The
Book of Leviticus with Commentary
New King James Version
Leviticus 1
The Burnt Offering
1 Now the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the
tabernacle of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of
Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an
offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the
livestock—of the herd and of the flock.
3 ‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him
offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at
the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD. 4 Then he shall
put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted
on his behalf to make atonement for him. 5 He shall kill the bull
before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring
the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the
door of the tabernacle of meeting. 6 And he shall skin the burnt
offering and cut it into its pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest
shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire. 8
Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the
head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the
altar; 9 but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And
the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an
offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
10 ‘If his offering is of the flocks—of the sheep
or of the goats—as a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male
without blemish. 11 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar
before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall
sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. 12 And he shall cut it into
its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in
order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; 13 but he shall
wash the entrails and the legs with water. Then the priest shall bring
it all and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering
made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
14 ‘And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the LORD is
of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young
pigeons. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head,
and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out at the side of
the altar. 16 And he shall remove its crop with its feathers and cast
it beside the altar on the east side, into the place for ashes. 17 Then
he shall split it at its wings, but shall not divide it completely; and
the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire.
It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the
LORD.
Leviticus 2
The Grain Offering
1 ‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his
offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put
frankincense on it. 2 He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the
priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and
oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a
memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the
LORD. 3 The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his
sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
4 ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the
oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or
unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5 But if your offering is a grain
offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed
with oil. 6 You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a
grain offering.
7 ‘If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan,
it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 You shall bring the grain
offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is
presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. 9 Then the
priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn
it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the
LORD. 10 And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s
and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made
by fire.
11 ‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made
with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering
to the LORD made by fire. 12 As for the offering of the firstfruits,
you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the
altar for a sweet aroma. 13 And every offering of your grain offering
you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the
covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all
your offerings you shall offer salt.
14 ‘If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the
LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green
heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads. 15
And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain
offering. 16 Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of
its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an
offering made by fire to the LORD.
Leviticus 3
The Peace Offering
1 ‘When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if
he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it
without blemish before the LORD. 2 And he shall lay his hand on the
head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of
meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood
all around on the altar. 3 Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of
the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that
covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 the two
kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe
attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; 5 and
Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice,
which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire,
a sweet aroma to the LORD.
6 ‘If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD
is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without
blemish. 7 If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it
before the LORD. 8 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his
offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and
Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
9 ‘Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering,
as an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail
which he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers
the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 10 the two
kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe
attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; 11 and the
priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire
to the LORD.
12 ‘And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before
the LORD. 13 He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the
tabernacle of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood
all around on the altar. 14 Then he shall offer from it his offering,
as an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the
entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 15 the two kidneys
and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached
to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; 16 and the priest
shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a
sweet aroma; all the fat is the LORD’s.
17 ‘This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations
in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor
blood.’”
Leviticus 4
The Sin Offering
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the
children of Israel, saying: ‘If a person sins unintentionally
against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not
to be done, and does any of them, 3 if the anointed priest sins,
bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD for his
sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering.
4 He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting
before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the
bull before the LORD. 5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the
bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. 6 The
priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood
seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7
And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of
sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting;
and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the
altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of
meeting. 8 He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin
offering. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on
the entrails, 9 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the
flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he
shall remove, 10 as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the
peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the
burnt offering. 11 But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with
its head and legs, its entrails and offal— 12 the whole bull he
shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are
poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured
out it shall be burned.
13 ‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally,
and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have
done something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything
which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 when the sin which they
have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young
bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting. 15 And
the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the
bull before the LORD. Then the bull shall be killed before the LORD. 16
The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull’s blood to the
tabernacle of meeting. 17 Then the priest shall dip his finger in the
blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the
veil. 18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar
which is before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he
shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt
offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 19 He
shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. 20 And he
shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus
he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and
it shall be forgiven them. 21 Then he shall carry the bull outside the
camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for
the assembly.
22 ‘When a ruler has sinned, and done something unintentionally
against any of the commandments of the LORD his God in anything which
should not be done, and is guilty, 23 or if his sin which he has
committed comes to his knowledge, he shall bring as his offering a kid
of the goats, a male without blemish. 24 And he shall lay his hand on
the head of the goat, and kill it at the place where they kill the
burnt offering before the LORD. It is a sin offering. 25 The priest
shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put
it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour its blood at
the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And he shall burn all its
fat on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offering.
So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it
shall be forgiven him.
27 ‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing
something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which
ought not to be done, and is guilty, 28 or if his sin which he has
committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a
kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has
committed. 29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin
offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
30 Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it
on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining
blood at the base of the altar. 31 He shall remove all its fat, as fat
is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest
shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the LORD. So the priest
shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32 ‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he shall bring a
female without blemish. 33 Then he shall lay his hand on the head of
the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they
kill the burnt offering. 34 The priest shall take some of the blood of
the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of
burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the
altar. 35 He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is
removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall
burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the
LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has
committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
Leviticus 5
The Trespass Offering
1 ‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath,
and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if
he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
2 ‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the
carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or
the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he
also shall be unclean and guilty. 3 Or if he touches human
uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled,
and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be
guilty.
4 ‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to
do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an
oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall
be guilty in any of these matters.
5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters,
that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall
bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has
committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a
sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his
sin.
7 ‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the
LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two
young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
8 And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is
for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but
shall not divide it completely. 9 Then he shall sprinkle some of the
blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the
blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin
offering. 10 And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering
according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement
on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be
forgiven him.
11 ‘But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young
pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of
an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it,
nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 Then
he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful
of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the
offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering. 13 The priest
shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any
of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the
priest’s as a grain offering.’”
