Leviticus 20:22-22:16

Contemporary English Version

²² Obey my laws and teachings. Or else the land I am giving you will become sick of you and throw you out. ²³ The nations I am chasing out did these disgusting things, and I hated them for it, so don't follow their example. ²⁴ I am the Lord your God, and I have promised you their land that is rich with milk and honey. I have chosen you to be different from other people. ²⁵ That's why you must make a difference between animals and birds that I have said are clean and unclean^[a]—this will keep you from becoming disgusting to me. ²⁶ I am the Lord, the holy God. You have been chosen to be my people, and so you must be holy too.

²⁷ If you claim to receive messages from the dead, you will be put to death by stoning, just as you deserve.

Instructions for Priests

21 The Lord gave Moses these instructions for Aaron's sons, the priests:

Touching a dead body will make you unclean. So don't go near a dead relative, ² except your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, ³ or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her. ⁴ Don't make yourself unclean by attending the funeral of someone related to you by marriage.^{[b] 5 (A)} Don't shave any part of your head or trim your beard or cut yourself to show that you are mourning. ⁶ I am the Lord your God, and I have chosen you alone to offer sacrifices of food to me on the altar. That's why you must keep yourselves holy. ⁷ Don't marry a divorced woman or a woman who has served as a temple prostitute. You are holy, ⁸ because I am holy. And so, you must be treated with proper respect, since you offer food sacrifices to me, the God of holiness.

⁹ If any of you priests has a daughter who disgraces you by serving as a temple prostitute, she must be burned to death.

¹⁰ If you are the high priest, you must not mess up your hair or tear your clothes in order to mourn for the dead. ¹¹ Don't make yourself unclean by going near a dead body, not even that of your own father or mother. ¹² If you leave the sacred place to attend a funeral, both you and the sacred place become unclean, because you are the high priest.

¹³ If you are the high priest, you must marry only a virgin ¹⁴ from your own tribe. Don't marry a divorced woman or any other woman who has already had sex, including a temple prostitute. ¹⁵ In this way, your descendants will be qualified to serve me. Remember—I am the Lord, and I have chosen you.

¹⁶ The Lord told Moses ^17-18 to say to Aaron:

No descendant of yours can ever serve as my priest if he is blind or lame, if his face is disfigured, if one leg is shorter than the other, ¹⁹ if either a foot or a hand is paralyzed, ²⁰ if he is a hunchback or a dwarf, if an eye or his skin is diseased, or if his testicles have been damaged. ²¹ These men may not serve as my priests and burn sacrifices to me. ²² They may eat the food offerings presented to me, ²³ but they may not enter the sacred place or serve me at the altar. Remember—I am the Lord, the one who makes a priest holy.

²⁴ Moses told all of this to Aaron, his sons, and the people of Israel.

The Offerings Are Holy

22 The Lord told Moses ² to say to Aaron and his sons:

I am the Lord God, and I demand that you honor my holy name by showing proper respect for the offerings brought to me by the people of Israel. ³ If any of you are unclean when you accept an offering for me, I will no longer let you serve as a priest. ⁴ None of you may take part in the sacred meals while you have a skin disease or an infected penis, or after you have been near a dead body or have had a flow of semen, ⁵ or if you have touched an unclean creature of any sort, including an unclean person. ^6-7 Once you are unclean, you must take a bath, but you still cannot eat any of the sacred food until evening. ⁸ I command you not to eat anything that is killed by a wild animal or dies a natural death. This would make you unclean. ⁹ Obey me, or you will die on duty for disgracing the place of worship. Remember—I am the Lord, the one who makes a priest holy.

¹⁰ Only you priests and your families may eat the food offerings; these are too sacred for any of your servants. ¹¹ However, any slave that you own, including those born into your household, may eat this food. ¹² If your daughter marries someone who isn't a priest, she can no longer have any of this food. ¹³ But if she returns to your home, either widowed or divorced, and has no children, she may join in the meal. Only members of a priestly family can eat this food, ¹⁴ and anyone else who accidentally does so, must pay for the food plus a fine of 20 percent.

¹⁵ I warn you not to treat lightly the offerings that are brought by the people of Israel. ¹⁶ Don't let them become guilty of eating this sacred food. Remember—I am the Lord, the one who makes these offerings holy.