Leviticus 22

22Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and his sons, that they ^aseparate ¹themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they ^bdo not profane My holy name by what they ^cdedicate to Me: I am the Lord. ³Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, ^dwhile he has ²uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.

⁴‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a ^eleper or has ^fa discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings ^guntil he is clean. And ^hwhoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or ⁱa man who has had an emission of semen, ⁵or ^jwhoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or ^kany person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be—⁶the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he ^lwashes his body with water. ⁷And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because ^mit is his food. ⁸ⁿWhatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the Lord.

⁹‘They shall therefore keep ^oMy ³ordinance, ^plest they bear sin for it and die thereby, if they profane it: I the Lord sanctify them.

^10q‘No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who ⁴dwells with the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing. ¹¹But if the priest ^rbuys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is born in his house may eat his food. ¹²If the priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings. ¹³But if the priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food; but no outsider shall eat it.

¹⁴‘And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it. ¹⁵They shall not profane the ^sholy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, ¹⁶or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”

Offerings Accepted and Not Accepted

¹⁷And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ^t‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who ⁵offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord as a burnt offering—^19uyou shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. ^20vWhatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. ²¹And ^wwhoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, ^xto fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. ^22yThose that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ⁶ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make ^zan offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord. ²³Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb ^atoo long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

²⁴‘You shall not offer to the Lord what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. ²⁵Nor ^bfrom a foreigner’s hand shall you offer any of these as ^cthe bread of your God, because their ^dcorruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’ ”

²⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^27e“When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her ^fand her young on the same day. ²⁹And when you ^goffer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, offer it of your own free will. ³⁰On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leave ^hnone of it until morning: I am the Lord.

³¹ⁱ“Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. ^32jYou shall not profane My holy name, but ^kI will be ⁷hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who ^lsanctifies you, ^33mwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.”