Offerings with Restitution
14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 15 “If a person commits
a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of
the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a
ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of
silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass
offering. 16 And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has
done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and
give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with
the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
17 “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are
forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does
not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. 18 And he
shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with
your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make
atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not
know it, and it shall be forgiven him. 19 It is a trespass offering; he
has certainly trespassed against the LORD.”
Leviticus 6
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “If a person sins
and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about
what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about
a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, 3 or if he has
found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in
any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: 4 then it
shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore
what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was
delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 5
or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full
value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on
the day of his trespass offering. 6 And he shall bring his trespass
offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your
valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 7 So the priest shall
make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for
any one of these things that he may have done in which he
trespasses.”
The Law of the Burnt Offering
8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his
sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt
offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning,
and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 And the
priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall
put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the
fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and
carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 And the fire on
the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the
priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering
in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
The Law of the Grain Offering
14 ‘This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron
shall offer it on the altar before the LORD. 15 He shall take from it
his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and
all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it
on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the LORD. 16 And the
remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with unleavened bread it
shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of
meeting they shall eat it. 17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have
given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most
holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering. 18 All the males
among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be a statute forever
in your generations concerning the offerings made by fire to the LORD.
Everyone who touches them must be holy.’”[a]
19 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 20 “This is the offering
of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD, beginning on
the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a
daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at
night. 21 It shall be made in a pan with oil. When it is mixed, you
shall bring it in. The baked pieces of the grain offering you shall
offer for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 22 The priest from among his sons,
who is anointed in his place, shall offer it. It is a statute forever
to the LORD. It shall be wholly burned. 23 For every grain offering for
the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”
The Law of the Sin Offering
24 Also the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and
to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: In the
place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be
killed before the LORD. It is most holy. 26 The priest who offers it
for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court
of the tabernacle of meeting. 27 Everyone who touches its flesh must be
holy.[b] And when its blood is sprinkled on any garment, you shall wash
that on which it was sprinkled, in a holy place. 28 But the earthen
vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. And if it is boiled in a
bronze pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water. 29 All the
males among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. 30 But no sin
offering from which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of
meeting, to make atonement in the holy place,[c] shall be eaten. It
shall be burned in the fire.
Leviticus 7
The Law of the Trespass Offering
1 ‘Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is
most holy): 2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering they
shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all
around on the altar. 3 And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat
tail and the fat that covers the entrails, 4 the two kidneys and the
fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the
liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; 5 and the priest shall burn
them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a
trespass offering. 6 Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall
be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. 7 The trespass offering is
like the sin offering; there is one law for them both: the priest who
makes atonement with it shall have it. 8 And the priest who offers
anyone’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the
skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. 9 Also every grain
offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in the
covered pan, or in a pan, shall be the priest’s who offers it. 10
Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to
all the sons of Aaron, to one as much as the other.
The Law of Peace Offerings
11 ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he
shall offer to the LORD: 12 If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he
shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed
with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended
flour mixed with oil. 13 Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall
offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace
offering. 14 And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as
a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who
sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.
15 ‘The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for
thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not
leave any of it until morning. 16 But if the sacrifice of his offering
is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that
he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also
may be eaten; 17 the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the
third day must be burned with fire. 18 And if any of the flesh of the
sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it
shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an
abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall
bear guilt.
19 ‘The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten.
It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are
clean may eat of it. 20 But the person who eats the flesh of the
sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, while he is
unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people. 21 Moreover the
person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an
unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing,[a] and who eats the
flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD,
that person shall be cut off from his people.’”
Fat and Blood May Not Be Eaten
22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to the children
of Israel, saying: ‘You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or
goat. 24 And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of
what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you
shall by no means eat it. 25 For whoever eats the fat of the animal of
which men offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, the person who
eats it shall be cut off from his people. 26 Moreover you shall not eat
any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast. 27
Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his
people.’”
The Portion of Aaron and His Sons
28 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 29 “Speak to the
children of Israel, saying: ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his
peace offering to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from
the sacrifice of his peace offering. 30 His own hands shall bring the
offerings made by fire to the LORD. The fat with the breast he shall
bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the LORD.
31 And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall
be Aaron’s and his sons’. 32 Also the right thigh you shall
give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your
peace offerings. 33 He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of
the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right thigh for his
part. 34 For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave
offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices
of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and
to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute
forever.’”
35 This is the consecrated portion for Aaron and his sons, from the
offerings made by fire to the LORD, on the day when Moses presented
them to minister to the LORD as priests. 36 The LORD commanded this to
be given to them by the children of Israel, on the day that He anointed
them, by a statute forever throughout their generations.
37 This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin
offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice
of the peace offering, 38 which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount
Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer
their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Leviticus 8
Aaron and His Sons Consecrated
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Take Aaron and
his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, a bull as the
sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; 3 and gather
all the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of
meeting.”
4 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. And the congregation was
gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 5 And Moses
said to the congregation, “This is what the LORD commanded to be
done.”
6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7
And he put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with
the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the
intricately woven band of the ephod, and with it tied the ephod on him.
8 Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the
Thummim[a] in the breastplate. 9 And he put the turban on his head.
Also on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the holy
crown, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
10 Also Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and
all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled some of it on
the altar seven times, anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the
laver and its base, to consecrate them. 12 And he poured some of the
anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate
him.
13 Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons and put tunics on them, girded
them with sashes, and put hats on them, as the LORD had commanded
Moses.
