Leviticus 17–26

Chapter 17

¹And the Lord said to Moses, ²“Say to Aaron and his sons, and to all the people of Israel, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. ³If any man of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, ⁴and does not bring it to the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as a gift to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man; he has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they slay in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting, and slay them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord; ⁶and the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasing odor to the Lord. ⁷So they shall no more slay their sacrifices for satyrs, after whom they play the harlot. This shall be a statute for ever to them throughout their generations.

⁸“And you shall say to them, Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹and does not bring it to the door of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to the Lord; that man shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰“If any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life. ¹²Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. ¹³Any man also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.

¹⁴“For the life of every creature is the blood of it; therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off. ¹⁵And every person that eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. ¹⁶But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”

Chapter 18

¹And the Lord said to Moses, ²“Say to the people of Israel, I am the Lord your God. ³You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴You shall do my ordinances and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. ⁵You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances, by doing which a man shall live: I am the Lord.

⁶“None of you shall approach any one near of kin to him to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. ⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad. ¹⁰You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. ¹¹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister. ¹²You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s near kinswoman. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s near kinswoman. ¹⁴You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, 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; she is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your near kinswomen; it is wickedness. ¹⁸And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is yet alive.

¹⁹“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. ²⁰And you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her. ²¹You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ²³And you shall not lie with any beast and defile yourself with it, neither shall any woman give herself to a beast to lie with it: it is perversion.

²⁴“Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am casting out before you defiled themselves; ²⁵and the land became defiled, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷(for all of these abominations the men of the land did, who were before you, so that the land became defiled); ²⁸lest the land vomit you out, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the persons that do them shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and never to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Chapter 19

¹And the Lord said to Moses, ²“Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy. ³Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. ⁴Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.

⁵“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, or on the morrow; and anything left over until the third day shall be burned with fire. ⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be accepted, ⁸and every one who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

⁹“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. ¹⁰And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

¹¹“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. ¹²And you shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

¹³“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. ¹⁴You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

¹⁵“You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. ¹⁶You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

¹⁷“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. ¹⁸You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

¹⁹“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff.

²⁰“If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave, betrothed to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; ²¹but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. ²²And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt 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 plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you, it must not be eaten. ²⁴And in the fourth year all their fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that they may yield more richly for you: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft. ²⁷You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. ²⁸You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

²⁹“Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry and the land become full of wickedness. ³⁰You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³¹“Do not turn to…