Category: Leviticus

[14:33] The Lord gave Moses and Aaron

[14:36] The priest shall order everything to be moved out of the house before he goes to examine the mildew; otherwise everything in the house will be declared unclean. Then he shall go to the house

[14:37] and examine the mildew. If there are greenish or reddish spots that appear to be eating into the wall,

[14:38] he shall leave the house and lock it up for seven days.

[14:39] On the seventh day he shall return and examine it again. If the mildew has spread,

[14:40] he shall order that the stones on which the mildew is found be removed and thrown into some unclean place outside the city.

[14:41] After that he must have all the interior walls scraped and the plaster dumped in an unclean place outside the city.

[14:42] Then other stones are to be used to replace the stones that were removed, and new plaster will be used to cover the walls.

[14:43] If the mildew breaks out again in the house after the stones have been removed and the house has been scraped and plastered,

[14:44] the priest shall go and look. If it has spread, the house is unclean.

[14:45] It must be torn down, and its stones, its wood, and all its plaster must be carried out of the city to an unclean place.

[14:46] Any who enter the house while it is locked up will be unclean until evening.

[14:47] Any who lie down or eat in the house must wash their clothes.

[14:48] If, when the priest comes to look, the mildew has not reappeared after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house ritually clean, because the mildew has been completely removed.

[14:49] To purify the house, he shall take two birds, some cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop.

[14:50] He shall kill one of the birds over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water.

[14:51] Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the red cord, and the live bird and shall dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water. And he shall sprinkle the house seven times.

[14:52] In this way he shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the red cord.

[14:53] Then he shall let the live bird fly away outside the city over the open fields. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification for the house, and it will be ritually clean.

[14:54] These are the laws about dreaded skin diseases;

[14:57] These laws determine when something is unclean and when it is clean.

[15:1] The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations

[15:2] for the people of Israel. When any man has a discharge from his penis, the discharge is unclean,

[15:3] whether the penis runs with it or is stopped up by it.

[15:4] Any bed on which he sits or lies is unclean.

[15:5] Anyone who touches his bed

[15:6] or sits on anything the man has sat on must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening.

[15:7] Anyone who touches the man with the discharge must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening.

[15:8] If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is ritually clean, that person must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening.

[15:9] Any saddle or seat on which the man with the discharge sits is unclean.

[15:10] Anyone who touches anything on which the man sat is unclean until evening. Anyone who carries anything on which the man sat must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he remains unclean until evening.

[15:11] If a man who has a discharge touches one of you without first having washed his hands, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, and you remain unclean until evening.

[15:12] Any clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden bowl that he touches must be washed.

[15:13] After the man is cured of his discharge, he must wait seven days and then wash his clothes and take a bath in fresh spring water, and he will be ritually clean.

[15:14] On the eighth day he shall take two doves or two pigeons to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence and give them to the priest.

[15:15] The priest shall offer one of them as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way he will perform the ritual of purification for the man.

[15:16] When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body, and he remains unclean until evening.

[15:17] Anything made of cloth or leather on which the semen falls must be washed, and it remains unclean until evening.

[15:18] After sexual intercourse both the man and the woman must take a bath, and they remain unclean until evening.

[15:19] When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her is unclean until evening.

[15:20] Anything on which she sits or lies during her monthly period is unclean.

[15:24] If a man has sexual intercourse with her during her period, he is contaminated by her impurity and remains unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies is unclean.

[15:25] If a woman has a flow of blood for several days outside her monthly period or if her flow continues beyond her regular period, she remains unclean as long as the flow continues, just as she is during her monthly period.

[15:26] Any bed on which she lies and anything on which she sits during this time is unclean.

[15:27] Any who touch them are unclean and must wash their clothes and take a bath; they remain unclean until evening.

[15:28] After her flow stops, she must wait seven days, and then she will be ritually clean.

[15:29] On the eighth day she shall take two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence.

[15:30] The priest shall offer one of them as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and in this way he will perform the ritual of purification for her.