14 And he brought the bull for the sin offering. Then Aaron and his
sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering, 15
and Moses killed it. Then he took the blood, and put some on the horns
of the altar all around with his finger, and purified the altar. And he
poured the blood at the base of the altar, and consecrated it, to make
atonement for it. 16 Then he took all the fat that was on the entrails,
the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys with their
fat, and Moses burned them on the altar. 17 But the bull, its hide, its
flesh, and its offal, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the LORD
had commanded Moses.
18 Then he brought the ram as the burnt offering. And Aaron and his
sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 19 and Moses killed it.
Then he sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. 20 And he cut the
ram into pieces; and Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fat. 21
Then he washed the entrails and the legs in water. And Moses burned the
whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet aroma, an
offering made by fire to the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
22 And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Then Aaron
and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 23 and Moses
killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of
Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big
toe of his right foot. 24 Then he brought Aaron’s sons. And Moses
put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of
their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses
sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. 25 Then he took the fat
and the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe
attached to the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right
thigh; 26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the
LORD he took one unleavened cake, a cake of bread anointed with oil,
and one wafer, and put them on the fat and on the right thigh; 27 and
he put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands,
and waved them as a wave offering before the LORD. 28 Then Moses took
them from their hands and burned them on the altar, on the burnt
offering. They were consecration offerings for a sweet aroma. That was
an offering made by fire to the LORD. 29 And Moses took the breast and
waved it as a wave offering before the LORD. It was Moses’ part
of the ram of consecration, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood
which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on
his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated
Aaron, his garments, his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.
31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the
door of the tabernacle of meeting, and eat it there with the bread that
is in the basket of consecration offerings, as I commanded, saying,
‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32 What remains of the
flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire. 33 And you shall not
go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until
the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days he shall
consecrate you. 34 As he has done this day, so the LORD has commanded
to do, to make atonement for you. 35 Therefore you shall stay at the
door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days, and
keep the charge of the LORD, so that you may not die; for so I have
been commanded.” 36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things that
the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.
Leviticus 9
The Priestly Ministry Begins
1 It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and
his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 And he said to Aaron, “Take
for yourself a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt
offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. 3 And to the
children of Israel you shall speak, saying, ‘Take a kid of the
goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year,
without blemish, as a burnt offering, 4 also a bull and a ram as peace
offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed
with oil; for today the LORD will appear to you.’”
5 So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of
meeting. And all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.
6 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded
you to do, and the glory of the LORD will appear to you.” 7 And
Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, offer your sin offering
and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the
people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them,
as the LORD commanded.”
8 Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin
offering, which was for himself. 9 Then the sons of Aaron brought the
blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the
horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar. 10
But the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin
offering he burned on the altar, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 11
The flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.
12 And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented
to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar. 13 Then
they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and
he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the
legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.
15 Then he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat,
which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it
for sin, like the first one. 16 And he brought the burnt offering and
offered it according to the prescribed manner. 17 Then he brought the
grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar,
besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.
18 He also killed the bull and the ram as sacrifices of peace
offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron’s sons presented
to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar, 19 and
the fat from the bull and the ram—the fatty tail, what covers the
entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver; 20
and they put the fat on the breasts. Then he burned the fat on the
altar; 21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave
offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded.
22 Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came
down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace
offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting,
and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD
appeared to all the people, 24 and fire came out from before the LORD
and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the
people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
Leviticus 10
The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu
1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer
and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before
the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the
LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 And Moses said
to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke, saying:
‘By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorified.’”
So Aaron held his peace.
4 Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle
of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from
before the sanctuary out of the camp.” 5 So they went near and
carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
6 And Moses said to Aaron, and to Elemazar and Ithamar, his sons,
“Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die,
and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole
house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled. 7 You
shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you
die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.” And they did
according to the word of Moses.
Conduct Prescribed for Priests
8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying: 9 “Do not drink wine or
intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the
tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations, 10 that you may distinguish between holy
and unholy, and between unclean and clean, 11 and that you may teach
the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to
them by the hand of Moses.”
12 And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Elemazar and Ithamar, his sons who
were left: “Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings
made by fire to the LORD, and eat it without leaven beside the altar;
for it is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is
your due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to
the LORD; for so I have been commanded. 14 The breast of the wave
offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean
place, you, your sons, and your daughters with you; for they are your
due and your sons’ due, which are given from the sacrifices of
peace offerings of the children of Israel. 15 The thigh of the heave
offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the
offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the
LORD. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute
forever, as the LORD has commanded.”
16 Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering,
and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Elemazar and
Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, 17 “Why have
you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy,
and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to
make atonement for them before the LORD? 18 See! Its blood was not
brought inside the holy place;[a] indeed you should have eaten it in a
holy place, as I commanded.”
19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, this day they have offered
their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and such
things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would
it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?” 20 So when Moses
heard that, he was content.
Leviticus 11
Foods Permitted and Forbidden
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the
animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth:
3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves
and chewing the cud—that you may eat. 4 Nevertheless these you
shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven
hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven
hooves, is unclean to you; 5 the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud
but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 6 the hare, because
it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 7
and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet
does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not
eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you.
9 ‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in
the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the
rivers—that you may eat. 10 But all in the seas or in the rivers
that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any
living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. 11
They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but
you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. 12 Whatever in the
water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination
to you.
13 ‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds;
they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the
vulture, the buzzard, 14 the kite, and the falcon after its kind; 15
every raven after its kind, 16 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the
sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; 17 the little owl, the fisher
owl, and the screech owl; 18 the white owl, the jackdaw, and the
carrion vulture; 19 the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe,
and the bat.
20 ‘All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an
abomination to you. 21 Yet these you may eat of every flying insect
that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their
feet with which to leap on the earth. 22 These you may eat: the locust
after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after
its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. 23 But all other flying
insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.
