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
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 that they not 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 that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.
9“‘They shall therefore follow my commandment, 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 the fifth part 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 free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering: 19that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. 20But you shall not 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 free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect. 22You shall not 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 free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. 24You must not offer to Yahweh that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land. 25You must not 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 seven days with its mother. 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 shall not kill it and its young both in one day.
29“When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am Yahweh.
31“Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh. 32You shall not 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 out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Yahweh.”
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