[15:31] The Lord told Moses to warn the people of Israel about their uncleanness, so that they would not defile the Tent of his presence, which was in the middle of the camp. If they did, they would be killed.

[15:32] These are the regulations about a man who has a discharge or an emission of semen,

[15:33] a woman during her monthly period, or a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is ritually unclean.

[16:1] The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who were killed when they offered unholy fire to the Lord.

[16:2] He said, “Tell your brother Aaron that only at the proper time is he to go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place, because that is where I appear in a cloud above the lid on the Covenant Box. If he disobeys, he will be killed.

[16:3] He may enter the Most Holy Place only after he has brought a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.”

[16:4] Then the Lord gave the following instructions. Before Aaron goes into the Most Holy Place, he must take a bath and put on the priestly garments: the linen robe and shorts, the belt, and the turban.

[16:5] The community of Israel shall give Aaron two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

[16:6] He shall offer a bull as a sacrifice to take away his own sins and those of his family.

[16:7] Then he shall take the two goats to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence.

[16:8] There he shall draw lots, using two stones, one marked “for the Lord” and the other “for Azazel.”

[16:9] Aaron shall sacrifice the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and offer it as a sin offering.

[16:10] The goat chosen for Azazel shall be presented alive to the Lord and sent off into the desert to Azazel, in order to take away the sins of the people.

[16:11] When Aaron sacrifices the bull as the sin offering for himself and his family,

[16:12] he shall take a fire pan full of burning coals from the altar and two handfuls of fine incense and bring them into the Most Holy Place.

[16:13] There in the Lord's presence he shall put the incense on the fire, and the smoke of the incense will hide the lid of the Covenant Box so that he will not see it and die.

[16:14] He shall take some of the bull's blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the lid and then sprinkle some of it seven times in front of the Covenant Box.

[16:15] After that, he shall kill the goat for the sin offering for the people, bring its blood into the Most Holy Place, and sprinkle it on the lid and then in front of the Covenant Box, as he did with the bull's blood.

[16:16] In this way he will perform the ritual to purify the Most Holy Place from the uncleanness of the people of Israel and from all their sins. He must do this to the Tent, because it stands in the middle of the camp, which is ritually unclean.

[16:17] From the time Aaron enters the Most Holy Place to perform the ritual of purification until he comes out, there must be no one in the Tent. When he has performed the ritual for himself, his family, and the whole community,

[16:18] he must then go out to the altar for burnt offerings and purify it. He must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put it all over the projections at the corners of the altar.

[16:19] With his finger he must sprinkle some of the blood on the altar seven times. In this way he is to purify it from the sins of the people of Israel and make it holy.

[16:20] When Aaron has finished performing the ritual to purify the Most Holy Place, the rest of the Tent of the Lord's presence, and the altar, he shall present to the Lord the live goat chosen for Azazel.

[16:21] He shall put both of his hands on the goat's head and confess over it all the evils, sins, and rebellions of the people of Israel, and so transfer them to the goat's head. Then the goat is to be driven off into the desert by someone appointed to do it.

[16:22] The goat will carry all their sins away with him into some uninhabited land.

[16:23] Then Aaron shall go into the Tent, take off the priestly garments that he had put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.

[16:24] He must take a bath in a holy place and put on his own clothes. After that, he shall go out and offer the burnt offering to remove his own sins and those of the people.

[16:25] He shall burn on the altar the fat of the animal for the sin offering.

[16:26] The man who drove the goat into the desert to Azazel must wash his clothes and take a bath before he comes back into camp.

[16:27] The bull and the goat used for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to take away sin, shall be carried outside the camp and burned. Skin, meat, and intestines shall all be burned.

[16:28] The one who burns them must wash his clothes and take a bath before he returns to camp.

[16:29] The following regulations are to be observed for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month the Israelites and the foreigners living among them must fast and must not do any work.

[16:30] On that day the ritual is to be performed to purify them from all their sins, so that they will be ritually clean.

[16:31] That day is to be a very holy day, one on which they fast and do no work at all. These regulations are to be observed for all time to come.