Unclean Animals
24 ‘By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the
carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening; 25 whoever
carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and
be unclean until evening: 26 The carcass of any animal which divides
the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean
to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. 27 And whatever goes
on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are
unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until
evening. 28 Whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and
be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you.
29 ‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things
that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard
after its kind; 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the
sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all
that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean
until evening. 32 Anything on which any of them falls, when they are
dead shall be unclean, whether it is any item of wood or clothing or
skin or sack, whatever item it is, in which any work is done, it must
be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall
be clean. 33 Any earthen vessel into which any of them falls you shall
break; and whatever is in it shall be unclean: 34 in such a vessel, any
edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that
may be drunk from it becomes unclean. 35 And everything on which a part
of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or
cooking stove, it shall be broken down; for they are unclean, and shall
be unclean to you. 36 Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, in which
there is plenty of water, shall be clean, but whatever touches any such
carcass becomes unclean. 37 And if a part of any such carcass falls on
any planting seed which is to be sown, it remains clean. 38 But if
water is put on the seed, and if a part of any such carcass falls on
it, it becomes unclean to you.
39 ‘And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its
carcass shall be unclean until evening. 40 He who eats of its carcass
shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. He also who
carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until
evening.
41 ‘And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be an
abomination. It shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever crawls on its belly,
whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all
creeping things that creep on the earth—these you shall not eat,
for they are an abomination. 43 You shall not make yourselves
abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make
yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them. 44 For I am
the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you
shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with
any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 45 For I am the LORD who
brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall
therefore be holy, for I am holy.
46 ‘This is the law of the animals and the birds and every living
creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on
the earth, 47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and
between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be
eaten.’”
Leviticus 12
The Ritual After Childbirth
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the
children of Israel, saying: ‘If a woman has conceived, and borne
a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of
her customary impurity she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day
the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 She shall then
continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall
not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the
days of her purification are fulfilled.
5 ‘But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two
weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the
blood of her purification sixty-six days.
6 ‘When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a
son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first
year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin
offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Then he shall
offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her. And she shall be
clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne
a male or a female.
8 ‘And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two
turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a burnt offering and the
other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her,
and she will be clean.’”
Leviticus 13
The Law Concerning Leprosy
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “When a
man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot,
and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous[a] sore, then he
shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.
3 The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the
hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper
than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall
examine him, and pronounce him unclean. 4 But if the bright spot is
white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than
the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall
isolate the one who has the sore seven days. 5 And the priest shall
examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as
it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall
isolate him another seven days. 6 Then the priest shall examine him
again on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore has faded, and the
sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
clean; it is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7
But if the scab should at all spread over the skin, after he has been
seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest
again. 8 And if the priest sees that the scab has indeed spread on the
skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.
9 “When the leprous sore is on a person, then he shall be brought
to the priest. 10 And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the
swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white, and
there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is an old leprosy
on the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean, and
shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.
12 “And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy
covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his
foot, wherever the priest looks, 13 then the priest shall consider; and
indeed if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him
clean who has the sore. It has all turned white. He is clean. 14 But
when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest
shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean; for the
raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. 16 Or if the raw flesh changes and
turns white again, he shall come to the priest. 17 And the priest shall
examine him; and indeed if the sore has turned white, then the priest
shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. He is clean.
18 “If the body develops a boil in the skin, and it is healed, 19
and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a bright
spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest; 20 and if,
when the priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin, and
its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It
is a leprous sore which has broken out of the boil. 21 But if the
priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in it, and it
is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall
isolate him seven days; 22 and if it should at all spread over the
skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous
sore. 23 But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread,
it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24 “Or if the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the
raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white or white, 25
then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the hair of the bright
spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is
leprosy broken out in the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce
him unclean. It is a leprous sore. 26 But if the priest examines it,
and indeed there are no white hairs in the bright spot, and it is not
deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him
seven days. 27 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If
it has at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him
unclean. It is a leprous sore. 28 But if the bright spot stays in one
place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling
from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar
from the burn.
29 “If a man or woman has a sore on the head or the beard, 30
then the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if it appears deeper
than the skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair, then the priest
shall pronounce him unclean. It is a scaly leprosy of the head or
beard. 31 But if the priest examines the scaly sore, and indeed it does
not appear deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then
the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale seven days. 32 And
on the seventh day the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if the
scale has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the scale
does not appear deeper than the skin, 33 he shall shave himself, but
the scale he shall not shave. And the priest shall isolate the one who
has the scale another seven days. 34 On the seventh day the priest
shall examine the scale; and indeed if the scale has not spread over
the skin, and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest
shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35
But if the scale should at all spread over the skin after his
cleansing, 36 then the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the
scale has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow
hair. He is unclean. 37 But if the scale appears to be at a standstill,
and there is black hair grown up in it, the scale has healed. He is
clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38 “If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body,
specifically white bright spots, 39 then the priest shall look; and
indeed if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it
is a white spot that grows on the skin. He is clean.
40 “As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is
bald, but he is clean. 41 He whose hair has fallen from his forehead,
he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean. 42 And if there is on the
bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white sore, it is leprosy breaking
out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall
examine it; and indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish-white on
his bald head or on his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on
the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest
shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.
