt offering29 are slaughtered,30 in the holy place, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest;31 it is most holy. 14:14 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed,32 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe33 of his right foot. 14:15 The priest will then take some of the log of olive oil and pour it into his own left hand.34 14:16 Then the priest is to dip his right forefinger into the olive oil35 that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 14:17 The priest will then put some of the rest of the olive oil that is in his hand36 on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering, 14:18 and the remainder of the olive oil37 that is in his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one being cleansed. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the LORD.
14:19 "The priest must then perform the sin offering38 and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he39 is to slaughter the burnt offering, 14:20 and the priest is to offer40 the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest is to make atonement for him and he will be clean.
The Eighth Day Atonement Rituals for the Poor Person
14:21 "If the person is poor and does not have sufficient means,41 he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make atonement for himself, one-tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,42 14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons,43 which is within his means.44 One will be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.45
14:23 "On the eighth day he must bring them for his purification to the priest at the doorway46 of the tent of meeting before the LORD, 14:24 and the priest is to take the male lamb of the guilt offering and the log of olive oil and wave them47 as a wave offering before the LORD. 14:25 Then he is to slaughter the male lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed,48 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe49 of his right foot. 14:26 The priest will then pour some of the olive oil into his own left hand,50 14:27 and sprinkle some of the olive oil that is in his left hand with his right forefinger51 seven times before the LORD. 14:28 Then the priest is to put some of the olive oil that is in his hand52 on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering, 14:29 and the remainder of the olive oil that is in the hand53 of the priest he is to put54 on the head of the one being cleansed to make atonement for him before the LORD.
14:30 "He will then make one of the turtledoves55 or young pigeons which is within his means56 14:31 a sin offering and the other a burnt offering along with the grain offering.57 So the priest is to make atonement for the one being cleansed before the LORD. 14:32 This is the law of the one in whom there is a diseased infection,58 who does not have sufficient means for his purification."59
Purification of Diseased Infected Houses
14:33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:34 "When you enter the land of Canaan which I am about to give60 to you for a possession, and I put61 a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess,62 14:35 then whoever owns the house63 must come and declare to the priest, `Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.' 14:36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared64 before the priest enters to examine the infection65 so that everything in the house66 does not become unclean,67 and afterwards68 the priest will enter to examine the house. 14:37 He is to examine the infection, and if69 the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions,70 and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall,71 14:38 then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days.72 14:39 The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if73 the infection has spread in the walls of the house, 14:40 then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown74 outside the city75 into an unclean place. 14:41 Then he is to have the house scraped76 all around on the inside,77 and the plaster78 which is scraped off79 must be poured out outside the city80 into an unclean place. 14:42 They are then to take other stones and replace those stones,81 and he is to take other plaster and replaster the house.
14:43 "If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has pulled out the stones, scraped the house, and it is replastered,82 14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if83 the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean. 14:45 He must tear down the house,84 its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring it85 outside the city to an unclean place. 14:46 Anyone who enters86 the house all the days he87 has quarantined it will be unclean until evening. 14:47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash his clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes.
14:48 "If, however, the priest enters88 and examines it, and the89 infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest is to pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed. 14:49 Then he90 is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop91 to decontaminate92 the house, 14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water.93 14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 14:52 So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric, 14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city94 into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.
Summary of Purification Regulations for Infections
14:54 "This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall,95 14:55 for the diseased garment,96 for the house,97 14:56 for the swelling,98 for the scab,99 and for the bright spot,100 14:57 to teach when something is unclean and when it is clean.101 This is the law of disease."102
Male Bodily Discharges
15:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: 15:2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `When any man1 has a discharge2 from his body,3 his discharge is unclean. 15:3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge4--whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, he is unclean. All the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge,5 this is his uncleanness.6
15:4 "`Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean,7 and any furniture he sits on will be unclean.8 15:5 Anyone who touches his bed9 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.10 15:6 The one who sits on the furniture the man with a discharge sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:7 The one who touches the body11 of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:8 If the man with a discharge spits on a clean person,12 that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:9 Any means of riding13 the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him14 will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items15 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water16 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:12 A clay vessel17 which the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed in water.
Purity Regulations for Male Bodily Discharges
15:13 "`When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his garments, bathe in fresh water,18 and be clean. 15:14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons,19 and he is to present himself20 before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest, 15:15 and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering21 and the other a burnt offering.22 So the priest23 is to make atonement for him before the LORD from his discharge.
