Leviticus - Chapter 22

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

² 'Speak to Aaron and his sons. They must be consecrated by the holy offerings of the Israelites and must not profane my holy name; for my sake they must sanctify it; I am Yahweh.

³ Say to them: "Any one of your descendants, for all time, who in a state of uncleanness approaches the holy offerings consecrated to Yahweh by the Israelites, will be outlawed from my presence. I am Yahweh.

⁴ "Anyone of Aaron's line who is afflicted with a contagious skin-disease or a discharge will not eat holy things until he is clean. Anyone who touches anything made unclean by a dead body, or who has a seminal discharge,

⁵ or who is made unclean by touching any kind of reptile or any one who has contaminated him with his own uncleanness, be it what it may,

⁶ in short, anyone who has had any such contact will be unclean until evening, and must not eat holy things until he has washed his body.

⁷ At sunset he will be clean and may then eat holy things, for these are his food.

⁸ "He must not eat an animal that has died a natural death or been savaged; he would contract uncleanness from it. I am Yahweh.

⁹ "They must keep my rules and not burden themselves with sin. If they profane them, they will incur death; I, Yahweh, have sanctified them.

¹⁰ "No lay person may eat anything holy; no guest or employee of a priest may eat anything holy.

¹¹ But if the priest has acquired a slave by purchase, the slave may eat it like anyone born in his household; they will share his food.

¹² "If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she will have no share in the holy things set aside,

¹³ but if she is widowed or divorced and, being childless, has had to return to her father's house as when she was young, she may share her father's food. No lay person may share it;

¹⁴ anyone who does eat a holy thing by inadvertence, will restore it to the priest with one-fifth added.

¹⁵ "They may not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites have set aside for Yahweh.

¹⁶ By eating these, they would burden them with guilt requiring a sacrifice of reparation; for I, Yahweh, have sanctified these offerings." '

¹⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

¹⁸ 'Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the Israelites and say: "Any member of the House of Israel or any alien resident in Israel who brings an offering either in payment of a vow or as a voluntary gift, and offers it as a burnt offering to Yahweh,

¹⁹ must, if he is to be acceptable, offer an unblemished male, be it bull or sheep or goat.

²⁰ You will not offer anything with a blemish, for it would not make you acceptable.

²¹ "If anyone offers Yahweh a communion sacrifice, either to fulfil a vow or as a voluntary offering, the animal, be it from the herd or flock, must be perfect, if he is to be acceptable; it must be unblemished.

²² You will not offer Yahweh any animal which is blind, lame, mutilated, ulcerous, scabby or covered in sores. No part of such an animal will be offered on the altar as food burnt for Yahweh.

²³ As a voluntary offering, you may offer a bull or a lamb that is underdeveloped or deformed; but such will not be acceptable in payment of a vow.

²⁴ You will not offer Yahweh an animal if its testicles have been bruised, crushed, torn or cut off. You may not do that in your country,

²⁵ and you may not accept any such from the hands of a stranger, to be offered as food for your God. Their deformity is a blemish, and they would not make you acceptable." '

²⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

²⁷ 'A calf, lamb, or kid will stay with its dam for seven days after being born. From the eighth day onwards, it will be acceptable as food burnt for Yahweh.

²⁸ But no animal, whether cow or ewe, will be slaughtered on the same day as its young.

²⁹ 'If you offer Yahweh a sacrifice with praise, do it in the acceptable manner;

³⁰ it must be eaten the same day; you will leave nothing over till next morning. I am Yahweh.

³¹ 'You will keep my commands and put them into practice. I am Yahweh.

³² You will not profane my holy name -- so that I may be honoured as holy among the Israelites, I, Yahweh, who make you holy,

³³ I who brought you out of Egypt, to be your God, I, Yahweh.'

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