45 “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn
and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry,
‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 He shall be unclean. All the days he
has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell
alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
The Law Concerning Leprous Garments
47 “Also, if a garment has a leprous plague[b] in it, whether it
is a woolen garment or a linen garment, 48 whether it is in the warp or
woof of linen or wool, whether in leather or in anything made of
leather, 49 and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or
in the leather, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made
of leather, it is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest. 50
The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the
plague seven days. 51 And he shall examine the plague on the seventh
day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in
the woof, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is
an active leprosy. It is unclean. 52 He shall therefore burn that
garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in
linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment
shall be burned in the fire.
53 “But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not
spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in
anything made of leather, 54 then the priest shall command that they
wash the thing in which is the plague; and he shall isolate it another
seven days. 55 Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has
been washed; and indeed if the plague has not changed its color, though
the plague has not spread, it is unclean, and you shall burn it in the
fire; it continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or
inside. 56 If the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has faded
after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether out
of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the leather. 57 But if it
appears again in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in
anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague; you shall burn with
fire that in which is the plague. 58 And if you wash the garment,
either warp or woof, or whatever is made of leather, if the plague has
disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time, and shall
be clean.
59 “This is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or
linen, either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, to
pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.”
Leviticus 14
The Ritual for Cleansing Healed Lepers
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This shall be
the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought
to the priest. 3 And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the
priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the
leper, 4 then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be
cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 5
And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an
earthen vessel over running water. 6 As for the living bird, he shall
take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them
and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the
running water. 7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to
be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall
let the living bird loose in the open field. 8 He who is to be cleansed
shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in
water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp,
and shall stay outside his tent seven days. 9 But on the seventh day he
shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his
eyebrows—all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his
clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.
10 “And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without
blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths
of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one
log of oil. 11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the
man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the
door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one
male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and
wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. 13 Then he shall kill the
lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt
offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the
priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. 14 The
priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the
priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be
cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his
right foot. 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and
pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 Then the priest shall
dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall
sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
17 And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on
the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of
his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of
the trespass offering. 18 The rest of the oil that is in the
priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be
cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.
19 “Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make
atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward
he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the
burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall
make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21 “But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take
one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for
him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain
offering, a log of oil, 22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons,
such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other
a burnt offering. 23 He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth
day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before
the LORD. 24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass
offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave
offering before the LORD. 25 Then he shall kill the lamb of the
trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the
trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is
to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of
his right foot. 26 And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the
palm of his own left hand. 27 Then the priest shall sprinkle with his
right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times
before the LORD. 28 And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in
his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on
the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on
the place of the blood of the trespass offering. 29 The rest of the oil
that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who
is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 30 And he
shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can
afford— 31 such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin
offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So
the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before
the LORD. 32 This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot
afford the usual cleansing.”
The Law Concerning Leprous Houses
33 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 34 “When you
have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession,
and I put the leprous plague[a] in a house in the land of your
possession, 35 and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest,
saying, ‘It seems to me that there is some plague in the
house,’ 36 then the priest shall command that they empty the
house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all
that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest
shall go in to examine the house. 37 And he shall examine the plague;
and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained
streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall, 38
then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house,
and shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again on
the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the
walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take
away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into
an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall cause the house to
be scraped inside, all around, and the dust that they scrape off they
shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they shall
take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he
shall take other mortar and plaster the house.
43 “Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house,
after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and
after it is plastered, 44 then the priest shall come and look; and
indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy
in the house. It is unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its
stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall
carry them outside the city to an unclean place. 46 Moreover he who
goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until
evening. 47 And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes,
and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 “But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the
plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then
the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is
healed. 49 And he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar
wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 50 Then he shall kill one of the birds in an
earthen vessel over running water; 51 and he shall take the cedar wood,
the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood
of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house
seven times. 52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the
bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood,
the hyssop, and the scarlet. 53 Then he shall let the living bird loose
outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house,
and it shall be clean.
54 “This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, 55 for the
leprosy of a garment and of a house, 56 for a swelling and a scab and a
bright spot, 57 to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This
is the law of leprosy.”
Leviticus 15
The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak
to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a
discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. 3 And this shall be
his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs
with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is
his uncleanness. 4 Every bed is unclean on which he who has the
discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. 5 And
whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and
be unclean until evening. 6 He who sits on anything on which he who has
the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be
unclean until evening. 7 And he who touches the body of him who has the
discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean
until evening. 8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean,
then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until
evening. 9 Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be
unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be
unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash
his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 And
whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his
hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be
unclean until evening. 12 The vessel of earth that he who has the
discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be
rinsed in water.
13 ‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge,
then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his
clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean.
14 On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two
young pigeons, and come before the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle
of meeting, and give them to the priest. 15 Then the priest shall offer
them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So
the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD because of his
discharge.
16 ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all
his body in water, and be unclean until evening. 17 And any garment and
any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and
be unclean until evening. 18 Also, when a woman lies with a man, and
there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be
unclean until evening.
19 ‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body
is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her
shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she lies on during
her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall
be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe
in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 And whoever touches anything
that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be
unclean until evening. 23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on
which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him,
he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be
unclean.
25 ‘If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than
at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual
time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the
days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on
which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed
of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the
uncleanness of her impurity. 27 Whoever touches those things shall be
unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean
until evening.
28 ‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count
for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on
the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young
pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of
meeting. 30 Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and
the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for
her before the LORD for the discharge of her uncleanness.
31 ‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their
uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My
tabernacle that is among them. 32 This is the law for one who has a
discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, 33 and
for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for
one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with
her who is unclean.’”
Leviticus 16
The Day of Atonement
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of
Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the LORD, and died; 2 and
the LORD said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at
just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy
seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud
above the mercy seat.
