Leviticus 22-23

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Use of Holy Offerings

22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Direct Aaron and his sons to deal carefully with the sacred donations of the Israelites, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name: I am the Lord.^{(A) 3} Say to them, ‘If anyone among all your offspring throughout your generations comes near the sacred donations, which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is in a state of uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord.’^{(B) 4} No one of Aaron’s offspring who has a defiling skin disease or suffers a discharge may eat of the sacred donations until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse or a man who has had an emission of semen,^{(C) 5} and whoever touches any swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or any human being by whom he may be made unclean—whatever his uncleanness may be^(D)— ⁶ the person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations unless he has washed his body in water. ⁷ When the sun sets he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations, for they are his food. ⁸ That which died or was torn by wild animals he shall not eat, becoming unclean by it: I am the Lord.^{(E) 9} They shall keep my charge, so that they may not incur guilt and die because of it for having profaned them: I am the Lord; I sanctify them.^(F)

¹⁰ “No layperson shall eat of the sacred donations. No bound or hired servant of the priest shall eat of the sacred donations,^{(G) 11} but if a priest acquires anyone by purchase, the person may eat of them, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the sacred donations, ¹³ but if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced, without offspring, and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food. No layperson shall eat of it.^{(H) 14} If a man eats of the sacred donation unintentionally, he shall add one-fifth of its value to it and give the sacred donation to the priest.^{(I) 15} No one shall profane the sacred donations of the Israelites, which they offer to the Lord, ¹⁶ causing them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their sacred donations, for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.”^(J)

Acceptable Offerings

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and say to them: When anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing in Israel presents an offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering that is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, ¹⁹ to be acceptable on your behalf it shall be a male without blemish, of the cattle or the sheep or the goats.^{(K) 20} You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable on your behalf.^(L)

²¹ “When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.^{(M) 22} Anything blind or injured or maimed or having a discharge or an itch or scabs—these you shall not offer to the Lord or put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire^[a] to the Lord. ²³ An ox or a lamb that is deformed or stunted you may present for a freewill offering, but it will not be accepted for a vow. ²⁴ Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord; such you shall not do within your land, ²⁵ nor shall you accept any such animals from a foreigner to offer as food to your God; since they are mutilated, with a blemish in them, they shall not be accepted on your behalf.”^(N)

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as the Lord’s offering by fire.^{[b](O) 28} But you shall not slaughter, from the herd or the flock, an animal with its young on the same day.^{(P) 29} When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf.^{(Q) 30} It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning: I am the Lord.^(R)

³¹ “Thus you shall keep my commandments and observe them: I am the Lord.^{(S) 32} You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the Israelites: I am the Lord; I sanctify you,^{(T) 33} I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.”^(U)

Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.^(V)

The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread

³ “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a Sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.^(W)

⁴ “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, that you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them.^{(X) 5} In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,^[c] there shall be a Passover offering to the Lord,^{(Y) 6} and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷ On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.^{(Z) 8} For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^[d] on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.”

The Offering of First Fruits

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.^{(AA) 11} He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall raise it. ¹² On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire^[e] of pleasing odor to the Lord, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.^{(AB) 14} You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.

The Festival of Weeks

¹⁵ “And from the day after the Sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count seven full weeks.^{(AC) 16} You shall count until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord.^{(AD) 17} You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord.^{(AE) 18} You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire^[f] of pleasing odor to the Lord. ¹⁹ You shall also offer one male goat for a purification offering and two lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being.^{(AF) 20} The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.^(AG)

²² “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.”^(AH)

The Festival of Trumpets

²³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the Israelites, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts.^{(AI) 25} You shall not work at your occupations, and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.”^[g]

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall humble yourselves^[h] and present the Lord’s offering by fire,^{[i](AJ) 28} and you shall do no work during that entire day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For those who do not humble themselves^[j] during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.^{(AK) 30} And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people.^{(AL) 31} You shall do no work. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. ³² It shall be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves;^[k] on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”

The Festival of Booths

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the Israelites, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and lasting seven days, there shall be the Festival of Booths^[l] to the Lord.^{(AM) 35} The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. ³⁶ Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^[m] on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^[n] it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.^(AN)

³⁷ “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire^[o]—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day^(AO)— ³⁸ apart from the Sabbaths of the Lord and apart from your gifts and apart from all your votive offerings and apart from all your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.

³⁹ “Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days, a complete rest on the first day and a complete rest on the eighth day.^{(AP) 40} On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic^[p] trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.^{(AQ) 41} You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord lasting seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴² You shall live in booths for seven days; all who are native-born in Israel shall live in booths,^{(AR) 43} so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ Thus Moses declared to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.^(AS)