Leviticus 22
22
Priestly Purity.#While priests with bodily imperfections may eat the holy sacrifices (21:16–23), those impure and those not of the priestly household may not. 1The Lord said to Moses: 2Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings which the Israelites consecrate to me; otherwise they will profane my holy name. I am the Lord.
3#On uncleanness, see chaps. 11–15 and notes there. Tell them: If any one of you, or of your descendants in any future generation, dares, while he is in a state of uncleanness, to draw near the sacred offerings which the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, such a one shall be cut off from my presence.#Lv 7:20–21. I am the Lord.
4No descendant of Aaron who is stricken with a scaly infection,#Lv 13–14. or who suffers from a genital discharge,#Lv 15:2–18. may eat of the sacred offerings, until he again becomes clean. Moreover, if anyone touches a person who has become unclean by contact with a corpse,#Nm 19:14–22. or if anyone has had an emission of semen,#Lv 15:16. 5or if anyone touches any swarming creature#Lv 11:29–31. whose uncleanness is contagious or any person whose uncleanness, of whatever kind it may be, is contagious—#Lv 15:2–12, 18–27. 6the one who touches such as these shall be unclean until evening and may not eat of the sacred portions until he has first bathed his body in water.#Lv 17:15; Nm 19:7–8, 19; Heb 10:22. 7Then, when the sun sets, he shall be clean.#Dt 23:12. Only then may he eat of the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 8#See note on 11:39–40. He shall not make himself unclean by eating of any animal that has died of itself or has been killed by wild beasts.#Lv 11:39–40; Ez 44:31. I am the Lord.
9They shall keep my charge so that they will not bear the punishment in this matter and die#Lv 15:31. for their profanation. I am the Lord who makes them holy.
10Neither an unauthorized person nor a priest’s tenant or laborer may eat of any sacred offering.#Mt 12:4. 11But a slave#Slave: in contrast to the tenant or hired worker of v. 10, the slave, who is by definition a foreigner, is part of the priest’s household and therefore may eat of sacrifices. whom a priest acquires by purchase or who is born in his house may eat of his food. 12#A priest’s daughter, when a dependent of her father, may eat of the lesser holy offerings. A priest’s daughter who is married to an unauthorized person may not eat of the sacred contributions. 13But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and, having no children, returns to her father’s house, she may then eat of her father’s food as in her youth. No unauthorized person, however, may eat of it. 14#Lv 5:15–16. If such a one eats of a sacred offering through inadvertence, that person shall make restitution to the priest for the sacred offering, with an increment of one fifth of the amount. 15The priests shall not allow the sacred offerings which the Israelites contribute to the Lord to be profaned#Lv 19:8; Nm 18:32. 16nor make them incur a penalty when they eat their sacred offerings. For I, the Lord, make them holy.
Unacceptable Victims. 17#This passage complements the section on the bodily imperfections of priests in 21:16–23. The laws taken together indicate that whoever and whatever approaches and contacts the altar needs to be physically unimpaired. The Lord said to Moses: 18Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites, and tell them: When anyone of the house of Israel, or any alien residing in Israel, who presents an offering, brings a burnt offering#Lv 1:3. as a votive offering or as a voluntary offering to the Lord, 19if it is to be acceptable for you, it must be an unblemished male of the herd, of the sheep or of the goats.#Lv 21:16–23. 20You shall not offer one that has any blemish, for such a one would not be acceptable on your behalf.#Dt 15:21; 17:1; Mal 1:7–14. 21When anyone presents a communion sacrifice#Lv 3:1; 7:11. to the Lord from the herd or the flock in fulfillment of a vow, or as a voluntary offering, if it is to find acceptance, it must be unblemished; it shall not have any blemish. 22One that is blind or lame or maimed, or one that has running lesions or sores or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord; do not put such an animal on the altar as an oblation to the Lord. 23#Burnt offerings and communion sacrifices brought as voluntary offerings may have slight defects, probably because they are freely given and do not depend upon a prior promise as do votive offerings. An ox or a sheep that has a leg that is too long or is stunted you may indeed present as a voluntary offering, but it will not be acceptable as a votive offering. 24One that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn out or cut off you shall not offer to the Lord. You shall neither do this in your own land 25nor receive from a foreigner any such animals to offer up as the food of your God; since they are deformed or blemished, they will not be acceptable on your behalf.
26#Other activities and procedures that would impair sacrifice are appended here. The rules in vv. 27–28 are reminiscent of the rule not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk (Ex 23:19; 34:26; Dt 14:21) and not to take a bird and its eggs (Dt 22:6–7), all of which have a humanitarian tenor. The Lord said to Moses: 27When an ox or a lamb or a goat is born, it shall remain with its mother for seven days; only from the eighth day onward will it be acceptable, to be offered as an oblation to the Lord.#Ex 22:29; 23:19. 28You shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep on one and the same day with its young. 29Whenever you offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, so offer it that it may be acceptable on your behalf; 30it must be eaten on the same day; none of it shall be left over until morning.#Lv 7:15. I am the Lord.
31Be careful to observe my commandments. I am the Lord. 32Do not profane my holy name, that in the midst of the Israelites I may be hallowed. I, the Lord, make you holy, 33who led you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.
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Leviticus 22: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Leviticus 22
22
The Use of Holy Offerings
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Direct Aaron and his sons to deal carefully with the sacred donations of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they may not profane my holy name; I am the Lord. 3Say to them: If anyone among all your offspring throughout your generations comes near the sacred donations, which the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he is in a state of uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4No one of Aaron's offspring who has a leprous#22.4 A term for several skin diseases; precise meaning uncertain disease or suffers a discharge may eat of the sacred donations until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5and whoever touches any swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or any human being by whom he may be made unclean—whatever his uncleanness may be— 6the person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations unless he has washed his body in water. 7When the sun sets he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations, for they are his food. 8That which died or was torn by wild animals he shall not eat, becoming unclean by it: I am the Lord. 9They shall keep my charge, so that they may not incur guilt and die in the sanctuary#22.9 Vg: Heb incur guilt for it and die in it for having profaned it: I am the Lord; I sanctify them.
10No lay person shall eat of the sacred donations. No bound or hired servant of the priest shall eat of the sacred donations; 11but if a priest acquires anyone by purchase, the person may eat of them; and those that are born in his house may eat of his food. 12If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the sacred donations; 13but if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced, without offspring, and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food. No lay person shall eat of it. 14If a man eats of the sacred donation unintentionally, he shall add one-fifth of its value to it, and give the sacred donation to the priest. 15No one shall profane the sacred donations of the people of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16causing them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their sacred donations: for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.
Acceptable Offerings
17The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 18Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them: When anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing in Israel presents an offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering that is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, 19to be acceptable in your behalf it shall be a male without blemish, of the cattle or the sheep or the goats. 20You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable in your behalf.
21When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or having a discharge or an itch or scabs—these you shall not offer to the Lord or put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to the Lord. 23An ox or a lamb that has a limb too long or too short you may present for a freewill offering; but it will not be accepted for a vow. 24Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord; such you shall not do within your land, 25nor shall you accept any such animals from a foreigner to offer as food to your God; since they are mutilated, with a blemish in them, they shall not be accepted in your behalf.
26The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as the Lord's offering by fire. 28But you shall not slaughter, from the herd or the flock, an animal with its young on the same day. 29When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable in your behalf. 30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning: I am the Lord.
31Thus you shall keep my commandments and observe them: I am the Lord. 32You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel: I am the Lord; I sanctify you, 33I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.