Leviticus 17–18

CHAPTER 17

Statutes Against Eating Blood

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh has commanded, saying,

³“Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,

⁴and ^ahas not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to bring it near as an offering to Yahweh before the ¹tabernacle of Yahweh, it will be counted as bloodguiltiness to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

⁵“¹The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to Yahweh, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.

⁶“And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and ^aoffer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

⁷“^aAnd they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the ¹goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a perpetual statute to them throughout their generations.” ’

⁸“Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,

⁹and ^adoes not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to ¹offer it to Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰‘^aAnd any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, ^bI will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.

¹¹‘For ^athe ¹life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for ^bit is the blood that makes atonement by the ²life.’

¹²“Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, and no sojourner who sojourns among you may eat blood.’

¹³“So any man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, ^ashall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

¹⁴“^aFor as for the ¹life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its ²life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ³life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

¹⁵“^aAnd when any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.

¹⁶“But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^ahe shall bear his ¹guilt.”

CHAPTER 18

Statutes on the Nakedness of Relatives

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aI am Yahweh your God.

³‘You shall not do according to what is ^adone in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is ^bdone in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

⁴‘You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; ^aI am Yahweh your God.

⁵‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^awhich if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.

⁶‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ¹of his to uncover nakedness; I am Yahweh.

⁷‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness.

⁸‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.

⁹‘^aThe nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover.

¹⁰‘The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for ¹their nakedness is yours.

¹¹‘The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, ¹born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹²‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.

¹³‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.

¹⁴‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

¹⁵‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹⁶‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

¹⁷‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is ¹lewdness.

¹⁸‘And you shall not ¹marry a woman in addition to ²her sister ³as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹‘^aAlso you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^bmenstrual impurity.

²⁰‘^aAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

²¹‘And you shall not give any of your seed ^ato pass them over to Molech, nor shall you ^bprofane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

²²‘^aAnd you shall not lie with a male as ¹one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

²³‘^aAlso you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ¹mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴‘So do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these ^athe nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.

²⁵‘So the land has become defiled, ^aand I have brought its ¹punishment upon it. And the land ^bhas vomited out its inhabitants.

²⁶‘But as for you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the sojourner who sojourns among you

²⁷(for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled);

²⁸so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you.

²⁹‘For whoever does any of these abominations, ¹those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people.

³⁰‘Thus you are to keep ^aMy charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^bI am Yahweh your God.’”