Leviticus 10–20

Nadab and Abihu

10Aaron’s sons Nadab ^oand Abihu ^peach took his own firepan, ^qput fire in it, placed incense on it, ^rand presented unauthorized ^sfire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them to do. ²Then fire came from the Lord ^tand burned them to death before the Lord. ^u3So Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when He said:

I will show My holiness ^vw

to those who are near Me, ^x

and I will reveal My glory ^yz

before all the people.”

But Aaron remained silent.

⁴Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, ^asons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, ^band said to them, “Come here and carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” ^c5So they came forward and carried them in their tunics outside the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ^d“Do not let your hair hang loose ^eand do not tear your garments, ^for else you will die, and the Lord will become angry ^gwith the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn ^hover that tragedy when the Lord sent the fire. ⁷You must not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, for the Lord’s anointing oil ⁱis on you.” So they did as Moses said.

Regulations for Priests

⁸The Lord spoke to Aaron: ⁹“You and your sons are not to drink wine ^jor beer ^kwhen you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute ^lthroughout your generations. ¹⁰You must distinguish ^mbetween the holy and the common, ⁿand the clean and the unclean, ^o11and teach the Israelites all the statutes ^pthat the Lord has given to them through Moses.”

¹²Moses spoke to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: “Take the grain offering that is left over from the fire offerings ^qto the Lord, and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, because it is especially holy. ¹³You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion ^rand your sons’ from the fire offerings to the Lord, for this is what I was commanded. ¹⁴But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution in any ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the Israelites’ fellowship sacrifices. ¹⁵They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the presentation offering, together with the offerings of fat portions made by fire, to wave as a presentation offering before the Lord. It will belong permanently ^sto you and your children, as the Lord commanded.”

¹⁶Later, Moses inquired about the male goat of the sin offering, but it had already been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s surviving sons, and asked, ¹⁷“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? ^tFor it is especially holy, and He has assigned it to you to take away the guilt ^uof the community ^vand make atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸Since its blood was not brought inside the sanctuary, you should have eaten it in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.” ^w

¹⁹But Aaron replied to Moses, “See, today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the Lord’s sight?” ²⁰When Moses heard this, it was acceptable to him. ^x

Clean and Unclean Land Animals

11The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ²“Tell the Israelites: You may eat ^yall these kinds of land animals. ^z3You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. ⁴But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

the camel, ^athough it chews the cud,

does not have divided hooves—it is unclean for you;

⁵the hyrax, ^bcthough it chews the cud,

does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;

⁶the hare, though it chews the cud,

does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;

⁷the pig, though it has divided hooves,

does not chew the cud—it is unclean for you.

⁸Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses—they are unclean for you. ^d

Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals

⁹“This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams. ¹⁰But these are to be detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales among all the swarming things and other living creatures ^ein the water. ¹¹They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. ¹²Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you.

Unclean Birds

¹³“You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable:

the eagle, ^fgthe bearded ^hvulture,

the black vulture, ⁱ¹⁴the kite, ^j

any kind of falcon, ^kl

¹⁵every kind of raven, ¹⁶the ostrich, ^m

the short-eared owl, ⁿthe gull, ^o

any kind of hawk, ^p

¹⁷the little ^qowl, the cormorant, ^r

the long-eared owl, ^st

¹⁸the white ^uowl, the desert owl, ^vw

the osprey, ^x19the stork, ^y

any kind of heron, ^z

the hoopoe, and the bat.

Clean and Unclean Flying Insects

²⁰“All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. ²¹But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. ²²You may eat these:

any kind of locust, ^akatydid, cricket, and grasshopper.

²³All other winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you.

Purification after Touching Dead Animals

²⁴“These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean ^buntil evening, ²⁵and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. ^c26All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷All the four-footed animals ^dthat walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, ²⁸and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

²⁹“These creatures that swarm ^eon the ground are unclean for you:

the weasel, ^fthe mouse, ^g

any kind of large lizard, ^h

³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, ⁱ

the common lizard, ^jthe skink, ^k

and the chameleon. ^l

³¹These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. ³²When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean—any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, ^mor any implement used for work. It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. ³³If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you must break it. ³⁴Any edible food ⁿcoming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean. ³⁵Anything one of their carcasses falls on will become unclean. If it is an oven or stove, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you. ³⁶A spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but someone who touches a carcass in it will become unclean. ³⁷If one of their carcasses falls on any seed that is to be sown, it is clean; ³⁸but if water has been put on the seed and one of their carcasses falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹“If one of the animals that you use for food dies, ^oanyone who touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. Anyone who carries its carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.

Unclean Swarming Creatures

⁴¹“All the creatures that swarm on the earth are detestable; they must not be eaten. ⁴²Do not eat any of the creatures that swarm on the earth, anything that moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet, ^pfor they are detestable. ⁴³Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. ⁴⁴For I am Yahweh your God, ^qso you must consecrate yourselves ^rand be holy because I am holy. ^sYou must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. ⁴⁵For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, ^tso you must be holy because I am holy. ^u

⁴⁶“This is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground, ⁴⁷in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animals ^vthat may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”

Purification after Childbirth

12The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Tell the Israelites: When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child, ^wshe will be unclean seven days, as she is during the days of her menstrual impurity. ^x3The flesh of his foreskin ^ymust be circumcised ^zon the eighth day. ^a4She will continue in purification ^bfrom her bleeding ^cfor 33 days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification. ⁵But if she gives birth to a female child, she will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstrual impurity. She will continue in purification from her bleeding for 66 days.

⁶“When her days of purification are complete, whether for a son or daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin ^doffering. ⁷He will present them before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; she will be clean from her discharge of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or female. ⁸But if she doesn’t have sufficient means ^effor a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ^gone for a burnt offering and the other for a sin ^hoffering. Then the…