3 “Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a
young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He
shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he
shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall
be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body
in water, and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of
the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one
ram as a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for
himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall
take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the
tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats:
one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron
shall bring the goat on which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer it
as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the
scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement
upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is
for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and
shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then
he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar
before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and
bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire
before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat
that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the
blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on
the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the
blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for
the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he
did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and
before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy
Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and
because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do
for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of
their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of
meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he
comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household,
and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar
that is before the LORD, and make atonement for it, and shall take some
of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it
on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of
the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate
it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place,
the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess
over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their
transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of
the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a
suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to
an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall
take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy
Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall wash his body with
water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his
burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement
for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin offering he shall
burn on the altar. 26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat
shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he
may come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat
for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in
the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn
in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 28 Then he who
burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and
afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and
do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger
who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make
atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your
sins before the LORD. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and
you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the
priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his
father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen
clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the
Holy Sanctuary,[a] and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of
meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests
and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting
statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all
their sins, once a year.” And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 17
The Sanctity of Blood
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron,
to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them,
‘This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying: 3
“Whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or
goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, 4 and does not
bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering
to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, the guilt of bloodshed
shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be
cut off from among his people, 5 to the end that the children of Israel
may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, that
they may bring them to the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of
meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the LORD.
6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at
the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet
aroma to the LORD. 7 They shall no more offer their sacrifices to
demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute
forever for them throughout their generations.”’
8 “Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house
of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt
offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the door of the
tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the LORD, that man shall be cut
off from among his people.
10 ‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers
who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against
that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to
you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the
blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ 12 Therefore I said to
the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor
shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’
13 “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers
who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may
be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; 14 for it
is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said
to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any
flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be
cut off.’
15 “And every person who eats what died naturally or what was
torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a
stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be
unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not
wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”
Leviticus 18
Laws of Sexual Morality
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the
children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. 3
According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you
shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where
I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their
ordinances. 4 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to
walk in them: I am the LORD your God. 5 You shall therefore keep My
statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them:
I am the LORD.
6 ‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him,
to uncover his nakedness: I am the LORD. 7 The nakedness of your father
or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your
mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of your
father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s
nakedness. 9 The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father,
or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere,
their nakedness you shall not uncover. 10 The nakedness of your
son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness
you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. 11 The
nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by
your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her
nakedness. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. 13 You shall
not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is
near of kin to your mother. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of
your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is
your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not
uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall
you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to
uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness.
18 Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her
nakedness while the other is alive.
19 ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness
as long as she is in her customary impurity. 20 Moreover you shall not
lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with
her. 21 And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the
fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the
LORD. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an
abomination. 23 Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself
with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It
is perversion.
24 ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all
these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25
For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its
iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. 26 You shall
therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any
of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger
who dwells among you 27 (for all these abominations the men of the land
have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), 28 lest
the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the
nations that were before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these
abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among
their people.
30 ‘Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not
commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you,
and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your
God.’”
Leviticus 19
Moral and Ceremonial Laws
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the
congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You
shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
3 ‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and
keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
4 ‘Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I
am the LORD your God.
5 ‘And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD,
you shall offer it of your own free will. 6 It shall be eaten the same
day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the
third day, it shall be burned in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all
on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. 8
Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has
profaned the hallowed offering of the LORD; and that person shall be
cut off from his people.
9 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly
reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of
your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you
gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor
and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one
another. 12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you
profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
13 ‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of
him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. 14
You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the
blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be
partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In
righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about
as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against
the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall
surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You
shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of
your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the
LORD.
19 ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock
breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed.
Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
20 ‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man
as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her
freedom, for this there shall be scourging; but they shall not be put
to death, because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass
offering to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram
as a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make atonement for him with
the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he
has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven
him.
23 ‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of
trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised.
Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten.
24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the
LORD. 25 And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield
to you its increase: I am the LORD your God.
26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you
practice divination or soothsaying. 27 You shall not shave around the
sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28
You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo
any marks on you: I am the LORD.
29 ‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot,
lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of
wickedness.
30 ‘You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am
the LORD.
31 ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek
after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
32 ‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence
of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.
33 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not
mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as
one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were
strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
35 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of
length, weight, or volume. 36 You shall have honest scales, honest
weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 ‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My
judgments, and perform them: I am the LORD.’”
Leviticus 20
Penalties for Breaking the Law
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Again, you shall
say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of
Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his
descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of
the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will set My face against that
man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of
his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy
name. 4 And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes
from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they
do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that man and against
his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who
prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to
prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person
and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and
be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes,
and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
9 ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely
be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood
shall be upon him.
10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife,
he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer
and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. 11 The man who lies
with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s
nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall
be upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them
shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their
blood shall be upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with
a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely
be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 14 If a man marries a
woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire,
both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 If a
man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you
shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates
with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be
put to death. Their blood is upon them.
17 ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his
mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his
nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight
of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He
shall bear his guilt. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her sickness
and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has
uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from
their people.
19 ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s
sister nor of your father’s sister, for that would uncover his
near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. 20 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 If a man takes his
brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his
brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
22 ‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My
judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to
dwell may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the statutes
of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all
these things, and therefore I abhor them. 24 But I have said to you,
“You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to
possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your
God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore
distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds
and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by
bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I
have separated from you as unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for
I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you
should be Mine.
27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar
spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with
stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’”
Leviticus 21
Regulations for Conduct of Priests
1 And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the
sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘None shall defile himself for
the dead among his people, 2 except for his relatives who are nearest
to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother;
3 also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband,
for her he may defile himself. 4 Otherwise he shall not defile himself,
being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
5 ‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall
they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their
flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of
their God, for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and
the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not
take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a
woman divorced from her husband; for the priest[a] is holy to his God.
