The Bible

Leviticus Chapter 22

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²"Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and so they don't profane my holy name. I am Yahweh.

³"Tell them, 'If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things which the children of Israel make holy to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am Yahweh.

⁴"'Whoever of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man who has a seminal emission, ⁵or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has- ⁶the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. ⁷When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. ⁸He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.

⁹"'They shall therefore follow my requirements, lest they bear sin for it and die in it, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

¹⁰"'No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. ¹¹But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and those who are born in his house shall eat of his bread. ¹²If a priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things. ¹³But if a 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 of her father's bread; but no stranger shall eat any of it.

¹⁴"'If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add a fifth of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to Yahweh, ¹⁶and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.'"

¹⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their freewill offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering: ¹⁹so that you may be accepted, offer a male without defect, from the bulls, or sheep, or goats. ²⁰But you mustn't offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you. ²¹Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted. [It must have] no defect. ²²Don't offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh. ²³Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. ²⁴Don't offer to Yahweh what has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. Don't do this in your land. ²⁵Don't offer [any of these as] the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'"

²⁶Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷"When a bull, a sheep, or a goat is born, it shall remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸Whether it is a cow or ewe, you mustn't kill it and its young both in one day.

²⁹"When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, sacrifice it that you may be accepted. ³⁰It must be eaten on the same day; leave none of it until morning. I am Yahweh.

³¹"Therefore keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh. ³²Don't profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am Yahweh who makes you holy, ³³who brought you from the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Yahweh."