[16:32] The High Priest, properly ordained and consecrated to succeed his father, is to perform the ritual of purification. He shall put on the priestly garments

[16:33] and perform the ritual to purify the Most Holy Place, the rest of the Tent of the Lord's presence, the altar, the priests, and all the people of the community.

[16:34] These regulations are to be observed for all time to come. This ritual must be performed once a year to purify the people of Israel from all their sins. So Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

[17:1] The Lord commanded Moses

[17:2] to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations.

[17:5] The meaning of this command is that the people of Israel shall now bring to the Lord the animals which they used to kill in the open country. They shall now bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent and kill them as fellowship offerings.

[17:6] The priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tent and burn the fat to produce an odor that is pleasing to the Lord.

[17:7] The people of Israel must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by killing their animals in the fields as sacrifices to the goat demons. The people of Israel must keep this regulation for all time to come.

[17:8] Any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community who offer a burnt offering or any other sacrifice

[17:9] as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent shall no longer be considered God's people.

[17:10] If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against them and no longer consider them his people.

[17:11] The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins.

[17:12] That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it.

[17:13] If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt.

[17:14] The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people.

[17:15] Any people, Israelites or foreigners, who eat meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash their clothes, take a bath, and wait until evening before they are ritually clean.

[17:16] If they do not, they must suffer the consequences.

[18:1] The Lord told Moses

[18:2] to say to the people of Israel, “I am the Lord your God.

[18:3] Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you.

[18:4] Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God.

[18:5] Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord.”

[18:6] The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives.

[18:7] Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother.

[18:8] Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives.

[18:9] Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you.

[18:10] Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you.

[18:11] Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister.

[18:14] Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt.

[18:15] Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law

[18:16] or with your brother's wife.

[18:17] Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest.

[18:18] Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

[18:19] Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean.

[18:20] Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean.

[18:21] Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

[18:22] No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that.

[18:23] No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.

[18:24] Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in.

[18:25] Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.

[18:28] and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you.

[18:29] You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people.

[18:30] And the Lord said, “Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God.”

[19:1] The Lord told Moses

[19:2] to say to the community of Israel, “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

[19:3] Each of you must respect your mother and your father, and must keep the Sabbath, as I have commanded. I am the Lord your God.

[19:4] “Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the Lord your God.

[19:5] “When you kill an animal for a fellowship offering, keep the regulations that I have given you, and I will accept the offering.

[19:6] The meat must be eaten on the day the animal is killed or on the next day. Any meat left on the third day must be burned,

[19:7] because it is ritually unclean, and if anyone eats it, I will not accept the offering.

[19:8] Any who eat it will be guilty of treating as ordinary what is dedicated to me, and they will no longer be considered my people.

[19:9] “When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left.

[19:10] Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.

[19:11] “Do not steal or cheat or lie.

[19:12] Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the Lord your God.

[19:13] “Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night.

[19:14] Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the Lord your God.

[19:15] “Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich.

[19:16] Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the Lord.

[19:17] “Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them.

[19:18] Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

[19:19] “Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two kinds of material.

[19:20] “If a slave woman is the recognized concubine of a man and she has not been paid for and freed, then if another man has sexual relations with her, they will be punished, but not put to death, since she is a slave.

[19:21] The man shall bring a ram to the entrance of the Tent of my presence as his repayment offering,

[19:22] and with it the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to remove the man's sin, and God will forgive him.

[19:23] “When you come into the land of Canaan and plant any kind of fruit tree, consider the fruit ritually unclean for the first three years. During that time you must not eat it.

[19:24] In the fourth year all the fruit shall be dedicated as an offering to show your gratitude to me, the Lord.

[19:25] But in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you do all this, your trees will bear more fruit. I am the Lord your God.

[19:26] “Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic.

[19:27] Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard

[19:28] or tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the Lord.

[19:29] “Do not disgrace your daughters by making them temple prostitutes; if you do, you will turn to other gods and the land will be full of immorality.

