Leviticus 10:1–20:2

God Destroys Nadab and Abihu

10Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their pans for burning incense, put fire in them, and added incense; but they did not use the special fire Moses had commanded them to use in the presence of the Lord. ²So fire came down from the Lord and destroyed Nadab and Abihu, and they died in front of the Lord. ³Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said,

‘I must be respected as holy

by those who come near me;

before all the people

I must be given honor.’ ”

So Aaron did not say anything about the death of his sons.

⁴Aaron’s uncle Uzziel had two sons named Mishael and Elzaphan. Moses said to them, “Come here and pick up your cousins’ bodies. Carry them outside the camp away from the front of the Holy Place.” ⁵So Mishael and Elzaphan obeyed Moses and carried the bodies of Nadab and Abihu, still clothed in the special priest’s inner robes, outside the camp.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and his other sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Don’t show sadness by tearing your clothes or leaving your hair uncombed. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with all the people. All the people of Israel, your relatives, may cry loudly about the Lord burning Nadab and Abihu, ⁷but you must not even leave the Meeting Tent. If you go out of the entrance, you will die, because the Lord has appointed you to his service.” So Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar obeyed Moses.

⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, ⁹“You and your sons must not drink wine or beer when you go into the Meeting Tent. If you do, you will die. This law will continue from now on. ¹⁰You must keep what is holy separate from what is not holy; you must keep what is clean separate from what is unclean. ¹¹You must teach the people all the laws that the Lord gave to them through Moses.”

¹²Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Eat the part of the grain offering that is left from the sacrifices offered by fire to the Lord, but do not add yeast to it. Eat it near the altar because it is most holy. ¹³You must eat it in a holy place, because this part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord belongs to you and your sons. I have been commanded to tell you this.

¹⁴“Also, you and your sons and daughters may eat the breast and thigh of the fellowship offering that was presented to the Lord. You must eat them in a clean place; they are your share of the fellowship offerings given by the Israelites. ¹⁵The people must bring the fat from their animals that was part of the offering made by fire, and they must present it to the Lord along with the thigh and the breast of the fellowship offering. They will be the regular share of the offerings for you and your children, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶Moses looked for the goat of the sin offering, but it had already been burned up. So he became very angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons. He said, ¹⁷“Why didn’t you eat that goat in a holy place? It is most holy, and the Lord gave it to you to take away the guilt of the people, to remove their sins so they will belong to the Lord. ¹⁸You didn’t bring the goat’s blood inside the Holy Place. You were supposed to eat the goat in a holy place, as I commanded!”

¹⁹But Aaron said to Moses, “Today they brought their sin offering and burnt offering before the Lord, but these terrible things have still happened to me! Do you think the Lord would be any happier if I ate the sin offering today?” ²⁰When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

Rules About What May Be Eaten

11The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“Tell the Israelites this: ‘These are the land animals you may eat: ³You may eat any animal that has split hoofs completely divided and that chews the cud.

⁴“ ‘Some animals only chew the cud or only have split hoofs, and you must not eat them. The camel chews the cud but does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁵The rock badger chews the cud but does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶The rabbit chews the cud but does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷Now the pig has a split hoof that is completely divided, but it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸You must not eat the meat from these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.

⁹“ ‘Of the animals that live in the sea or in a river, if the animal has fins and scales, you may eat it. ¹⁰But whatever lives in the sea or in a river and does not have fins and scales—including the things that fill the water and all other things that live in it—you should hate. ¹¹You must not eat any meat from them or even touch their dead bodies, because you should hate them. ¹²You must hate any animal in the water that does not have fins and scales.

¹³“ ‘Also, these are the birds you are to hate. They are hateful and should not be eaten. You must not eat eagles, vultures, black vultures, ¹⁴kites, any kind of falcon, ¹⁵any kind of raven, ¹⁶horned owls, screech owls, sea gulls, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷little owls, cormorants, great owls, ¹⁸white owls, desert owls, ospreys, ¹⁹storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes, or bats.

