21Then^a Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘One must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his own people, ²except for his direct relative closest to him: his mother and his father, and his son and his daughter, and his brother, ³and for his sister, a virgin, who is closest to him, who has not had a husband^b—for her he may defile himself. ⁴He must not make himself unclean as a kinsman by marriage,^c defiling himself.

⁵“ ‘And they shall not shave bald patches on their head, and they shall not shave off the corner of their beard, and they shall not make a cut in their body. ⁶They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, because they are bringing near the offerings made by fire to^d Yahweh—their God’s food—and they shall be holy.

⁷“ ‘They shall not marry^e a woman who is a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they marry^f a woman divorced from her husband, because each priest^g is holy for his God. ⁸And you shall consecrate him, because he is bringing near your God’s food; he shall be holy to you, since I, Yahweh, who consecrates you, am holy.

⁹“ ‘As for^h the daughter of any priest, if she is defiled by prostituting, she is disgracing her father—she shall be burned in the fire.

¹⁰“ ‘As forⁱ the priest who is higher than his brothers, on whose head the oil of anointment is poured and he was ordained^j to wear the garments, he shall not dishevel his head, and he shall not tear his garments. ¹¹And he shall not go near any dead person, nor shall he make himself unclean for his father or^k for his mother. ¹²And he shall not go out from the sanctuary, and he shall not profane his God’s sanctuary, because the dedication of his God’s oil of anointment is on him; I am Yahweh.

¹³“ ‘And he himself must take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴A widow or^l a divorced woman or^m a defiled woman, a prostitute—these he must not take; he shall take onlyⁿ a virgin from his people as wife. ¹⁵And he shall not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates him.’ ”

¹⁶Then^o Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations, in whom is a physical defect, shall not come near to present your God’s food. ¹⁸Indeed,^p any man in whom is a physical defect shall not come near: a blind man or lame or disfigured or deformed, ¹⁹or a man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand, ²⁰or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle. ²¹Any man from Aaron the priest’s offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to^q Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his God’s food. ²²He may eat his God’s food, from the most holy things^r and from the holy things. ²³But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect is in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’ ”

²⁴Thus^s Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.^t

Priests and Their Food

22Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Tell^b Aaron and his sons^c that^d they must deal respectfully with the Israelites’^e votive offerings, and they must not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me; I am Yahweh.

³“Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, any man from any of your offspring who comes near the votive offerings that the Israelites^f consecrate to Yahweh with^g his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut off^h from before me;ⁱ I am Yahweh.

⁴“ ‘Anyone^j from Aaron’s offspring, if^k he is afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary until^l he is clean; and the one who touches any unclean person or a man from whom an emission of semen goes out, ⁵or a man who touches any swarmer that is unclean for him or who touches a person who is unclean for him due to^m whatever his uncleanness, ⁶a person who touches such a thingⁿ shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, except^o when he washes^p his body with water ⁷and the sun sets,^q and he shall be clean; then^r afterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it is his food. ⁸He shall not eat a naturally dead body or^s a mangled carcass, so that he becomes unclean^t by it; I am Yahweh.

⁹“ ‘And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so that^u they die through it, because they have profaned it; I am Yahweh who consecrates them.

¹⁰“ ‘No stranger shall eat^v the votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident with^w a priest or^x a hired worker eat the votive offering. ¹¹But^y a priest, if with his money he buys a person as his possession,^z that one may eat it, and the descendants of his house themselves may eat his food. ¹²And a priest’s daughter, when she marries a layman,^a she herself may not eat the votive offering.^b ¹³But^c a priest’s daughter, when she becomes a widow or^d divorced or there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father’s house as in her childhood, she may eat from her father’s food, but^e no layman may eat it.^f ¹⁴And if a man eats the votive offering unintentionally, then^g he shall add to it a fifth of it, and he shall give the votive offering to the priest. ¹⁵And they shall not profane the Israelites’^h votive offerings that they present to Yahweh, ¹⁶and so cause them, by their eating their votive offerings, to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’ ”

Acceptable Offerings

¹⁷Thenⁱ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,^j and say to them, ‘Anyone from the house of Israel or^k from the alien in Israel who presents his offering for any of their vows or^l for any of their freewill offerings that they present to Yahweh as a burnt offering, ¹⁹it must be without defect to be acceptable for you:^m a male among the cattle, among the sheep, orⁿ among the goats. ²⁰You shall not present any animal in which is a physical defect, because it shall not be acceptable^o for you. ²¹And if anyone brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings for Yahweh to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from^p the cattle or from^q the flock,^r it must be without defect to be acceptable;^s there must not be any physical defect in it. ²²The blind or the injured or the maimed or the seeping or one with a skin disorder or one with a skin eruption—these you shall not present to Yahweh, nor shall you give from them an offering made by fire on the altar for Yahweh. ²³As for^t an ox or sheep that is deformed or^u that is stunted, you may present it as a freewill offering, but^v for a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴And you shall not present anything for Yahweh with bruised or^w shattered or^x torn or^y cut-off testicles, and you shall not sacrifice^z such in your land. ²⁵And you shall not present your God’s food from any of these by the hand of a foreigner,^a because their deformity is in them; a physical defect is in them; they shall not be accepted for you.’ ”

²⁶Then^b Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, then^c it shall be under its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day and beyond it is acceptable as an offering made by fire for Yahweh. ²⁸And you shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young^d on the same day.^e ²⁹And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it to be acceptable for you. ³⁰It must be eaten on that day; you must not leave over anything from it until morning; I am Yahweh.