15:16 "`When a man has a seminal emission,24 he must bathe his whole body in water25 and be unclean until evening, 15:17 and he must wash in water any clothing or leather that has semen on it, and it will be unclean until evening. 15:18 When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is a seminal emission,26 they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
Female Bodily Discharges
15:19 "`When a woman has a discharge27 and her discharge is blood from her body,28 she is to be in her menstruation29 seven days and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 15:20 Anything on which she lies during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything on which she sits will be unclean. 15:21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on,30 when he touches it31 he will be unclean until evening, 15:24 and if a man actually has sexual relations with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him,32 then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.
15:25 "`When a woman's discharge of blood flows33 many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation,34 all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation--she is unclean. 15:26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any vessel she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation, 15:27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.35
Purity Regulations from Female Bodily Discharges
15:28 "`If36 she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons37 and she must bring them to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting, 15:30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.38 So the priest39 is to make atonement for her before the LORD from her discharge of impurity.
Summary of Purification Regulations for Bodily Discharges
15:31 "`Thus you40 are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they41 do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst. 15:32 This is the law of the one with a discharge: the one who has a seminal emission42 and becomes unclean by it,43 15:33 the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female,44 and a man45 who has sexual relations with an unclean woman.'"
The Day of Atonement
16:1 The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons when they approached the presence of the LORD1 and died, 16:2 and the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy2 in front of the atonement plate3 that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.
Day of Atonement Offerings
16:3 "In this way Aaron is to enter into the holy place--with a young bull4 for a sin offering5 and a ram for a burnt offering.6 16:4 He must put on a holy linen tunic,7 linen leggings are to cover his body,8 and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash9 and wrap his head with a linen turban.10 They are holy garments, so he must bathe11 his body in water and put them on. 16:5 He must also take12 two male goats13 from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 16:6 Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. 16:7 He must then take the two goats14 and stand them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, 16:8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats,15 one lot for the LORD and one lot for Azazel.16 16:9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the LORD,17 and he is to make it a sin offering, 16:10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive18 before the LORD to make atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness.19
The Sin Offering Sacrificial Procedures
16:11 "Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin offering bull which is for himself, 16:12 and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD20 and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense,21 and bring them inside the veil-canopy.22 16:13 He must then put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the atonement plate which is above the ark of the testimony,23 so that he will not die.24 16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate,25 and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger.26
16:15 "He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy,27 and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: he is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate. 16:16 So28 he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins,29 and thus he is to do for the tent of meeting which resides with them in the midst of their impurities. 16:17 Nobody is to be in the tent of meeting30 when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out; when he makes atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel.
16:18 "Then31 he is to go out to the altar which is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take32 some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. 16:19 Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it33 from the impurities of the Israelites.
The Live Goat Ritual Procedures
16:20 "When he has finished atoning the holy place,34 the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins,35 and thus he is to put them36 on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready.37 16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land,38 so he is to send the goat away39 in the wilderness.
The Concluding Rituals
16:23 "Aaron must then enter40 the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the tent of meeting, and leave them there. 16:24 Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people. So he is to make atonement41 on behalf of himself and the people.42
16:25 "Then the fat of the sin offering43 he is to offer up in smoke on the altar, 16:26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel44 must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterwards he may reenter the camp. 16:27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp45 and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned with fire,46 16:28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he may reenter the camp.
Review of the Day of Atonement
16:29 "This is to be a perpetual statute for you.47 In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves48 and do no work,49 both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides50 in your midst, 16:30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the LORD.51 16:31 It is to be a sabbath of complete restfulness for you, and you must humble yourselves.52 It is a perpetual statute.53
16:32 "The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as priest in place of his father54 is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 16:33 and he is to atone the Most Holy Place,55 he is to atone the tent of meeting and the altar,56 and he is to make atonement for57 the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 16:34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you58 to make atonement for the Israelites from all their sins once a year."59 So he did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.60
The Slaughter of Animals
17:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 17:2 "Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them: `This is the word that the LORD has commanded: 17:3 "Blood guilt1 will be accounted to any man2 from the house of Israel3 who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp,4 17:4 but has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting5 to present it as6 an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people.7 17:5 This is so that8 the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field9 to the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest and sacrifice them there as peace offering sacrifices to the LORD. 17:6 The priest is to splash the blood on the altar10 of the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the LORD. 17:7 So they must no longer offer11 their sacrifices to the goat-demons,12 acting like prostitutes by going after them.13 This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.14
17:8 "You are to say to them: `Any man15 from the house of Israel or16 from the foreigners who reside17 in their18 midst, who offers19 a burnt offering or a sacrifice 17:9 but does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it20 to the LORD--that person will be cut off from his people.21
Prohibition Against Eating Blood
17:10 "`Any man22 from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside23 in their24 midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people,25 17:11 for the life of the flesh is in the blood.26 So I myself have assigned it to you27 on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.28 17:12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: no person among you is to eat blood,29 and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood.30
17:13 "`Any man from the Israelites31 or from the foreigners who reside32 in their33 midst who hunts a wild animal34 or a bird that may be eaten35 must pour out its blood and cover it with soil, 17:14 for the life of all flesh--its blood is its life.36 So I have said to the Israelites: the blood of every living thing37 you must not eat because the life of every living thing is its blood--all who eat it will be cut off.38
Regulations for Eating Carcasses
17:15 "`Any person39 who eats a carcass40 or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner,41 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, be unclean until evening, and then become clean. 17:16 But if he does not wash his clothes42 and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for iniquity.'"43
Exhortation to Obedience and Life
18:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 18:2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `I am the LORD your God. 18:3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living,1 and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you;2 you must not3 walk in their statutes. 18:4 You must observe my regulations4 and you must be sure to walk in my statutes.5 I am the LORD your God. 18:5 So you must keep6 my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them.7 I am the LORD.
