Leviticus 17

Forbidden Sacrifices

17The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: ³Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters ^van ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before His tabernacle—that person will be considered guilty. ^wxHe has shed blood ^yand must be cut off from his people. ^z5This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices ^athey have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices ^bto the Lord. ⁶The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the Lord’s altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons ^cthat they have prostituted ^dthemselves with. This will be a permanent statute ^efor them throughout their generations.

⁸“Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners ^fwho live among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person must be cut off from his people.

Eating Blood and Carcasses Prohibited

¹⁰“Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who live among them who eats any blood, ^gI will turn ^hagainst that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. ¹¹For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for ⁱyour lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement. ^j12Therefore I say to the Israelites: None of you and no foreigner who lives among you may eat blood.

¹³“Any Israelite or foreigner living among them, who hunts ^kdown a wild animal or bird that may be eaten must drain its blood ^land cover it with dirt. ¹⁴Since the life of every creature is its blood, I have told the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any creature, ^mbecause the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.

¹⁵“Every person, whether the native or the foreigner, ⁿwho eats an animal that died a natural death or was mauled by wild beasts ^ois to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening; then he will be clean. ¹⁶But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will bear his punishment.”