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Leviticus 20-23
English Standard Version

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, (A)Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 (B)I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary (C)unclean and (D)to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not (E)put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in (F)whoring after Molech.

6 “If (G)a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, (H)I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 (I)Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 (J)Keep my statutes and do them; (K)I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For (L)anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; (M)his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

10 “If a (N)man commits adultery with the wife of[a] his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 (O)If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 (P)If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed (Q)perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 (R)If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 (S)If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 (T)If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 (U)If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 (V)“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 (W)If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 (X)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked (Y)one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 (Z)If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 (AA)If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity.[b] He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

22 (AB)“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not (AC)vomit you out. 23 (AD)And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But (AE)I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land (AF)flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, (AG)who has separated you from the peoples. 25 (AH)You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 (AI)You shall be holy to me, (AJ)for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

27 (AK)“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be (AL)stoned with stones; (AM)their blood shall be upon them.”

Holiness and the Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, (AN)No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 (AO)They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and (AP)not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, (AQ)the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 (AR)They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman (AS)divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for (AT)I, the Lord, who sanctify you, (AU)am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; (AV)she shall be burned with fire.

10 (AW)“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, (AX)shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not (AY)go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 (AZ)He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he (BA)profane the sanctuary of his God, for the (BB)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.[c] 14 A widow, (BC)or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin[d] of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for (BD)I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may (BE)approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man (BF)blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face (BG)or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a (BH)defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or (BI)crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to (BJ)offer the Lord's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of (BK)the most holy and of the (BL)holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not (BM)profane my sanctuaries,[e] (BN)for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they (BO)abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they (BP)dedicate to me, so that they do not (BQ)profane my holy name: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while (BR)he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4 None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a (BS)discharge may eat of the holy things (BT)until he is clean. (BU)Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or (BV)a man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and (BW)whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or (BX)a person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has (BY)bathed his body in water. 7 When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because (BZ)they are his food. 8 (CA)He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, (CB)lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: (CC)I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 (CD)“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, 11 but if a priest buys a slave[f] as his property for money, the slave[g] may eat of it, and (CE)anyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13 But if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and (CF)returns to her father's house, (CG)as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14 (CH)And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add (CI)the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 They (CJ)shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, 16 and so cause them (CK)to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: (CL)for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Acceptable Offerings

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, (CM)When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a (CN)male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 (CO)You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone (CP)offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord (CQ)to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals (CR)blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or (CS)an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food (CT)offering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part (CU)too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as (CV)the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a (CW)blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 (CX)“When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. 28 But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep (CY)and her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a (CZ)sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; (DA)you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

31 (DB)“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 (DC)And you shall not profane my holy name, that (DD)I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. (DE)I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt (DF)to be your God: I am the Lord.”

Feasts of the Lord

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, (DG)These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall (DH)proclaim as (DI)holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

3 (DJ)“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

The Passover

4 (DK)“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the (DL)holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 (DM)In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,[h] is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 (DN)On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, (DO)When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of (DP)the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall (DQ)wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you (DR)wave the sheaf, you shall offer a (DS)male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 (DT)And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah[i] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, (DU)and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.[j] 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain (DV)parched or (DW)fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

15 (DX)“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the (DY)wave offering. 16 You shall count (DZ)fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of (EA)new grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as (EB)firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19 And you shall offer one (EC)male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of (ED)peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall (EE)wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. (EF)They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

22 “And (EG)when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

The Feast of Trumpets

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In (EH)the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, (EI)a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now (EJ)on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves[k] and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted[l] on that very day (EK)shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, (EL)On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths[m] to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. (EM)On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a (EN)solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

37 (EO)“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 (EP)besides the Lord's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have (EQ)gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And (ER)you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and (ES)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 (ET)You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 (EU)You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that (EV)your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