Laws of Sexual Relations
18:6 "`No man is to approach any close relative8 to have sexual relations with her.9 I am the LORD. 18:7 You must not10 expose the nakedness of your father by having sexual relations with your mother.11 She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. 18:8 You must not have sexual relations with your father's wife; she is the nakedness of your father.12 18:9 You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother,13 whether she is born in the same household or born outside;14 you must not have sexual relations with them.15 18:10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness.16 18:11 You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.17 18:12 You must not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is the flesh of your father.18 18:13 You must not have sexual relations with your mother's sister, because she is the flesh of your mother. 18:14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father's brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual relations with her.19 She is your aunt.20 18:15 You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is the wife of your son, you must not have sexual relations with her. 18:16 You must not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; she is the nakedness of your brother.21 18:17 You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either the daughter of her son or the daughter of her daughter to have sexual relations with her.22 They are closely related to her23--it is lewdness.24 18:18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife25 while she is still alive,26 to have sexual relations with her.
18:19 "`You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity27 to have sexual relations with her. 18:20 You must not have sexual intercourse28 with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech,29 so that you do not profane30 the name of your God. I am the LORD! 18:22 You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman;31 it is a detestable act.32 18:23 You must not have sexual intercourse33 with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it;34 it is a perversion.35
Warning Against the Abominations of the Nations
18:24 "`Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations (which I am about to drive out before you)36 have been defiled with all these things. 18:25 Therefore37 the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity on it,38 so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 18:26 You yourselves must obey39 my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner,40 18:27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations,41 and the land has become unclean. 18:28 So do not let the land vomit you out because you defile it42 just as it has vomited out the nations43 that were before you. 18:29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people.44 18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes45 that have been done before you, so that you do not46 defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.'"
Religious and Social Regulations
19:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 19:2 "Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, `You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father,1 and you must keep my sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. 19:4 Do not turn to idols,2 and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the LORD your God.
Eating the Peace Offering
19:5 "`When you sacrifice a peace offering sacrifice to the LORD, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you.3 19:6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day,4 but what is left over until the third day must be burned with fire. 19:7 If, however, it is eaten5 on the third day, it is spoiled,6 it will not be accepted, 19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity7 because he has profaned8 what is holy to the LORD.9 That person will be cut off from his people.10
Leaving the Gleanings
19:9 "`When you gather in the harvest11 of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field,12 and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. 19:10 You must not pick your vineyard bare,13 and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
Dealing Honestly
19:11 "`You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen.14 19:12 You must not swear falsely15 in my name, so that you do not profane16 the name of your God. I am the LORD. 19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him.17 You must not hold back18 the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. 19:14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person.19 You must fear20 your God; I am the LORD.
Justice, Love, and Propriety
19:15 "`You21 must not deal unjustly in judgment:22 you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich.23 You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.24 19:16 You must not walk about as a slanderer among your people.25 You must not stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake.26 I am the LORD. 19:17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him.27 19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge28 against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself.29 I am the LORD. 19:19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed,30 you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear31 a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.32
Lying with a Slave Woman
19:20 "`When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman,33 although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to compensate.34 They must not be put to death, because she was not free. 19:21 He must bring his guilt offering to the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, a guilt offering ram,35 19:22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed,36 and he will be forgiven37 of his sin38 that he has committed.
The Produce of Fruit Trees
19:23 "`When you enter the land and plant any tree for food,39 you must consider its fruit to be forbidden.40 Three years it will be forbidden to you;41 it must not be eaten. 19:24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings42 to the LORD. 19:25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest.43 I am the LORD your God.