²⁰“ ‘Don’t eat insects that have wings and walk on all four feet; they also are to be hated.

²¹“ ‘But you may eat certain insects that have wings and walk on four feet. You may eat those that have legs with joints above their feet so they can jump. ²²These are the insects you may eat: all kinds of locusts, winged locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. ²³But all other insects that have wings and walk on four feet you are to hate. ²⁴Those insects will make you unclean, and anyone who touches the dead body of one of these insects will become unclean until evening. ²⁵Anyone who picks up one of these dead insects must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

²⁶“ ‘Some animals have split hoofs, but the hoofs are not completely divided; others do not chew the cud. They are unclean for you, and anyone who touches the dead body of one of these animals will become unclean. ²⁷Of all the animals that walk on four feet, the animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Anyone who touches the dead body of one of these animals will become unclean until evening. ²⁸Anyone who picks up their dead bodies must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; these animals are unclean for you.

²⁹“ ‘These crawling animals are unclean for you: moles, rats, all kinds of great lizards, ³⁰geckos, crocodiles, lizards, sand reptiles, and chameleons. ³¹These crawling animals are unclean for you; anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening.

³²“ ‘If an unclean animal dies and falls on something, that item will also become unclean. This includes anything made from wood, cloth, leather, or rough cloth, regardless of its use. Whatever the animal falls on must be washed with water and be unclean until evening; then it will become clean again. ³³If the dead, unclean animal falls into a clay bowl, anything in the bowl will become unclean, and you must break the bowl. ³⁴If water from the unclean clay bowl gets on any food, that food will become unclean. ³⁵If any dead, unclean animal falls on something, it becomes unclean. If it is a clay oven or a clay baking pan, it must be broken into pieces. These things will be unclean; they are unclean for you.

³⁶“ ‘A spring or well that collects water will stay clean, but anyone who touches the dead body of any unclean animal will become unclean. ³⁷If a dead, unclean animal falls on a seed to be planted, that seed is still clean. ³⁸But if you put water on some seeds and a dead, unclean animal falls on them, they are unclean for you.

³⁹“ ‘Also, if an animal which you use for food dies, anyone who touches its body will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰Anyone who eats meat from this animal’s dead body must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Anyone who picks up the animal’s dead body must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹“ ‘Every animal that crawls on the ground is to be hated; it must not be eaten. ⁴²You must not eat any of the animals that crawl on the ground, including those that crawl on their stomachs, that walk on all four feet, or on many feet. They are to be hated. ⁴³Do not make yourself unclean by these animals; you must not become unclean by them. ⁴⁴I am the Lord your God. Keep yourselves holy for me because I am holy. Don’t make yourselves unclean with any of these crawling animals. ⁴⁵I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt to be your God; you must be holy because I am holy.

⁴⁶“ ‘These are the teachings about all of the cattle, birds, and other animals on earth, as well as the animals in the sea and those that crawl on the ground. ⁴⁷These teachings help people know the difference between unclean animals and clean animals; they help people know which animals may be eaten and which ones must not be eaten.’ ”

Rules for New Mothers

12The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the people of Israel this: ‘If a woman gives birth to a son, she will become unclean for seven days, as she is unclean during her monthly period. ³On the eighth day the boy must be circumcised. ⁴Then it will be thirty-three days before she becomes clean from her loss of blood. She must not touch anything that is holy or enter the Holy Tent until her time of cleansing is finished. ⁵But if she gives birth to a daughter, the mother will be unclean for two weeks, as she is unclean during her monthly period. It will be sixty-six days before she becomes clean from her loss of blood.

⁶“ ‘After she has a son or daughter and her days of cleansing are over, the new mother must bring certain sacrifices to the Meeting Tent. She must give the priest at the entrance a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a dove or young pigeon for a sin offering. ⁷He will offer them before the Lord to make her clean so she will belong to the Lord again; then she will be clean from her loss of blood. These are the teachings for a woman who gives birth to a boy or girl.

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