Leviticus 17–18

¹And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, ²‘Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the sons of Israel; and thou hast said unto them, This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, ³Any man of the house of Israel who slaughtereth ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who slaughtereth at the outside of the camp, ⁴and unto the opening of the tent of meeting hath not brought it in to bring near an offering to Jehovah before the tabernacle of Jehovah, blood is reckoned to that man—blood he hath shed—and that man hath been cut off from the midst of his people; ⁵so that the sons of Israel do bring in their sacrifices which they are sacrificing on the face of the field, yea, they have brought them in to Jehovah, unto the opening of the tent of meeting, unto the priest, and they have sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah with them.

⁶‘And the priest hath sprinkled the blood upon the altar of Jehovah, at the opening of the tent of meeting, and hath made perfume with the fat for sweet fragrance to Jehovah; ⁷and they sacrifice not any more their sacrifices to goats after which they are going a-whoring; a statute age-during is this to them, to their generations.

⁸‘And unto them thou sayest: Any man of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners, who sojourneth in your midst, who causeth burnt-offering or sacrifice to ascend, ⁹and unto the opening of the tent of meeting doth not bring it in to make it to Jehovah—that man hath been cut off from his people.

¹⁰‘And any man of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners, who is sojourning in your midst, who eateth any blood, I have even set My face against the person who is eating the blood, and have cut him off from the midst of his people; ¹¹for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar, to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood which maketh atonement for the soul.

¹²‘Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel, No person among you doth eat blood, and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst doth not eat blood; ¹³and any man of the sons of Israel, or of the sojourners, who is sojourning in your midst, who hunteth venison, beast or fowl, which is eaten—hath even poured out its blood, and hath covered it with dust; ¹⁴for it is the life of all flesh, its blood is for its life; and I say to the sons of Israel, Blood of any flesh ye do not eat, for the life of all flesh is its blood; any one eating it is cut off.

¹⁵‘And any person who eateth a carcase or torn thing, among natives or among sojourners—hath both washed his garments, and hath bathed with water, and hath been unclean until the evening—then he hath been clean; ¹⁶and if he wash not, and his flesh bathe not—then he hath borne his iniquity.’

Chapter 18

¹And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, ²‘Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, I am Jehovah your God; ³according to the work of the land of Egypt in which ye have dwelt ye do not, and according to the work of the land of Canaan whither I am bringing you in, ye do not, and in their statutes ye walk not.

⁴‘My judgments ye do, and My statutes ye keep, to walk in them; I am Jehovah your God; ⁵and ye have kept My statutes and My judgments which man doth and liveth in them; I am Jehovah.

⁶‘None of you unto any relation of his flesh doth draw near to uncover nakedness; I am Jehovah.

⁷‘The nakedness of thy father and the nakedness of thy mother thou dost not uncover, she is thy mother; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.

⁸‘The nakedness of the wife of thy father thou dost not uncover; it is the nakedness of thy father.

⁹‘The nakedness of thy sister, daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, born at home or born without; thou dost not uncover their nakedness.

¹⁰‘The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter: thou dost not uncover their nakedness; for theirs is thy nakedness.

¹¹‘The nakedness of a daughter of thy father’s wife, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.

¹²‘The nakedness of a sister of thy father thou dost not uncover; she is a relation of thy father.

¹³‘The nakedness of thy mother’s sister thou dost not uncover; for she is thy mother’s relation.

¹⁴‘The nakedness of thy father’s brother thou dost not uncover; unto his wife thou dost not draw near; she is thine aunt.

¹⁵‘The nakedness of thy daughter-in-law thou dost not uncover; she is thy son’s wife; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.

¹⁶‘The nakedness of thy brother’s wife thou dost not uncover; it is thy brother’s nakedness.

¹⁷‘The nakedness of a woman and her daughter thou dost not uncover; her son’s daughter, and her daughter’s daughter thou dost not take to uncover her nakedness; they are her relations; it is wickedness.

¹⁸‘And a woman unto another thou dost not take, to be an adversary, to uncover her nakedness beside her, in her life.

¹⁹‘And unto a woman in the separation of her uncleanness thou dost not draw near to uncover her nakedness.

²⁰‘And unto the wife of thy fellow thou dost not give thy seed of copulation, for uncleanness with her.

²¹‘And of thy seed thou dost not give to pass over to the Molech; nor dost thou pollute the name of thy God; I am Jehovah.

²²‘And with a male thou dost not lie as one lieth with a woman; abomination it is.

²³‘And with any beast thou dost not give thy copulation, for uncleanness with it; and a woman doth not stand before a beast to lie down with it; confusion it is.

²⁴‘Ye are not defiled with all these, for with all these have the nations been defiled which I am sending away from before you; ²⁵and the land is defiled, and I charge its iniquity upon it, and the land vomiteth out its inhabitants: ²⁶and ye—ye have kept My statutes and My judgments, and do not any of all these abominations, the native and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst, ²⁷(for all these abominations have the men of the land done who are before you, and the land is defiled), ²⁸and the land doth not vomit you out in your defiling it, as it hath vomited out the nation which is before you; ²⁹for any one who doth any of all these abominations—even the persons who are doing so, have been cut off from the midst of their people; ³⁰and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not defile yourselves with them; I am Jehovah your God.’

Chapter 19