Blood, Hair, and Body
19:26 "`You must not eat anything with the blood still in it.44 You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.45 19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard.46 19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person47 or incise a tattoo on yourself.48 I am the LORD. 19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute,49 so that the whole land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.50
Purity, Honor, Respect, and Honesty
19:30 "`You must keep my sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the LORD. 19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits51 to become unclean by them. I am the LORD your God. 19:32 You must rise in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the LORD. 19:33 When a foreigner resides52 with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 19:34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so53 you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. 19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or capacity.54 19:36 You must have honest balances,55 honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin.56 I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations.57 I am the LORD.'"
Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship
20:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 20:2 "You are to say to the Israelites, `Any man from the children of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in Israel1 who gives any of his children2 to Molech3 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones.4 20:3 I myself will set my face5 against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people,6 because he has given some of his children7 to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.8 20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes9 to that man10 when he gives some of his children11 to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut him off from the midst of his people--him and all who follow after him in prostitution, to commit prostitution by going after Molech.12
Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums13
20:6 "`The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits14 to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face15 against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.
Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience
20:7 "`You must sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am the LORD your God. 20:8 You must be sure to obey my statutes.16 I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Family Life and Sexual Prohibitions17
20:9 "`If anyone18 curses his father and mother19 he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself.20 20:10 If a man21 commits adultery with his neighbor's wife,22 both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 20:11 If a man has sexual relations with his father's wife, he has exposed his father's nakedness.23 Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.24 20:12 If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion;25 their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman,26 the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:14 If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother,27 it is lewdness.28 Both he and they must be burned with fire,29 so there is no lewdness in your midst. 20:15 If a man has sexual intercourse30 with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 20:16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it,31 you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:17 "`If a man has sexual intercourse with32 his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people.33 He has exposed his sister's nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.34 20:18 If a man has sexual relations with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them35 must be cut off from the midst of their people. 20:19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister and your father's sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative.36 They must bear their punishment for iniquity.37 20:20 If a man has sexual relations with his aunt, he has exposed the nakedness of his uncle; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless. 20:21 If a man has sexual relations with38 his brother's wife, it is indecency. He has exposed the nakedness of his brother;39 they will be childless.
Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience
20:22 "`You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations,40 so that41 the land I am about to bring you into to take up residence does not vomit you out. 20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation42 which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I feel disgust against them. 20:24 So I have said to you: you yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God who has set you apart from the other peoples.43 20:25 Therefore you must distinguish44 between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground--creatures45 I have distinguished for you as unclean.46 20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.
Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums
20:27 "`A man or woman who47 has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit48 must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones.'"49
Rules for the Priests
21:1 The LORD said to Moses: "Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron--say to them, `For a dead person1 no priest2 is to defile himself among his people,3 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him;4 his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him,5 who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself.6 21:5 Priests7 must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body.8
21:6 "`They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane9 the name of their God because they are the ones who present the LORD's gifts,10 the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy.11 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution,12 nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband,13 for the priest14 is holy to his God.15 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of his God. He must be holy to you because I, the LORD who sanctifies you, am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned with fire.
Rules for the High Priest
21:10 "`The high16 priest--who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained17 to wear the priestly garments--must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments.18 21:11 He must not go where there is a dead person;19 he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane20 the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin.21 21:14 He must not marry22 a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people23 as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people,24 for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"
Rules for the Priesthood
21:16 The LORD spoke to Moses: 21:17 "Tell Aaron, `No man from your descendants throughout their generations25 who has a physical flaw26 is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly27 no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose,28 or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm,29 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf,30 or one with a spot in his eye,31 or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash,32 or a crushed testicle. 21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward33 to present the LORD's gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, 21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy34 or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. So35 he must not profane my holy places, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"
21:24 So36 Moses spoke these things37 to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.
Regulations for the Eating of Priestly Stipends
22:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 22:2 "Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy offerings1 of the Israelites, which they consecrate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name.2 I am the LORD. 22:3 Say to them, `Throughout your generations,3 if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate4 to the LORD while he is impure,5 that person must be cut off from before me.6 I am the LORD. 22:4 No man7 from the descendants of Aaron who is diseased or has a discharge8 may eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. The one9 who touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person,10 or a man who has a seminal emission,11 22:5 or a man who touches a swarming thing by which he becomes unclean,12 or touches a person13 by which he becomes unclean, whatever his impurity14-- 22:6 the person who touches it15 will be unclean until evening and must not eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body in water. 22:7 When the sun goes down he will be clean, and afterward he may eat from the holy offerings because it is his food. 22:8 He must not eat a carcass16 or an animal torn by beasts and thus become unclean by it. I am the LORD. 22:9 They must keep my charge so that they do not incur sin on account of it17 and therefore die18 because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
22:10 "`No lay person19 may eat anything holy. Neither a priest's lodger20 nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy, 22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money,21 that person22 may eat the holy offerings,23 and those born in the priest's24 own house may eat his food.25 22:12 If a priest's daughter marries a lay person,26 she may not eat the holy contribution offerings,27 22:13 but if a priest's daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in28 her father's house as in her youth,29 she may eat from her father's food, but no lay person may eat it.