8 Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your
God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am
holy. 9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing
the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
10 ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head
the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the
garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 nor shall
he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his
mother; 12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the
sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his
God is upon him: I am the LORD. 13 And he shall take a wife in her
virginity. 14 A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a
harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of
his own people as wife. 15 Nor shall he profane his posterity among his
people, for I the LORD sanctify him.’”
16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron,
saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations,
who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For
any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who
has a marred face or any limb too long, 19 a man who has a broken foot
or broken hand, 20 or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a
defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. 21 No man of the
descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to
offer the offerings made by fire to the LORD. He has a defect; he shall
not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of
his God, both the most holy and the holy; 23 only he shall not go near
the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he
profane My sanctuaries; for I the LORD sanctify them.’”
24 And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of
Israel.
Leviticus 22
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron
and his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the
children of Israel, and that they do not profane My holy name by what
they dedicate to Me: I am the LORD. 3 Say to them: ‘Whoever of
all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the
holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he
has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My
presence: I am the LORD.
4 ‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or
has a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean.
And whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has
had an emission of semen, 5 or whoever touches any creeping thing by
which he would be made unclean, or any person by whom he would become
unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who has
touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not
eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water. 7 And when
the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy
offerings, because it is his food. 8 Whatever dies naturally or is torn
by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the LORD.
9 ‘They shall therefore keep My ordinance, lest they bear sin for
it and die thereby, if they profane it: I the LORD sanctify them.
10 ‘No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who dwells with
the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing. 11 But if
the priest buys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is
born in his house may eat his food. 12 If the priest’s daughter
is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings. 13
But if the priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no
child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth,
she may eat her father’s food; but no outsider shall eat it.
14 ‘And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he
shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it.
15 They shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel,
which they offer to the LORD, 16 or allow them to bear the guilt of
trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the LORD sanctify
them.’”
Leviticus 23
Feasts of the LORD
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the
children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD,
which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
The Sabbath
3 ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath
of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is
the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
4 ‘These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you
shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the
first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover. 6 And on the
fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the
LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you
shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8
But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven
days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no
customary work on it.’”
The Feast of Firstfruits
9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children
of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I
give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the
firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf
before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the
Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day,
when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without
blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 Its grain offering shall
be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering
made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering
shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat neither bread
nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have
brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks
15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the
Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering:
seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after
the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the
LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of
two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be
baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD. 18 And you
shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without
blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt
offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink
offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 19
Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and
two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20
The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave
offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the
LORD for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it
is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It
shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your
generations.
22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly
reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any
gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for
the stranger: I am the LORD your God.’”
The Feast of Trumpets
23 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the
children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first
day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing
of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on
it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the
LORD.’”
The Day of Atonement
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 27 “Also the tenth day of
this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy
convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an
offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 And you shall do no work on that
same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you
before the LORD your God. 29 For any person who is not afflicted in
soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any
person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy
from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a
statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32
It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your
souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to
evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”
The Feast of Tabernacles
33 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the
children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh
month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35
On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no
customary work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an offering
made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy
convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
37 ‘These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to
be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a
burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings,
everything on its day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of the LORD,
besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your
freewill offerings which you give to the LORD.
39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have
gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD
for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on
the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on
the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the
boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice
before the LORD your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a
feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute
forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh
month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native
Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know
that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them
out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.’”
44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
Leviticus 24
Care of the Tabernacle Lamps
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Command the
children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives
for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. 3 Outside the veil
of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in
charge of it from evening until morning before the LORD continually; it
shall be a statute forever in your generations. 4 He shall be in charge
of the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.
The Bread of the Tabernacle
5 “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it.
Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 You shall set them in
two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD. 7 And
you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the
bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 8 Every
Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being
taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 9 And it
shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place;
for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the LORD made by fire,
by a perpetual statute.”
The Penalty for Blasphemy
10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian,
went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s
son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. 11 And the
Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed;
and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was
Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they put
him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them.
13 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Take outside the camp
him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his
head, and let all the congregation stone him.
15 “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying:
‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 And whoever
blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the
congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who
is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall
be put to death.
17 ‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. 18
Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal.
19 ‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has
done, so shall it be done to him— 20 fracture for fracture, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so
shall it be done to him. 21 And whoever kills an animal shall restore
it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have
the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I
am the LORD your God.’”
23 Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside
the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the
children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 25
The Sabbath of the Seventh Year
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When
you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a
sabbath to the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six
years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 but in the
seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a
sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your
vineyard. 5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not
reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of
rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food
for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and
the stranger who dwells with you, 7 for your livestock and the beasts
that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
The Year of Jubilee
8 ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself,
seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years
shall be to you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of
the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day
of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your
land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim
liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a
Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and
each of you shall return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year shall be
a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of
its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. 12 For it
is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from
the field.
13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his
possession. 14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from
your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another. 15
According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from
your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall
sell to you. 16 According to the multitude of years you shall increase
its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall
diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the
years of the crops. 17 Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but
you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
Provisions for the Seventh Year
18 ‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and
perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19 Then the
land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there
in safety.
20 ‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year,
since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 Then I will
command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth
produce enough for three years. 22 And you shall sow in the eighth
year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes
in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
Redemption of Property
23 ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine;
for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. 24 And in all the land of
your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of
his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then
he may redeem what his brother sold. 26 Or if the man has no one to
redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27 then let him
count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to
whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28 But if he is
not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall
remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and
in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his
possession.
