Leviticus 22
22
The Offerings Are Holy
1The Lord told Moses 2to say to Aaron and his sons:
I am the Lord God, and I demand that you honor my holy name by showing proper respect for the offerings brought to me by the people of Israel. 3If any of you are unclean when you accept an offering for me, I will no longer let you serve as a priest. 4None of you may take part in the sacred meals while you have a skin disease or an infected penis, or after you have been near a dead body or have had a flow of semen, 5or if you have touched an unclean creature of any sort, including an unclean person. 6-7Once you are unclean, you must take a bath, but you still cannot eat any of the sacred food until evening. 8I command you not to eat anything that is killed by a wild animal or dies a natural death. This would make you unclean. 9Obey me, or you will die on duty for disgracing the place of worship. Remember—I am the Lord, the one who makes a priest holy.
10Only you priests and your families may eat the food offerings; these are too sacred for any of your servants. 11However, any slave that you own, including those born into your household, may eat this food. 12If your daughter marries someone who isn't a priest, she can no longer have any of this food. 13But if she returns to your home, either widowed or divorced, and has no children, she may join in the meal. Only members of a priestly family can eat this food, 14and anyone else who accidentally does so, must pay for the food plus a fine of 20 percent.
15I warn you not to treat lightly the offerings that are brought by the people of Israel. 16Don't let them become guilty of eating this sacred food. Remember—I am the Lord, the one who makes these offerings holy.
Acceptable Sacrifices
17The Lord told Moses 18to tell Aaron and his sons and everyone else the rules for offering sacrifices. He said:
The animals that are to be completely burned on the altar 19-20#Dt 17.1. must have nothing wrong with them, or else I won't accept them. Bulls or rams or goats#22.19,20 goats: See the note at 1.1-3. are the animals to be used for these sacrifices.
21When you offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing,#22.21 sacrifice to ask my blessing: See the note at 3.1. there must be nothing wrong with the animal. This is true, whether the sacrifice is part of a promise or something you do voluntarily. 22Don't offer an animal that is blind or injured or that has an infection or a skin disease. 23If one of your cattle or lambs has a leg that is longer or shorter than the others, you may offer it voluntarily, but not as part of a promise. 24As long as you live in this land, don't offer an animal with injured testicles. 25And don't bring me animals you bought from a foreigner. I won't accept them, because they are no better than one that has something wrong with it.
26The Lord told Moses to say:
27Newborn cattle, sheep, or goats must remain with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day, you may send them up in smoke to me, and I will accept the offering. 28Don't sacrifice a newborn animal and its mother on the same day.
29When you offer a sacrifice to give thanks#22.29 sacrifice to give thanks: See 7.12. to me, you must do it in a way that is acceptable. 30Eat all of the meat that same day and don't save any for the next day. I am the Lord your God!
31Obey my laws and teachings—I am the Lord. 32-33I demand respect from the people of Israel, so don't disgrace my holy name. Remember—I am the one who chose you to be priests and rescued all of you from Egypt, so that I would be your Lord.
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Leviticus 22: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Leviticus 22
22
The Holiness of the Offerings
1The LORD commanded Moses 2to say to Aaron and his sons, “You must not bring disgrace on my holy name, so treat with respect the sacred offerings that the people of Israel dedicate to me. I am the LORD. 3If any of your descendants, while he is ritually unclean, comes near the sacred offerings which the people of Israel have dedicated to me, he can never again serve at the altar. This applies for all time to come. I am the LORD.
4“None of the descendants of Aaron who has a dreaded skin disease or a discharge may eat any of the sacred offerings until he is ritually clean. Any priest is unclean if he touches anything which is unclean through contact with a corpse or if he has an emission of semen 5or if he has touched an unclean animal or person. 6Any priest who becomes unclean remains unclean until evening, and even then he may not eat any of the sacred offerings until he has had a bath. 7After the sun sets he is clean, and then he may eat the sacred offerings, which are his food. 8He shall not eat the meat of any animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals; it will make him unclean. I am the LORD.
9“All priests shall observe the regulations that I have given. Otherwise, they will be guilty and die, because they have disobeyed the sacred regulations. I am the LORD and I make them holy.
10“Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of the sacred offerings; no one else may eat them — not even someone staying with a priest or hired by him. 11But a priest's slaves, bought with his own money or born in his home, may eat the food the priest receives. 12A priest's daughter who marries someone who is not a priest may not eat any of the sacred offerings. 13But a widowed or divorced daughter who has no children and who has returned to live in her father's house as a dependant may eat the food her father receives as a priest. Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of it.
14“If any person who is not a member of a priestly family eats any of the sacred offerings without intending to, he must repay the priest its full value plus an additional twenty per cent. 15The priests shall not profane the sacred offerings 16by letting any unauthorized person eat them; this would bring guilt and punishment on such a person. I am the LORD and I make the offerings holy.”
17The LORD commanded Moses 18to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. When any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel presents a burnt offering, whether in fulfilment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must not have any defects. 19To be accepted, it must be a male without any defects. 20#Deut 17.1If you offer any animal that has any defect, the LORD will not accept it. 21When anyone presents a fellowship offering to the LORD, whether in fulfilment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must be without any defect if it is to be accepted. 22Do not offer to the LORD any animal that is blind or crippled or mutilated, or that has a running sore or a skin eruption or scabs. Do not offer any such animals on the altar as a food offering. 23As a freewill offering you may offer an animal that is stunted or not perfectly formed, but it is not acceptable in fulfilment of a vow. 24Do not offer to the LORD any animal whose testicles have been crushed, cut, bruised, or torn off. This is not permitted in your land.
25Do not offer as a food offering any animal obtained from a foreigner. Such animals are considered defective and are not acceptable.
26-27When a calf or a lamb or a kid is born, it must not be taken from its mother for seven days, but after that it is acceptable as a food offering. 28Do not sacrifice a cow and its calf or a sheep and its lamb or a goat and its kid on the same day. 29When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, follow the rules so that you will be accepted; 30eat it the same day and leave none of it until the next morning.
31The LORD said, “Obey my commands; I am the LORD. 32Do not bring disgrace on my holy name; all the people of Israel must acknowledge me to be holy. I am the LORD and I make you holy; 33and I brought you out of Egypt to become your God. I am the LORD.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.