22:14 "`If a man eats a holy offering by mistake,30 he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest.31 22:15 They32 must not profane the holy offerings of the Israelites which they contribute33 to the LORD, 22:16 and so cause them to incur a penalty for guilt34 when they eat their holy offerings,35 for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"
Regulations for Offering Votive and Freewill Offerings
22:17 The LORD spoke to Moses: 22:18 "Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them, `When any man36 from the house of Israel and from the foreigners in Israel37 presents his offering for any of the votive or freewill offerings which they present to the LORD as a burnt offering, 22:19 for it to be acceptable for your benefit38 it must be a flawless male from39 the cattle, sheep, or goats. 22:20 You must not present anything that has a flaw40 because it will not be acceptable for your benefit.41 22:21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the LORD for a special votive offering42 or for a freewill offering from43 the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable;44 it must have no flaw.45
22:22 "`You must not present to the LORD something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore,46 or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash.47 You must not give any of these as a gift48 on the altar to the LORD. 22:23 As for an ox49 or a sheep with a limb too long or stunted,50 you may present it as a freewill offering, but it will not be acceptable for a votive offering.51 22:24 You must not present to the LORD something with testicles that are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut off;52 you must not do this in your land. 22:25 Even from a foreigner53 you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed;54 they will not be acceptable for your benefit.'"
22:26 The LORD spoke to Moses: 22:27 "When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of55 its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift56 to the LORD. 22:28 You must not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young57 on the same day.58 22:29 When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, you must sacrifice it so that it is acceptable for your benefit.59 22:30 On that very day60 it must be eaten; you must not leave any part of it61 over until morning. I am the LORD.
22:31 "You must be sure to do my commandments.62 I am the LORD. 22:32 You must not profane my holy name and I will be sanctified in the midst of the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 22:33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God.63 I am the LORD."
Regulations for Israel's Appointed Times
23:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 23:2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `These are the LORD's appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies--my appointed times:1
The Weekly Sabbath
23:3 "`Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a sabbath of complete rest,2 a holy assembly. You must not do any work, it is a sabbath to the LORD in all the places where you live.
The Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread
23:4 "`These are the LORD's appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,3 is a passover offering to the LORD. 23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month4 will be the festival of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 23:7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work.5 23:8 You must present a gift to the LORD for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.'"
The Presentation of First Fruits
23:9 The LORD spoke to Moses: 23:10 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest,6 then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest7 to the priest, 23:11 and he must wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for your benefit8--on the day after the sabbath the priest is to wave it.9 23:12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer10 a flawless yearling lamb11 for a burnt offering to the LORD, 23:13 along with its grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of12 choice wheat flour13 mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the LORD, a soothing aroma,14 and its drink offering, one fourth of a hin of wine.15 23:14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day,16 until you bring the offering of your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations17 in all the places where you live.
The Festival of Weeks
23:15 "`You must count for yourselves seven sabbaths from the day after the sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks.18 23:16 You must count fifty days--until the day after the seventh sabbath--and then19 you must present a new grain offering to the LORD. 23:17 From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of20 bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the LORD. 23:18 Along with the loaves of bread,21 you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs,22 one young bull,23 and two rams.24 They are to be a burnt offering to the LORD along with their grain offering25 and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the LORD.26 23:19 You must also offer27 one male goat28 for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace offering sacrifice, 23:20 and the priest is to wave them--the two lambs29--along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the LORD; they will be holy to the LORD for the priest.
23:21 "`On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you.30 You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.31 23:22 When you gather in the harvest32 of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field,33 and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.'"34
The Festival of Horn Blasts
23:23 The LORD spoke to Moses: 23:24 "Tell the Israelites, `In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a complete rest, a memorial announced by loud horn blasts,35 a holy assembly. 23:25 You must not do any regular work, but36 you must present a gift to the LORD.'"
The Day of Atonement
23:26 The LORD spoke to Moses: 23:27 "The37 tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.38 It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves39 and present a gift to the LORD. 23:28 You must not do any work on this particular day,40 because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves41 before the LORD your God. 23:29 Indeed,42 any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people.43 23:30 As for any person44 who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate45 that person from the midst of his people!46 23:31 You must not do any work. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations47 in all the places where you live. 23:32 It is a sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your sabbath."48
The Festival of Booths
23:33 The LORD spoke to Moses: 23:34 "Tell the Israelites, `On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Temporary Shelters49 for seven days to the LORD. 23:35 On the first day is a holy assembly; you must do no regular work.50 23:36 For seven days you must present a gift to the LORD. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly day;51 you must not do any regular work.
