Leviticus 17–18

Chapter 17

Blood for Atonement

¹Then the Lord 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 the Lord 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 present it as an offering to the Lord before the ¹tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned 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 the Lord, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.

⁶“The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and ^aoffer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

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

⁸“Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens 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 the Lord, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰‘^aAnd any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens 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 by reason of the life that makes atonement.’

¹²“Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’

¹³“So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, ¹in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, ^ahe shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

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

¹⁵“^aWhen any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, 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

Laws on Immoral Relations

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

³‘You shall not do ¹what is ^adone in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is ^bdone in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

⁴‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, ¹to live in accord with them; ^aI am the Lord your God.

⁵‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^aby which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.

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

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‘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‘^aYou shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

²¹‘You shall not give any of your offspring ^ato ¹offer them to Molech, nor shall you ^bprofane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

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

²³‘^aAlso you shall not have intercourse 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‘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‘For the land has become defiled, ^atherefore I have brought its ¹punishment upon it, so the land ^bhas spewed out its inhabitants.

²⁶‘But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien 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 spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed 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 practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^bI am the Lord your God.’ ”