Various Rules for Priests

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the Lord. Say to them, ‘(A)Any man among all your [a]descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel consecrate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from My presence; I am the Lord. (B)No man of the [b]descendants of Aaron, who has [c]leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. (C)And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or (D)a man who has a seminal emission, or (E)a man who touches any swarming things by which he is made unclean, or touches any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness; a [d]person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his [e]body in water. But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for (F)it is his [f]food. He shall not eat (G)an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. They shall therefore perform their (H)duty to Me, so that (I)they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 (J)No [g]layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired worker shall not eat the holy gift. 11 (K)But if a priest buys a [h]slave as his property with his money, [i]that person may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his [j]food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to a [k]layman, she shall not eat of the [l]offering of the holy gifts. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s [m]food; (L)but no [n]layman shall eat of it. 14 (M)If, however, someone eats a holy food unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy food to the priest. 15 And (N)they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 and thereby (O)bring upon them [o]punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘(P)Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their [p]vows or any of their [q]voluntary offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering— 19 (Q)for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect [r]from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 (R)Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord (S)to fulfill a special vow or for a [s]voluntary offering, [t]of the herd or [u]of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those that are blind, fractured, maimed, or have a wart, a festering rash, or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. 23 Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an [v]overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a [w]voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 Also (T)anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor [x]sacrifice in your land, 25 nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a [y]foreigner (U)as the [z]food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”

26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall [aa]remain (V)seven days [ab]with its mother, and from the eighth day on it will be considered acceptable as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 (W)But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. 29 When you sacrifice (X)a 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; you shall leave none of it until morning. I am the Lord. 31 (Y)So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.

32 “And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 (Z)who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:3 Lit seed
  2. Leviticus 22:4 Lit seed
  3. Leviticus 22:4 I.e., leprosy or another serious skin disease
  4. Leviticus 22:6 Lit soul
  5. Leviticus 22:6 Lit flesh
  6. Leviticus 22:7 Lit bread
  7. Leviticus 22:10 Or unauthorized person
  8. Leviticus 22:11 Lit soul
  9. Leviticus 22:11 Lit he may
  10. Leviticus 22:11 Lit bread
  11. Leviticus 22:12 Lit stranger
  12. Leviticus 22:12 Or uplifted offering
  13. Leviticus 22:13 Lit bread
  14. Leviticus 22:13 Lit stranger
  15. Leviticus 22:16 Or wrongdoing requiring a guilt offering
  16. Leviticus 22:18 Or vowed offerings
  17. Leviticus 22:18 Or freewill offerings
  18. Leviticus 22:19 Lit among
  19. Leviticus 22:21 Or freewill offering
  20. Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
  21. Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
  22. Leviticus 22:23 Or a deformed
  23. Leviticus 22:23 Or freewill offering
  24. Leviticus 22:24 Lit do
  25. Leviticus 22:25 Lit son of a stranger
  26. Leviticus 22:25 Lit bread
  27. Leviticus 22:27 Lit be
  28. Leviticus 22:27 Lit under

22 Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell Aharon and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the people of Isra’el which they set apart as holy for me, so that they will not profane my holy name; I am Adonai. Tell them, ‘Any descendant of yours through all your generations who approaches the holy things that the people of Isra’el consecrate to Adonai and is unclean will be cut off from before me; I am Adonai.

“‘Any descendant of Aharon with tzara‘at or a discharge is not to eat the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who has touched a person made unclean by a dead body, or who has had a seminal emission, or who has touched a reptile or insect that can make him unclean, or a man who is unclean for any reason and who can transmit to him his uncleanness — the person who touches any of these will be unclean until evening and is not to eat the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. After sunset he will be clean; and afterwards, he may eat the holy things; because they are his food. But he is not to eat anything that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals and thereby make himself unclean; I am Adonai. The cohanim must observe this charge of mine; otherwise, if they profane it, they will bear the consequences of their sin for doing so and die in it; I am Adonai, who makes them holy.

10 “‘No one who is not a cohen may eat anything holy, nor may a tenant or employee of a cohen eat anything holy. 11 But if a cohen acquires a slave, either through purchase or through his being born in his household, he may share his food. 12 If the daughter of a cohen is married to a man who is not a cohen, she is not to have a share of the food set aside from the holy things. 13 But if the daughter of a cohen is a widow or divorcee and has no child, and she is sent back to her father’s house as when she was young, she may share in her father’s food; but no one not a cohen is to share in it. 14 If a person eats holy food by mistake, he must add one-fifth to it and give the holy food to the cohen. 15 They are not to profane the holy things of the people of Isra’el that they have set apart for Adonai 16 and thus cause them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their holy things; because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”

(iii) 17 Adonai said to Moshe, 18 “Speak to Aharon and his sons and to the entire people of Isra’el; tell them: ‘When anyone, whether a member of the house of Isra’el or a foreigner living in Isra’el, brings his offering, either in connection with a vow or as a voluntary offering, and brings it to Adonai as a burnt offering, 19 in order for you to be accepted, you must bring a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep or the goats. 20 You are not to bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted from you. 21 Whoever brings a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai in fulfillment of a vow or as a voluntary offering, whether it come from the herd or from the flock, it must be unblemished and without defect in order to be accepted. 22 If it is blind, injured, mutilated, has an abnormal growth or has festering or running sores, you are not to offer it to Adonai or make such an offering by fire on the altar to Adonai. 23 If a bull or lamb has a limb which is too long or short, you may offer it as a voluntary offering; but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 An animal with bruised, crushed, torn or cut genitals you are not to offer to Adonai. You are not to do these things in your land, 25 and you are not to receive any of these from a foreigner for you to offer as bread for your God, because their deformity is a defect in them — they will not be accepted from you.’”

26 Adonai said to Moshe, 27 “When a bull, sheep or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days; but from the eighth day on, it may be accepted for an offering made by fire to Adonai. 28 However, no animal is to be slaughtered together with its young on the same day, neither cow nor ewe.

29 “When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Adonai, you must do it in a way such that you will be accepted. 30 It must be eaten on the same day it is offered; leave none of it till morning; I am Adonai.

31 “You are to keep my mitzvot and obey them; I am Adonai. 32 You are not to profane my holy name; on the contrary, I am to be regarded as holy among the people of Isra’el; I am Adonai, who makes you holy, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Adonai.”