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
1 AND THE Lord said to Moses,
2 Say to Aaron and his sons that they shall stay away from the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to Me, that they may not profane My holy name; I am the Lord.
3 Tell them, Any one of your offspring throughout your generations who goes to the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord when he is unclean, that [priest] shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord.
4 No man of the offspring of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge shall eat of the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a discharge of semen,
5 Or whoever touches any dead creeping thing by which he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may acquire uncleanness, whatever it may be, [Lev. 11:24-28.]
6 The priest who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed with water. [Heb. 10:22.]
7 When the sun is down, he shall be clean, and afterward may eat of the holy things, for they are his food.
8 That which dies of itself or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, defiling himself with it. I am the Lord.
9 The priests therefore shall observe My ordinance, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby if they profane it. I am the Lord, Who sanctifies them.
10 No outsider [not of the family of Aaron] shall eat of the holy thing [which has been offered to God]; a sojourner with the priest or a hired servant shall not eat of the holy thing.
11 But if a priest buys a slave with his money, the slave may eat of the holy thing, and he also who is born in the priest's house; they may eat of his food.
12 If a priest's daughter is married to an outsider [not of the priestly tribe], she shall not eat of the offering of the holy things.
13 But if a priest's daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father's house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's food; but no stranger shall eat of it.
14 And if a man eats unknowingly of the holy thing [which has been offered to God], then he shall add one-fifth of its value to it and repay that amount to the priest for the holy thing.
15 The priests shall not profane the holy things the Israelites offer to the Lord,
16 And so cause them [by neglect of any essential observance] to bear the iniquity when they eat their holy things; for I the Lord sanctify them.
17 And the Lord said to Moses,
18 Say to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites, Whoever of the house of Israel and of the foreigners in Israel brings his offering, whether to pay a vow or as a freewill offering which is offered to the Lord for a burnt offering
19 That you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without blemish of the young bulls, the sheep, or the goats.
20 But you shall not offer anything which has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. [I Pet. 1:19.]
21 And whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord to make a special vow to the Lord or for a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock must bring what is perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it.
22 Animals blind or made infirm and weak or maimed, or having sores or a wen or an itch or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord or make an offering of them by fire upon the altar to the Lord.
23 For a freewill offering you may offer either a bull or a lamb which has some part too long or too short, but for [the payment of] a vow it shall not be accepted.
24 You shall not offer to the Lord any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or broken or cut, neither sacrifice it in your land.
25 Neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals obtained from a foreigner [who may wish to pay respect to the true God], because their defects render them unfit; there is a blemish in them; they will not be accepted for you.
26 And the Lord said to Moses,
27 When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain for seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire to the Lord.
28 And whether [the mother] is a cow or a ewe, you shall not kill her and her young both in one day.
29 And when you sacrifice an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.
30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the next day. I am the Lord.
31 So shall you heartily accept My commandments and conform your life and conduct to them. I am the Lord.
32 Neither shall you profane My holy name [applying it to an idol, or treating it with irreverence or contempt or as a byword]; but I will be hallowed among the Israelites. I am the Lord, Who consecrates and makes you holy,
33 Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.
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