Leviticus 21:1–23:25

The Holiness of the Priests

21 The Lord commanded Moses to say to the Aaronite priests, “No priest is to make himself ritually unclean by taking part in the funeral ceremonies when a relative dies, 2unless it is his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, 3or unmarried sister living in his house. 4He shall not make himself unclean at the death of those related to him by marriage.m

5 *“No priest shall shave any part of his head or trim his beard or cut gashes on his body to show that he is in mourning. 6He must be holy and must not disgrace my name. He offers food offerings to me, and he must be holy. 7A priest shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or a woman who is not a virgin or who is divorced; he is holy. 8The people must consider the priest holy, because he presents the food offerings to me. I am the Lord; I am holy and I make my people holy. 9If a priest’s daughter becomes a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she shall be burnt to death.

10 “The High Priest has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been consecrated to wear the priestly garments, so he must not leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothes to show that he is in mourning. 11–12He has been dedicated to me and is not to make himself ritually unclean nor is he to defile my sacred Tent by leaving it and entering a house where there is a dead person, even if it is his own father or mother. 13He shall marry a virgin, 14not a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has been a prostitute. He shall marry only a virgin from his own clan. 15Otherwise, his children, who ought to be holy, will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord and I have set him apart as the High Priest.”

16 The Lord commanded Moses 17to say to Aaron, “None of your descendants who has any physical defect may present the food offering to me. This applies for all time to come. 18No man with any physical defect may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 19no one with a crippled hand or foot; 20no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch. 21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any physical defect may present the food offering to me. 22Such a man may eat the food offered to me, both the holy food offering and the very holy food offering, 23but because he has a physical defect, he shall not come near the sacred curtain or approach the altar. He must not profane these holy things, because I am the Lord and I make them holy.”

24 This, then, is what Moses said to Aaron, the sons of Aaron, and to all the people of Israel.

The Holiness of the Offerings

22 The Lord commanded Moses 2to say to Aaron and his sons, “You must not bring disgrace on my holy name, so treat with respect the sacred offerings that the people of Israel dedicate to me. I am the Lord. 3If any of your descendants, while he is ritually unclean, comes near the sacred offerings which the people of Israel have dedicated to me, he can never again serve at the altar. This applies for all time to come. I am the Lord.

4 “None of the descendants of Aaron who has a dreaded skin disease or a discharge may eat any of the sacred offerings until he is ritually clean. Any priest is unclean if he touches anything which is unclean through contact with a corpse or if he has an emission of semen 5or if he has touched an unclean animal or person. 6Any priest who becomes unclean remains unclean until evening, and even then he may not eat any of the sacred offerings until he has had a bath. 7After the sun sets he is clean, and then he may eat the sacred offerings, which are his food. 8He shall not eat the meat of any animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals; it will make him unclean. I am the Lord.

9 “All priests shall observe the regulations that I have given. Otherwise, they will be guilty and die, because they have disobeyed the sacred regulations. I am the Lord and I make them holy.

10 “Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of the sacred offerings; no one else may eat them—not even someone staying with a priest or hired by him. 11But a priest’s slaves, bought with his own money or born in his home, may eat the food the priest receives. 12A priest’s daughter who marries someone who is not a priest may not eat any of the sacred offerings. 13But a widowed or divorced daughter who has no children and who has returned to live in her father’s house as a dependant may eat the food her father receives as a priest. Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of it.

14 “If any person who is not a member of a priestly family eats any of the sacred offerings without intending to, he must repay the priest its full value plus an additional twenty per cent. 15The priests shall not profane the sacred offerings 16by letting any unauthorized person eat them; this would bring guilt and punishment on such a person. I am the Lord and I make the offerings holy.”

17 The Lord commanded Moses 18to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. When any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel presents a burnt offering, whether in fulfilment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must not have any defects. 19To be accepted, it must be a male without any defects. 20*If you offer any animal that has any defect, the Lord will not accept it. 21When anyone presents a fellowship offering to the Lord, whether in fulfilment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must be without any defect if it is to be accepted. 22Do not offer to the Lord any animal that is blind or crippled or mutilated, or that has a running sore or a skin eruption or scabs. Do not offer any such animals on the altar as a food offering. 23As a freewill offering you may offer an animal that is stunted or not perfectly formed, but it is not acceptable in fulfilment of a vow. 24Do not offer to the Lord any animal whose testicles have been crushed, cut, bruised, or torn off. This is not permitted in your land.

25 Do not offer as a food offering any animal obtained from a foreigner. Such animals are considered defective and are not acceptable.

26–27 When a calf or a lamb or a kid is born, it must not be taken from its mother for seven days, but after that it is acceptable as a food offering. 28Do not sacrifice a cow and its calf or a sheep and its lamb or a goat and its kid on the same day. 29When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, follow the rules so that you will be accepted; 30eat it the same day and leave none of it until the next morning.

31 The Lord said, “Obey my commands; I am the Lord. 32Do not bring disgrace on my holy name; all the people of Israel must acknowledge me to be holy. I am the Lord and I make you holy; 33and I brought you out of Egypt to become your God. I am the Lord.”

The Religious Festivals

23 The Lord gave Moses 2the following regulations for the religious festivals, when the people of Israel are to gather for worship. 3*You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live. 4Proclaim the following festivals at the appointed times.

Passover and Unleavened Bread

(Num 28:16–25)

5 *The Passover, celebrated to honour the Lord, begins at sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6*On the fifteenth day the Festival of Unleavened Bread begins, and for seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast. 7*On the first of these days you shall gather for worship and do none of your daily work. 8*Offer your food offerings to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day you shall again gather for worship, but you shall do none of your daily work.

9–10 When you come into the land that the Lord is giving you and you harvest your corn, take the first sheaf to the priest. 11He shall present it as a special offering to the Lord, so that you may be accepted. The priest shall present it the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you present the offering of corn, also sacrifice as a burnt offering a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects. 13With it you shall present two kilogrammes of flour mixed with olive oil as a food offering. The smell of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. You shall also present with it an offering of one litre of wine. 14Do not eat any of the new corn, whether raw, roasted, or baked into bread, until you have brought this offering to God. This regulation is to be observed by all your descendants for all time to come.

The Harvest Festival

(Num 28:26–31)

15 *Count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath on which you bring your sheaf of corn to present to the Lord. 16*On the fiftieth day, the day after the seventh Sabbath, present to the Lord another new offering of corn. 17*Each family is to bring two loaves of bread and present them to the Lord as a special gift. Each loaf shall be made of two kilogrammes of flour baked with yeast and shall be presented to the Lord as an offering of the first corn to be harvested. 18*And with the bread the community is to present seven one-year-old lambs, one bull, and two rams, none of which may have any defects. They shall be offered as a burnt offering to the Lord, together with a grain offering and a wine offering. The smell of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. 19*Also offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering. 20*The priest shall present the bread with the two lambs as a special gift to the Lord for the priests. These offerings are holy. 21*On that day do none of your daily work, but gather for worship. Your descendants are to observe this regulation for all time to come, no matter where they live. 22*When you harvest your fields, do not cut the corn at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the ears of corn that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The Lord is your God.…