23:37 "`These are the appointed times of the LORD that you must proclaim as holy assemblies to present a gift to the LORD--burnt offering, grain offering, sacrifice, and drink offerings,52 each day according to its regulation,53 23:38 besides54 all your freewill offerings which you must give to the LORD.
23:39 "`On55 the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you must celebrate a pilgrim festival of the LORD for seven days. On the first day is a complete rest and on the eighth day is complete rest. 23:40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic fruit trees56--palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook--and you must rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 23:41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the LORD for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations;57 you must celebrate it in the seventh month. 23:42 You must live in temporary shelters58 for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in temporary shelters,59 23:43 so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in temporary shelters60 when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'"
23:44 So Moses spoke about the appointed times of the LORD to the Israelites.61
Regulations for the Lampstand and Table of Bread
24:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 24:2 "Command the Israelites to bring1 to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.2 24:3 Outside the veil-canopy3 of the congregation in the tent of meeting Aaron4 must arrange it from evening until morning before the LORD continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations.5 24:4 On the ceremonially pure lampstand6 he must arrange the lamps before the LORD continually.
24:5 "You must take choice wheat flour7 and bake twelve loaves;8 there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in9 each loaf, 24:6 and you must set them in two rows, six in a row,10 on the ceremonially pure table before the LORD. 24:7 You must put pure frankincense11 on each row,12 and it will become a memorial portion13 for the bread, a gift14 to the LORD. 24:8 Each sabbath day15 Aaron16 must arrange it before the LORD continually; this is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant. 24:9 It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion17 from the gifts of the LORD."
A Case of Blaspheming the Name
24:10 Now18 a son of an Israelite woman whose father was an Egyptian went out among the Israelites, and the son of the Israelite woman and an Israelite man19 had a fight in the camp. 24:11 The son of the Israelite woman misused the Name and cursed,20 so they brought him to Moses. Now the name of his mother was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 24:12 So they placed him in custody until they were able21 to make a clear legal decision for themselves based on words from the mouth of the LORD.22
24:13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses: 24:14 "Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him. 24:15 Moreover,23 you are to tell the Israelites, `If any man curses his God24 he will bear responsibility for his sin, 24:16 and one who misuses25 the name of the LORD must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death.
24:17 "`If a man beats any person to death,26 he must be put to death. 24:18 One who beats an animal to death27 must make restitution for it, life for life.28 24:19 If a man inflicts an injury on29 his fellow citizen,30 just as he has done it must be done to him-- 24:20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth--just as he inflicts an injury on a person31 that same injury32 must be inflicted on him. 24:21 One who beats an animal to death33 must make restitution for it, but34 one who beats a person to death must be put to death. 24:22 There will be one regulation35 for you, whether a foreigner or a native citizen, for I am the LORD your God.'"
24:23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. So the Israelites did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Regulations for the Sabbatical Year
25:1 The LORD spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: 25:2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a sabbath1 to the LORD. 25:3 Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce,2 25:4 but in the seventh year the land must have a sabbath of complete rest3--a sabbath to the LORD. You must not sow your field or4 prune your vineyard. 25:5 You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned5 vines; the land must have a year of complete rest. 25:6 You may have the sabbath produce6 of the land to eat--you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you,7 25:7 your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land--all its produce will be for you8 to eat.
Regulations for the Jubilee Year of Release
25:8 "`You must count off9 seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years,10 and the days of the seven sabbaths of years will amount to forty-nine years.11 25:9 You must sound loud horn blasts12--in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement--you must sound the horn in your entire land. 25:10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year,13 and you must proclaim a release14 in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee;15 each one of you must return16 to his property and each one of you must return to his clan. 25:11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines.17 25:12 Because that year is a jubilee, it will be holy to you--you may eat its produce18 from the field.
Release of Landed Property
25:13 "`In this year of jubilee you must each return19 to your property. 25:14 If you make a sale20 to your fellow citizen21 or buy22 from your fellow citizen, no one is to oppress his brother.23 25:15 You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since24 the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left.25 25:16 The more years there are,26 the more you may make its purchase price, and the fewer years there are,27 the less you must make its purchase price, because he is only selling to you a number of years of28 produce. 25:17 No one is to oppress his fellow citizen,29 but you must fear your God, because I am the LORD your God. 25:18 You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them30 so that you may live securely in the land.31
25:19 "`The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied,32 and you may live securely in the land. 25:20 If you say, `What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?' 25:21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield33 the produce34 for three years, 25:22 and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year's produce35--old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year's produce,36 you may eat old produce. 25:23 The land must not be sold without reclaim37 because the land belongs to me, for you are foreigners and residents with me.38 25:24 In all your landed property39 you must provide for the right of redemption of the land.40
25:25 "`If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his near redeemer is to come to you and redeem what his brother sold.41 25:26 If a man has no redeemer, but he prospers42 and gains enough for its redemption,43 25:27 he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold,44 refund the balance45 to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property. 25:28 If he has not prospered enough to refund46 a balance to him, then what he sold47 will be in the hand of the one who bought it until the jubilee year, but it must revert48 in the jubilee and he may return to his property.