44 Thus Moses (EW)declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 20:10 Hebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of
  2. Leviticus 20:21 Literally menstrual impurity
  3. Leviticus 21:13 Or a young wife
  4. Leviticus 21:14 Hebrew young woman
  5. Leviticus 21:23 Or my holy precincts
  6. Leviticus 22:11 Or servant; twice in this verse
  7. Leviticus 22:11 Hebrew he
  8. Leviticus 23:5 Hebrew between the two evenings
  9. Leviticus 23:13 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  10. Leviticus 23:13 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters
  11. Leviticus 23:27 Or shall fast; also verse 32
  12. Leviticus 23:29 Or is not fasting
  13. Leviticus 23:34 Or Tabernacles
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Leviticus 20-23
New International Version

Punishments for Sin

20 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death.(A) The members of the community are to stone him.(B) 3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people;(C) for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled(D) my sanctuary(E) and profaned my holy name.(F) 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death,(G) 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

6 “‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.(H)

7 “‘Consecrate yourselves(I) and be holy,(J) because I am the Lord your God.(K) 8 Keep my decrees(L) and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.(M)

9 “‘Anyone who curses their father(N) or mother(O) is to be put to death.(P) Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.(Q)

10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife(R)—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.(S)

11 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father.(T) Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.(U)

12 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law,(V) both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.(W) They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

14 “‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother,(X) it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire,(Y) so that no wickedness will be among you.(Z)

15 “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal,(AA) he is to be put to death,(AB) and you must kill the animal.

16 “‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

17 “‘If a man marries his sister(AC), the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed(AD) from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.(AE)

18 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period,(AF) he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.(AG)

19 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father,(AH) for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.

20 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt,(AI) he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.(AJ)

21 “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife,(AK) it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.(AL)

22 “‘Keep all my decrees and laws(AM) and follow them, so that the land(AN) where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations(AO) I am going to drive out before you.(AP) Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.(AQ) 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”(AR) I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.(AS)

25 “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.(AT) Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be holy to me(AU) because I, the Lord, am holy,(AV) and I have set you apart from the nations(AW) to be my own.

27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium(AX) or spiritist among you must be put to death.(AY) You are to stone them;(AZ) their blood will be on their own heads.’”

Rules for Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,(BA) and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean(BB) for any of his people who die,(BC) 2 except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,(BD) his son or daughter, his brother, 3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.(BE) 4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,[a] and so defile himself.

5 “‘Priests must not shave(BF) their heads or shave off the edges of their beards(BG) or cut their bodies.(BH) 6 They must be holy to their God(BI) and must not profane the name of their God.(BJ) Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,(BK) the food of their God,(BL) they are to be holy.(BM)

7 “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,(BN) because priests are holy to their God.(BO) 8 Regard them as holy,(BP) because they offer up the food of your God.(BQ) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.(BR)

9 “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.(BS)

10 “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head(BT) and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,(BU) must not let his hair become unkempt[b] or tear his clothes.(BV) 11 He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.(BW) He must not make himself unclean,(BX) even for his father or mother,(BY) 12 nor leave the sanctuary(BZ) of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil(CA) of his God. I am the Lord.

13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.(CB) 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect(CC) may come near to offer the food of his God.(CD) 18 No man who has any defect(CE) may come near: no man who is blind(CF) or lame,(CG) disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.(CH) 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect(CI) is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord.(CJ) He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.(CK) 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God,(CL) as well as the holy food; 23 yet because of his defect,(CM) he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.(CN) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(CO)’”

24 So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings(CP) the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name.(CQ) I am the Lord.(CR)

3 “Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord,(CS) that person must be cut off from my presence.(CT) I am the Lord.

4 “‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease[c] or a bodily discharge,(CU) he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse(CV) or by anyone who has an emission of semen, 5 or if he touches any crawling thing(CW) that makes him unclean, or any person(CX) who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. 6 The one who touches any such thing will be unclean(CY) till evening.(CZ) He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.(DA) 7 When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food.(DB) 8 He must not eat anything found dead(DC) or torn by wild animals,(DD) and so become unclean(DE) through it. I am the Lord.(DF)

9 “‘The priests are to perform my service(DG) in such a way that they do not become guilty(DH) and die(DI) for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(DJ)

10 “‘No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it.(DK) 11 But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food.(DL) 12 If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it.

