Leviticus 17–26

The Sanctity of Blood

17And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: ³“Whatever man of the house of Israel who ^akills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ⁴and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, the guilt of bloodshed shall be ^bimputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be ¹cut off from among his people, ⁵to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices ^cwhich they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶And the priest ^dshall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and ^eburn the fat for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ⁷They shall no more offer their sacrifices ^fto ²demons, after whom they ^ghave played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.” ’

⁸“Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, ^hwho offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹and does not ⁱbring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be ³cut off from among his people.

^10j‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, ^kI will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹For the ^llife of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar ^mto make atonement for your souls; for ⁿit is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ ¹²Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’

¹³“Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who ^ohunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall ^ppour out its blood and ^qcover it with dust; ^14rfor it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

^15s“And every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, ^the shall both wash his clothes and ^ubathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^vhe shall bear his ⁴guilt.”

Laws of Sexual Morality

18Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^a‘I am the Lord your God. ^3bAccording to ¹the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and ^caccording to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ²ordinances. ^4dYou shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸The nakedness of your ^efather’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9fThe nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. ¹¹The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12gYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. ^14hYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her ⁱdaughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. ¹⁸Nor shall you take a woman ^jas a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

¹⁹‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as ^klong as she is in her ^lcustomary impurity. ^20mMoreover you shall not lie carnally with your ⁿneighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. ²¹And you shall not let any of your descendants ^opass through ^pthe fire to ^qMolech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²²You shall not lie with ^ra male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³Nor shall you mate with any ^sanimal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

^24t‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; ^ufor by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. ²⁵For ^vthe land is defiled; therefore I ^wvisit ³the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land ^xvomits out its inhabitants. ^26yYou shall therefore ⁴keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you ²⁷(for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), ²⁸lest ^zthe land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be ⁵cut off from among their people.

³⁰‘Therefore you shall keep My ⁶ordinance, so ^athat you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: ^bI am the Lord your God.’ ”

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

19And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ^a‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

^3b‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and ^ckeep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

^4d‘Do not turn to idols, ^enor make for yourselves ¹molded gods: I am the Lord your God.

⁵‘And ^fif you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it of your own free will. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. ⁷And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. ⁸Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

^9g‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

^11h‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ⁱnor lie to one another. ¹²And you shall not ^jswear by My name falsely, ^knor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

^13l‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. ^mThe wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. ¹⁴You shall not curse the deaf, ⁿnor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

¹⁵‘You shall do no injustice in ^ojudgment. You shall not ^pbe partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. ¹⁶You shall not go about as a ^qtalebearer among your people; nor shall you ^rtake a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

^17s‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. ^tYou shall surely ²rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. ^18uYou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, ^vbut you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

¹⁹‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.

²⁰‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is ^wbetrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be ³scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. ²²The priest shall make ⁴atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.

²³‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as ⁵uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. ²⁴But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. ²⁵And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. ²⁷You shall not shave…