Release of Houses
25:29 "`If a man sells a residential house in a walled city,49 its right of redemption must extend50 until one full year from its sale;51 its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year.52 25:30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended,53 the house in the walled city54 will belong without reclaim55 to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee. 25:31 The houses of villages, however,56 which have no wall surrounding them57 must be considered as the field58 of the land; it will have the right of redemption and must revert in the jubilee. 25:32 As for59 the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess60--the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption. 25:33 Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem--the sale of a house which is his property in a city--must revert in the jubilee,61 because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites. 25:34 Moreover,62 the open field areas of their cities63 must not be sold because it is their perpetual possession.
Debt and Slave Regulations
25:35 "`If your brother becomes impoverished and is indebted to you,64 you must support65 him; he must live66 with you like a foreign resident.67 25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him,68 but you must fear your God and your brother must live69 with you. 25:37 You must not lend him money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit.70 25:38 I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan--to be your God.71
25:39 "`If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service.72 25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner;73 he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then74 he may go free,75 he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.76 25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale.77 25:43 You must not rule over him harshly,78 but you must fear your God.
25:44 "`As for your male and female slaves79 who may belong to you--you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you.80 25:45 Also you may buy slaves81 from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are82 with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property. 25:46 You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly.83
25:47 "`If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers84 and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that85 he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member86 of a foreigner's family, 25:48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption.87 One of his brothers may redeem him, 25:49 or his uncle or his cousin88 may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives--his family89--may redeem him, or if90 he prospers he may redeem himself. 25:50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years91 from the year he sold himself to him until the jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him.92 25:51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them93 he must refund part of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, 25:52 but if only a few years remain94 until the jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. 25:53 He must be with the one who bought him95 like a yearly hired worker.96 The one who bought him97 must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 25:54 If, however,98 he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free99 in the jubilee year, he and his children with him, 25:55 because the Israelites are my own servants;100 they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
Exhortation to Obedience
26:1 "`You must not make for yourselves idols,1 so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before2 it, for I am the LORD your God. 26:2 You must keep my sabbaths and reverence3 my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
The Benefits of Obedience
26:3 "`If you walk in my statutes and be sure to obey my commandments,4 26:4 I will give your rains in their time so that5 the land will give its yield and the trees of the field will produce their fruit.6 26:5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes,7 and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so8 you will eat your bread until you are satisfied,9 and you will live securely in your land. 26:6 I will grant peace in the land so that10 you will lie down without anyone terrifying you.11 I will remove harmful animals12 from the land, and no sword of war13 will pass through your land. 26:7 You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.14 26:8 Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 26:9 I will turn to you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and maintain15 my covenant with you. 26:10 You will still be eating stored produce from the previous year,16 and will have to clean out what is stored from the previous year to make room for new.17
26:11 "`I will put my tabernacle18 in your midst and I will not abhor you.19 26:12 I will walk about among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people. 26:13 I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves,20 and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright.
The Repercussions of Disobedience
26:14 "`If, however,21 you do not obey me and keep22 all these commandments-- 26:15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep23 all my commandments and you break my covenant-- 26:16 I for my part24 will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life.25 You will sow your seed in vain because26 your enemies will eat it.27 26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
26:18 "`If, in spite of all these things,28 you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins.29 26:19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 26:20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land30 will not produce their fruit.
26:21 "`If you walk in hostility against me31 and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction32 seven times according to your sins. 26:22 I will send the wild animals33 against you and they will bereave you of your children,34 annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population35 so that your roads will become deserted.
26:23 "`If in spite of these things36 you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me,37 26:24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you38 seven times on account of your sins. 26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance.39 Although40 you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands.41 26:26 When I break off your supply of bread,42 ten women will bake bread in one oven; they will allocate your bread by weight,43 and you will eat and not be satisfied.
26:27 "`If in spite of this44 you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me,45 26:28 I will walk in hostile rage against you46 and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.47 26:30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars,48 and I will stack your corpses on top of the "corpses" of your idols.49 I will abhor you.50 26:31 I will lay your cities waste51 and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 26:32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword52 after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.