³¹“Thus^f you shall keep my commands, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh.

³²“And you shall not profane my holy name, so that I may be consecrated in the midst of the Israelites;^g I am Yahweh, who consecrates you, ³³the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be as God for you; I am Yahweh.”

Yahweh’s Feasts

23Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the Israelites,^b and say to them, ‘The festivals of Yahweh that you shall proclaim are holy assemblies; these are my appointed times.

Yahweh’s Sabbath

³“ ‘For six days work is to be done, and on the seventh day shall be a Sabbath of complete rest,^c a holy assembly; you shall not do any work; it shall be a Sabbath for Yahweh in all your dwellings.

The Passover

⁴“ ‘These are Yahweh’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you shall proclaim at^d their appointed time. ⁵In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month at the evening is Yahweh’s Passover. ⁶And on the fifteenth day of this month is Yahweh’s Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷On the first day there shall be a holy assembly for you; you shall not do any regular work.^e ⁸And you shall present an offering for Yahweh made by fire for seven days; on the seventh day there shall be a holy assembly; you shall not do any regular work.’ ”^f

The Feast of Firstfruits

⁹Then^g Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites,^h and say to them, ‘When you come to the land that I am about to give to you and you reap its harvest, thenⁱ you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruit of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹And he shall wave the sheaf before^j Yahweh for your acceptance; the priest shall wave it on the day after^k the Sabbath. ¹²And on the day of your waving the sheaf you shall offer^l a yearling^m male lamb without defect as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹³And its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephahⁿ of finely milled flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire for Yahweh, an appeasing fragrance; and its libation shall be a fourth of a hin^o of wine. ¹⁴And you shall not eat bread or^p roasted grain or^q ripe grain until this very same day,^r until you present your God’s offering. This must be a lasting statute^s for your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast…

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Leviticus 21–23 in Logos

Footnotes

aOr “And”
bLiterally “who is not for a man/husband”
cLiterally “a husband among his people”
dHebrew “of”
eLiterally “take”
fLiterally “take”
gHebrew “he”; singular antecedent specified from the context
hOr “And”
iOr “And”
jLiterally “he has filled up his hand”
kOr “and”
lOr “and”
mOr “and”
nOr “instead”
oOr “And”
pOr “For”
qHebrew “of”
rLiterally “the holy things of the holy things”
sOr “And”
tLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
aOr “And”
bOr “Speak to”
cLiterally “to Aaron and to his sons”
dOr “and”
eLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
fLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
gOr “and”
hOr “and that person shall be cut off”
iLiterally “to the faces of me”
jLiterally “A man a man”
kOr “and”
lLiterally “until which”
mLiterally “for”
nHebrew “him” or “it”
oOr “but if” or “but rather”
pOr “bathes”
qLiterally “the sun goes” or “the sun enters”
rOr “and”
sOr “and”
tLiterally “to become unclean”
uOr “and”
vLiterally “And any stranger shall not eat”
wHebrew “of”
xOr “and”
yOr “And”
zLiterally “property of”
aLiterally “she becomes for a strange man”
bLiterally “the offering/lifting of the votive offering”
cOr “And”
dOr “and”
eOr “and”
fLiterally “any stranger shall not eat it”
gOr “and”
hLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
iOr “And”
jLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
kOr “and”
lOr “and”
mLiterally “for your acceptance”
nOr “and”
oLiterally “for acceptance”
pOr “among”
qOr “among”
rThe Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
sLiterally “for acceptance”
tOr “And”
uOr “and”
vOr “and”
wOr “and”
xOr “and”
yOr “and”
zLiterally “do” or “make”
aLiterally “a son of a foreign land”
bOr “And”
cOr “and”
dLiterally “his son” or “his child”
eLiterally “on day one” or “in one day”
fOr “And”
gLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
aOr “And”
bLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
cLiterally “a Sabbath of ‘Sabbathation.’ ” “Sabbathation” is not a real word, but it is devised as an attempt to convey the sounds of the related nouns in the Hebrew phrase
dOr “on”
eLiterally “all work of labor”
fLiterally “all work of labor”
gOr “And”
hLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
iOr “and”
jLiterally “to the faces of”
kLiterally “from the next day of”
lOr “sacrifice”; literally “do” or “make”
mLiterally “a son of its year”
nSupplied by context
oHebrew “the hin”
pOr “and”
qOr “and”
rLiterally “the exactly of this day”
sLiterally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”