Leviticus 17–18

The Sacrifices of Blood

17The Lord commanded Moses ²to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. ^3–4An Israelite who kills a cow or a sheep or a goat as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord’s presence has broken the Law. He has shed blood and shall no longer be considered one of God’s people. ⁵The meaning of this command is that the people of Israel shall now bring to the Lord the animals which they used to kill in the open country. They shall now bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent and kill them as fellowship offerings. ⁶The priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tent and burn the fat to produce a smell that is pleasing to the Lord. ⁷The people of Israel must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by killing their animals in the fields as sacrifices to the goat-demons. The people of Israel must keep this regulation for all time to come.

⁸Any Israelite or any foreigner living in the community who offers a burnt offering or any other sacrifice ⁹as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent shall no longer be considered one of God’s people.

^10*If any Israelite or any foreigner living in the community eats meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against him and no longer consider him one of his people. ^11*The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people’s sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins. ¹²That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it.

¹³If any Israelite or any foreigner living in the community hunts an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, he must pour out its blood on the ground and cover it with earth. ¹⁴The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people.

¹⁵Any person, Israelite or foreigner, who eats meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash his clothes, have a bath, and wait until evening before he is ritually clean. ¹⁶If he does not, he must suffer the consequences.

Forbidden Sexual Practices

18The Lord told Moses ²to say to the people of Israel, “I am the Lord your God. ³Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. ⁴Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. ^5*Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord.”

⁶The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. ⁷Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. ^8*Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. ^9*Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. ¹⁰Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. ¹¹Do not have intercourse with a half-sister; she, too, is your sister. ^12–13*Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father’s sister or your mother’s sister. ^14*Do not have intercourse with your uncle’s wife; she, too, is your aunt. ^15*Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law ^16*or with your brother’s wife. ^17*Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. ¹⁸Do not take your wife’s sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

^19*Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. ^20*Do not have intercourse with another man’s wife; that would make you ritually unclean. ^21*Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. ^22*No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. ^23*No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.

²⁴Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. ²⁵Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. ^26–27They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord’s laws and commands, ²⁸and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. ²⁹You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God’s people.

³⁰And the Lord said, “Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God.”