26:34 "`Then the land will make up for53 its sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its sabbaths. 26:35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have54 on your sabbaths when you lived on it.
26:36 "`As for55 the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their heart in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer. 26:37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though56 there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to stand up57 for you before your enemies. 26:38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.
Restoration through Confession and Repentance
26:39 "`As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of58 their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors'59 iniquities which are with them. 26:40 However, when60 they confess their iniquity and their ancestors' iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me,61 by which they also walked62 in hostility against me63 26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies) and64 then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for65 their iniquity, 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham,66 and I will remember the land. 26:43 The land will be abandoned by them67 in order that it may make up for68 its sabbaths while it is made desolate69 without them,70 and they will make up for their iniquity because71 they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred72 my statutes. 26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. 26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors73 whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.'"
Summary Colophon
26:46 These are the statutes, regulations, and instructions which the LORD established74 between himself and the Israelites at Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
Redemption of Vowed People
27:1 The LORD spoke to Moses: 27:2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, `When a man makes a special votive offering1 based on the conversion value of persons to the LORD,2 27:3 the conversion value of the male3 from twenty years up to sixty years old,4 the conversion value is fifty shekels by the standard of the sanctuary shekel.5 27:4 If the person is a female, the conversion value is thirty shekels. 27:5 If the person is from five years up to twenty years old, the conversion value of the male is twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 27:6 If the person is one month up to five years old, the conversion value of the male is five shekels of silver,6 and for the female the conversion value is three shekels of silver. 27:7 If the person is from sixty years old and older, if he is a male the conversion value is fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 27:8 If he is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value;7 according to what the man who made the vow can afford,8 the priest will establish his conversion value.
Redemption of Vowed Animals
27:9 "`If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented9 to the LORD, anything which he gives to the LORD from this kind of animal10 will be holy. 27:10 He must not replace or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good, and if he does indeed exchange one animal for another animal, then both the original animal11 and its substitute will be holy. 27:11 If what is vowed is an unclean animal, from which an offering must not be presented to the LORD, then he must stand the animal before the priest, 27:12 and the priest will establish its conversion value,12 whether good or bad. According to the assessed conversion value of the priest, thus it will be. 27:13 If, however, the person who made the vow redeems it,13 he must add one fifth to14 its conversion value.
Redemption of Vowed Houses
27:14 "`If a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand.15 27:15 If the one who consecrates it redeems his house, he must add to it16 one fifth of its conversion value in silver, and it will belong to him.17
Redemption of Vowed Fields
27:16 "`If a man consecrates to the LORD some of his own landed property, the conversion value must be calculated in accordance with the amount of its seed needed to sow it,18 a homer of barley seed being priced at fifty shekels of silver.19 27:17 If he consecrates his field in the jubilee year,20 the conversion value will stand, 27:18 but if21 he consecrates his field after the jubilee, the priest will calculate the price22 for him according to the years that are left until the next jubilee year, and it will be deducted from the conversion value. 27:19 If, however, the one who consecrated the field redeems it,23 he must add to it one fifth of the conversion price24 and it will belong to him.25 27:20 If he does not redeem the field, but sells26 the field to another man, he may never redeem it. 27:21 When it reverts27 in the jubilee the field will be holy to the LORD like a permanently dedicated field;28 it will become the priest's property.29
27:22 "`If he consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased,30 which is not part of his own landed property, 27:23 the priest will calculate for him the amount of its conversion value until the jubilee year, and he must pay31 the conversion value on that jubilee day as something that is holy to the LORD. 27:24 In the jubilee year the field will return to the one from whom he bought it, the one to whom it belongs as landed property. 27:25 Every conversion value must be calculated by the standard of the sanctuary shekel;32 the shekel will be twenty gerahs.
Redemption of the Firstborn
27:26 "`Surely no man may consecrate a firstborn that already belongs to the LORD as a firstborn among the animals; whether it is an ox or a sheep, it belongs to the LORD.33 27:27 If, however,34 it is among the unclean animals, he may ransom it according to35 its conversion value and must add one fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed it must be sold according to its conversion value.
Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord
27:28 "`Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the LORD36 from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the LORD. 27:29 Anyone who is permanently dedicated from mankind must not be ransomed; he must be put to death.
Redemption of the Tithe
27:30 "`Any tithe37 of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. 27:31 If, however, a man redeems38 part of his tithe he must add one fifth to it.39 27:32 All the tithe of herd or flock, everything which passes under the rod, the tenth one will be holy to the LORD.40 27:33 The owner41 must not examine the animals to distinguish between good and bad, and he must not exchange it. If, however, he does exchange it,42 both the original animal43 and its substitute will be holy.44 It must not be redeemed.'"
Final Colophon
27:34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses to tell the Israelites45 at Mount Sinai.