14 “‘Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake(DM) must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value(DN) to it. 15 The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings(DO) the Israelites present to the Lord(DP) 16 by allowing them to eat(DQ) the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt(DR) requiring payment.(DS) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(DT)’”

Unacceptable Sacrifices

17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘If any of you—whether an Israelite or a foreigner residing in Israel(DU)—presents a gift(DV) for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfill a vow(DW) or as a freewill offering,(DX) 19 you must present a male without defect(DY) from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf.(DZ) 20 Do not bring anything with a defect,(EA) because it will not be accepted on your behalf.(EB) 21 When anyone brings from the herd or flock(EC) a fellowship offering(ED) to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering,(EE) it must be without defect or blemish(EF) to be acceptable.(EG) 22 Do not offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. 23 You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox[d] or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow. 24 You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut.(EH) You must not do this in your own land, 25 and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God.(EI) They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.(EJ)’”

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “When a calf, a lamb or a goat(EK) is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days.(EL) From the eighth day(EM) on, it will be acceptable(EN) as a food offering presented to the Lord. 28 Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.(EO)

29 “When you sacrifice a thank offering(EP) to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 30 It must be eaten that same day; leave none of it till morning.(EQ) I am the Lord.(ER)

31 “Keep(ES) my commands and follow them.(ET) I am the Lord. 32 Do not profane my holy name,(EU) for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites.(EV) I am the Lord, who made you holy(EW) 33 and who brought you out of Egypt(EX) to be your God.(EY) I am the Lord.”

The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals,(EZ) the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.(FA)

The Sabbath

3 “‘There are six days when you may work,(FB) but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,(FC) a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;(FD) wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread(FE)

4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:(FF) 5 The Lord’s Passover(FG) begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.(FH) 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread(FI) begins; for seven days(FJ) you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly(FK) and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.(FL) And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you(FM) and you reap its harvest,(FN) bring to the priest a sheaf(FO) of the first grain you harvest.(FP) 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord(FQ) so it will be accepted(FR) on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old(FS) without defect,(FT) 13 together with its grain offering(FU) of two-tenths of an ephah[e](FV) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering(FW) of a quarter of a hin[f] of wine.(FX) 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain,(FY) until the very day you bring this offering to your God.(FZ) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,(GA) wherever you live.(GB)

The Festival of Weeks(GC)

15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,(GD) and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah(GE) of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits(GF) to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings(GG)—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering[g] and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering,(GH) together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly(GI) and do no regular work.(GJ) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22 “‘When you reap the harvest(GK) of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(GL) Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.(GM) I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets(GN)

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly(GO) commemorated with trumpet blasts.(GP) 25 Do no regular work,(GQ) but present a food offering to the Lord.(GR)’”

The Day of Atonement(GS)

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month(GT) is the Day of Atonement.(GU) Hold a sacred assembly(GV) and deny yourselves,[h] and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work(GW) on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.(GX) 30 I will destroy from among their people(GY) anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance(GZ) for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest(HA) for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”(HB)

The Festival of Tabernacles(HC)

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh(HD) month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles(HE) begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly;(HF) do no regular work.(HG) 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly(HH) and present a food offering to the Lord.(HI) It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings(HJ) required for each day. 38 These offerings(HK) are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths(HL) and[i] in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings(HM) you give to the Lord.)

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival(HN) to the Lord for seven days;(HO) the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches(HP) from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees(HQ)—and rejoice(HR) before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters(HS) for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know(HT) that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 21:4 Or unclean as a leader among his people
  2. Leviticus 21:10 Or not uncover his head
  3. Leviticus 22:4 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  4. Leviticus 22:23 The Hebrew word can refer to either male or female.
  5. Leviticus 23:13 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms; also in verse 17
  6. Leviticus 23:13 That is, about 1 quart or about 1 liter
  7. Leviticus 23:19 Or purification offering
  8. Leviticus 23:27 Or and fast; similarly in verses 29 and 32
  9. Leviticus 23:38 Or These festivals are in addition to the Lord’s Sabbaths, and these offerings are
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