29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem
it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may
redeem it. 30 But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full
year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him
who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in
the Jubilee. 31 However the houses of villages which have no wall
around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be
redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32 Nevertheless
the cities of the Lemvites, and the houses in the cities of their
possession, the Lemvites may redeem at any time. 33 And if a man
purchases a house from the Lemvites, then the house that was sold in
the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the
houses in the cities of the Lemvites are their possession among the
children of Israel. 34 But the field of the common-land of their cities
may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
Lending to the Poor
35 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty
among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner,
that he may live with you. 36 Take no usury or interest from him; but
fear your God, that your brother may live with you. 37 You shall not
lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. 38 I
am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give
you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
The Law Concerning Slavery
39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor,
and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall
serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And then he shall depart from
you—he and his children with him—and shall return to his
own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For
they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they
shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him with rigor,
but you shall fear your God. 44 And as for your male and female slaves
whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them
you may buy male and female slaves. 45 Moreover you may buy the
children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who
are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your
property. 46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children
after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your
permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel,
you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
47 ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and
one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself
to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the
stranger’s family, 48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again.
One of his brothers may redeem him; 49 or his uncle or his
uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him
in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.
50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his
release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that
he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to
the time of a hired servant for him. 51 If there are still many years
remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption
from the money with which he was bought. 52 And if there remain but a
few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and
according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.
53 He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not
rule with rigor over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed in
these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he
and his children with him. 55 For the children of Israel are servants
to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I
am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 26
Promise of Blessing and Retribution
1 ‘You shall not make idols for yourselves;
neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for
yourselves;
nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it;
for I am the LORD your God.
2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary:
I am the LORD.
3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and
perform them,
4 then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield
its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the
vintage shall last till the time of sowing;
you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none
will make you afraid;
I will rid the land of evil beasts,
and the sword will not go through your land.
7 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword
before you.
8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall
put ten thousand to flight;
your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
9 ‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful,
multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
10 You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because
of the new.
11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not
abhor you.
12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My
people.
13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, that you should not be their slaves;
I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these
commandments,
15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My
judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My
covenant,
16 I also will do this to you:
I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which
shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart.
And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by
your enemies.
Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one
pursues you.
18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will
punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 I will break the pride of your power;
I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
20 And your strength shall be spent in vain;
for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the
land yield their fruit.
21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing
to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to
your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of
your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number;
and your highways shall be desolate.
23 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but
walk contrary to Me,
24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you
yet seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the
vengeance of the covenant;
when you are gathered together within your cities I will send
pestilence among you;
and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake
your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight,
and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk
contrary to Me,
28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;
and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the
flesh of your daughters.
30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars,
and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;
and My soul shall abhor you.
31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to
desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.
32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who
dwell in it shall be astonished at it.
33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword
after you;
your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies
desolate and you are in your enemies’ land;
then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—
for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.
36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send
faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies;
the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee;
they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall
when no one pursues.
37 They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a
sword, when no one pursues;
and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your
enemies shall eat you up.
39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their
iniquity in your enemies’ lands;
also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they
shall waste away.
40 ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of
their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful
to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,
41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought
them into the land of their enemies;
if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their
guilt—
42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant
with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;
I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its
sabbaths while it lies desolate without them;
they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and
because their soul abhorred My statutes.
44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies,
I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy
them and break My covenant with them;
for I am the LORD their God.
45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the
nations, that I might be their God:
I am the LORD.’”
46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made
between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand
of Moses.
Leviticus 27
Redeeming Persons and Property Dedicated to God
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the
children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When a man consecrates by a
vow certain persons to the LORD, according to your valuation, 3 if your
valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old,
then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the
shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall
be thirty shekels; 5 and if from five years old up to twenty years old,
then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a
female ten shekels; 6 and if from a month old up to five years old,
then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for
a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver; 7 and if from
sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall
be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8 ‘But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall
present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for
him; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value
him.
9 ‘If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to the
LORD, all that anyone gives to the LORD shall be holy. 10 He shall not
substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he
at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged
for it shall be holy. 11 If it is an unclean animal which they do not
offer as a sacrifice to the LORD, then he shall present the animal
before the priest; 12 and the priest shall set a value for it, whether
it is good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But
if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your
valuation.
14 ‘And when a man dedicates his house to be holy to the LORD,
then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as
the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 If he who dedicated it
wants to redeem his house, then he must add one-fifth of the money of
your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
16 ‘If a man dedicates to the LORD part of a field of his
possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it.
A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17
If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your
valuation it shall stand. 18 But if he dedicates his field after the
Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to
the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be
deducted from your valuation. 19 And if he who dedicates the field ever
wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your
valuation to it, and it shall belong to him. 20 But if he does not want
to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it
shall not be redeemed anymore; 21 but the field, when it is released in
the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field; it shall be
the possession of the priest.
22 ‘And if a man dedicates to the LORD a field which he has
bought, which is not the field of his possession, 23 then the priest
shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation, up to the Year of
Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy
offering to the LORD. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return
to him from whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a
possession. 25 And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel
of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26 ‘But the firstborn of the animals, which should be the
LORD’s firstborn, no man shall dedicate; whether it is an ox or
sheep, it is the LORD’s. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then
he shall redeem it according to your valuation, and shall add one-fifth
to it; or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to
your valuation.
28 ‘Nevertheless no devoted offering that a man may devote to the
LORD of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his
possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most
holy to the LORD. 29 No person under the ban, who may become doomed to
destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to
death. 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the
land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s. It is holy to
the LORD. 31 If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he
shall add one-fifth to it. 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or
the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be
holy to the LORD. 33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad,
nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it
and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be
redeemed.’”
34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the
children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
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