Leviticus 17–26

The Place of Sacrifice

17Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,^b and you shall say to them, ‘This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, ³“Any man^c from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp^{d 4}and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to present an offering to Yahweh before^e Yahweh’s tabernacle, then^f that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. ⁵This is so that the Israelites^g may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field^h and bringⁱ them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly’s entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them. ⁶And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall burn^j the fat as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. ⁷And they may no longer sacrifice^k their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is a lasting statute^l for them throughout^m their generations.” ’

Instructions Against Eating Blood

⁸“And you shall say to them, ‘if there is anyoneⁿ from the house of Israel or^o from the alien who dwells in their midst who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to sacrifice^p it for Yahweh, then^q that man shall be cut off from his people. ¹⁰And if there is anyone^r from the house of Israel or^s from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then^t I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹Indeed^u the flesh’s life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement. ¹²Therefore^v I said to the Israelites,^w ‘None of you^x may eat blood, nor^y may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.’

¹³“And if there is anyone^z from the Israelites^a or^b from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then^c he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil. ¹⁴Indeed,^d the life of all flesh, its blood, is in its life, so^e I said to the Israelites,^f ‘You may not eat the blood of any flesh, because the life of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’

¹⁵“And if there is any person who eats a dead body or^g a mangled carcass, whether among the native or^h among the alien, thenⁱ he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself^j with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. ¹⁶But^k if he does not wash his garments^l and he does not wash his body, then^m he shall bear his guilt.”

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the Israelites,^b and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. ³You must not carry out^c the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you must not carry out^d the practices of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you; and you must not follow their statutes. ⁴You must carry out^e my regulations, and you must observe^f my statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. ⁵And you shall observe^g my statutes and my regulations by which the person doing them shall live;^h I am Yahweh.

⁶“ ‘Noneⁱ of you shall approach anyone who is his close relative^j to expose nakedness; I am Yahweh. ⁷You must not expose your father’s nakedness or^k your mother’s nakedness—she is your mother; you must not expose her nakedness. ⁸You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s wife—it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹As for your sister’s nakedness, whether your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home^l or born abroad,^m you must not expose their nakedness. ¹⁰As for the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, you must not expose their nakedness, because they are your nakedness. ¹¹As for the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, she is your sister, a relative of your father; you must not expose her nakedness. ¹²You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.^{n 13}You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.^{o 14}You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not have sex with^p his wife—she is your aunt. ¹⁵You must not expose your daughter-in-law’s nakedness; she is your son’s wife; you must not expose her nakedness. ¹⁶You must not expose the nakedness of your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷You must not expose the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, or her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter; you must not take her as wife^q to expose her nakedness; they are close relatives^r—that is wickedness. ¹⁸And you must not take as wife^s a woman with her sister, to be a rival-wife, to expose her nakedness before her during^t her life.

¹⁹“ ‘And you must not have sex with^u a woman to expose her nakedness during^v her menstrual uncleanness. ²⁰And you must not have sex^w with your fellow citizen’s^x wife, becoming unclean with her.

²¹“ ‘And you shall not give any of^y your offspring^z in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor^a shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. ²²And you shall not lie with a male as lying with^b a woman; that is a detestable thing. ²³And you shall not have sexual relations^c with any animal, becoming unclean with it; and a woman shall not stand before^d an animal to copulate with it—that is a perversion.

²⁴“ ‘You must not make yourself unclean in any of these things, because the nations whom I am driving out from your presence were made unclean by all of these. ²⁵So^e the land became unclean, and I have brought the punishment of^f its guilt upon it, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶But^g you (neither the native nor^h the alien who is dwelling in your midst) shall keep my statutes and my regulations, and you shall not practiceⁱ any of these detestable things ²⁷(because the people of the land, who were before you,^j did all these detestable things, so the land became unclean), ²⁸so that the land will not vomit you out when you make it unclean just as it vomited out the nation that was before you.^{k 29}Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, even^l those persons who do so shall be cut off from the midst of their people. ³⁰Thus^m you shall keep my obligation to not do any of the statutes regardingⁿ the detestable things that they did before you,^o so that you will not make yourselves unclean by them; I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

Yahweh Is Holy

19Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the community of the Israelites,^b and say to them, ‘You^c must be holy, because I, Yahweh your^d God, am holy. ³Each of you must revere your mother^e and your father,^f and you^g must keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your^h God. ⁴Youⁱ must not turn to idols, and you^j must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal; I am Yahweh your^k God.

⁵“ ‘And when you^l sacrifice a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Yahweh, you^m must sacrifice it for yourⁿ acceptance. ⁶It must be eaten on the day of your^o sacrifice and the next day; but^p the remainder must be burned up in the fire by the third day. ⁷And if it is indeed eaten on the third day, it is unclean meat; it shall not be regarded as accepted. ⁸And the one who eats it shall bear his guilt, because he has profaned Yahweh’s holiness, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

⁹“ ‘And at your^q reaping the harvest of your^r land you^s must not finish reaping the edge of your^t field, and you^u must not glean the remnants of your^v harvest. ¹⁰And you^w must not glean your^x vineyard, and you^y must not gather your^z vineyard’s fallen grapes; you^a must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I am Yahweh your^b God.

¹¹“ ‘You^c shall not steal, and you^d shall not deceive, and you^e shall not lie to one another;^{f 12}and you^g shall not swear falsely^h in my name, and so one of youⁱ profane^j the name of your^k God; I am Yahweh.

¹³“ ‘You^l shall not exploit your^m neighbor, and youⁿ shall not rob him; a hired worker’s wage you^o shall not withhold^p overnight until morning. ¹⁴You^q shall not curse the deaf, and you^r shall not put a stumbling block before^s a blind person, but^t you^u shall revere your^v God; I am Yahweh.

¹⁵“ ‘You^w shall not do injustice in judgment; you^x shall not show partiality to the powerless;^y you^z shall not give preference to the powerful;^a you^b shall judge your^c fellow citizen with justice. ¹⁶You^d shall not go about with slander among your^e people; you^f shall not endanger your^g neighbor’s life;^h I am Yahweh.

¹⁷“ ‘Youⁱ shall not hate your^j brother in your^k heart; you^l shall surely rebuke your^m fellow citizen, so that youⁿ do not incur sin along with^o him. ¹⁸You^p shall not seek vengeance, and you^q shall not harbor a grudge against your^r fellow citizens;^s and you^t shall love your^u neighbor like yourself; ^v I am Yahweh.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

¹⁹“ ‘You^w must keep my statutes: as for your^x domestic animals, you^y shall not cause two differing kinds to breed; as for your^z field, you^a shall not sow two differing kinds of seed; and, a garment of two differing kinds of woven material should not be worn on you.^b

²⁰“ ‘And when a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen and she is a female slave promised to a man, but^c she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not been given to her, there shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed. ²¹And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance: a ram for a guilt offering. ²²And the priest shall make atonement for him before^d Yahweh with the ram of the guilt offering…