Leviticus 10–20

The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu

10Then Nadab ^aand Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^beach took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered ^cprofane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ²So ^dfire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. ³And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:

‘By those ^ewho come near Me

I must be regarded as holy;

And before all the people

I must be glorified.’ ”

So Aaron held his peace.

⁴Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, ^fcarry your brethren from ¹before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not ²uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and ^gwrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, ³bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. ^7hYou shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, ⁱfor the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

Conduct Prescribed for Priests

⁸Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: ^9j“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, ¹⁰that you may ^kdistinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, ^11land that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”

¹²And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: ^m“Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; ⁿfor it is most holy. ¹³You shall eat it in a ^oholy place, because it is your ⁴due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord; for ^pso I have been commanded. ^14qThe breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your ^rdaughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ ^sdue, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. ^15tThe thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶Then Moses made careful inquiry about ^uthe goat of the sin offering, and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ^17v“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear ^wthe guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? ¹⁸See! ^xIts blood was not brought inside ⁵the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, ^yas I commanded.”

¹⁹And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, ^zthis day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, ^awould it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰So when Moses heard that, he was content.

Foods Permitted and Forbidden

11Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ^a‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: ³Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat. ⁴Nevertheless these you shall ^bnot eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is ¹unclean to you; ⁵the ²rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is ³unclean to you; ⁶the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; ⁷and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, ^cis unclean to you. ⁸Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. ^dThey are unclean to you.

^9e‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat. ¹⁰But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are ⁴an ^fabomination to you. ¹¹They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. ¹²Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you.

^13g‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹⁴the kite, and the falcon after its kind; ¹⁵every raven after its kind, ¹⁶the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; ¹⁷the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; ¹⁸the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; ¹⁹the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰‘All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. ²¹Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. ²²These you may eat: ^hthe locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. ²³But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.

Unclean Animals

²⁴‘By these you shall become ⁵unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening; ²⁵whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them ⁱshall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: ²⁶The carcass of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. ²⁷And whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening. ²⁸Whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you.

²⁹‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, ^jthe mouse, and the large lizard after its kind; ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹These are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever ^ktouches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. ³²Anything on which any of them falls, when they are dead shall be ⁶unclean, whether it is any item of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item it is, in which any work is done, ^lit must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean. ³³Any ^mearthen vessel into which any of them falls ⁿyou shall break; and whatever is in it shall be unclean: ³⁴in such a vessel, any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean. ³⁵And everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; for they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, in which there is plenty of water, shall be clean, but whatever touches any such carcass becomes unclean. ³⁷And if a part of any such carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sown, it remains clean. ³⁸But if water is put on the seed, and if a part of any such carcass falls on it, it becomes ⁷unclean to you.

³⁹‘And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be ^ounclean until evening. ^40pHe who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹‘And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be ⁸an abomination. It shall not be eaten. ⁴²Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth—these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination. ^43qYou shall not make ⁹yourselves ¹abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them. ⁴⁴For I am the Lord your ^rGod. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and ^syou shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. ^45tFor I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. ^uYou shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶‘This is the law ²of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, ^47vto distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.’ ”

The Ritual After Childbirth

12Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a ^awoman has conceived, and borne a male child, then ^bshe shall be ¹unclean seven days; ^cas in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. ³And on the ^deighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any ²hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.

⁵‘But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

^6e‘When the…