[19:30] Keep the Sabbath, and honor the place where I am worshiped. I am the Lord.

[19:31] “Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord your God.

[19:32] “Show respect for old people and honor them. Reverently obey me; I am the Lord.

[19:33] “Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land.

[19:34] Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

[19:35] “Do not cheat anyone by using false measures of length, weight, or quantity.

[19:36] Use honest scales, honest weights, and honest measures. I am the Lord your God, and I brought you out of Egypt.

[19:37] Obey all my laws and commands. I am the Lord.”

[20:1] The Lord told Moses

[20:2] to say to the people of Israel, “Any of you or any foreigner living among you who gives any children to be used in the worship of the god Molech shall be stoned to death by the whole community.

[20:3] If any of you give one of your children to Molech and make my sacred Tent unclean and disgrace my holy name, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you my people.

[20:4] But if the community ignores what you have done and does not put you to death,

[20:5] I myself will turn against you and your whole family and against all who join you in being unfaithful to me and worshiping Molech. I will no longer consider any of you my people.

[20:6] “If any of you go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against you and will no longer consider you one of my people.

[20:7] Keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God.

[20:8] Obey my laws, because I am the Lord and I make you holy.”

[20:9] The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death.

[20:10] If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death.

[20:11] A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

[20:12] If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death.

[20:13] If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

[20:14] If a man marries a woman and her mother, all three shall be burned to death because of the disgraceful thing they have done; such a thing must not be permitted among you.

[20:15] If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death.

[20:16] If a woman tries to have sexual relations with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.

[20:17] If a man marries his sister or half sister, they shall be publicly disgraced and driven out of the community. He has had intercourse with his sister and must suffer the consequences.

[20:18] If a man has intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, both of them are to be driven out of the community, because they have broken the regulations about ritual uncleanness.

[20:19] If a man has intercourse with his aunt, both of them must suffer the consequences for incest.

[20:20] If a man has intercourse with his uncle's wife, he disgraces his uncle, and he and the woman will pay the penalty; neither one will have children.

[20:21] If a man takes his brother's wife, they will die childless. He has done a ritually unclean thing and has disgraced his brother.

[20:22] The Lord said, “Keep all my laws and commands, so that you will not be rejected by the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.

[20:23] Do not adopt the customs of the people who live there; I am driving out those pagans so that you can enter the land. They have disgusted me with all their evil practices.

[20:24] But I have promised you this rich and fertile land as your possession, and I will give it to you. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from the other nations.

[20:25] So then, you must make a clear distinction between animals and birds that are ritually clean and those that are not. Do not eat unclean animals or birds. I have declared them unclean, and eating them would make you unclean.

[20:26] You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone.

[20:27] “Any man or woman who consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of you that do this are responsible for your own death.”

[21:1] The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Aaronite priests, “No priest is to make himself ritually unclean by taking part in the funeral ceremonies when a relative dies,

[21:2] unless it is his mother, father, son, daughter, brother,

[21:3] or unmarried sister living in his house.

[21:4] He shall not make himself unclean at the death of those related to him by marriage.

[21:5] “No priest shall shave any part of his head or trim his beard or cut gashes on his body to show that he is in mourning.

[21:6] He must be holy and must not disgrace my name. He offers food offerings to me, and he must be holy.

[21:7] A priest shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or a woman who is not a virgin or who is divorced; he is holy.

[21:8] The people must consider the priest holy, because he presents the food offerings to me. I am the Lord; I am holy and I make my people holy.

[21:9] If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she shall be burned to death.

[21:10] “The High Priest has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been consecrated to wear the priestly garments, so he must not leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothes to show that he is in mourning.

[21:13] He shall marry a virgin,

[21:14] not a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has been a prostitute. He shall marry only a virgin from his own clan.

[21:15] Otherwise, his children, who ought to be holy, will be ritually unclean. I am the Lord and I have set him apart as the High Priest.”

[21:16] The Lord commanded Moses

[21:17] to tell Aaron, “None of your descendants who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me. This applies for all time to come.

[21:18] No man with any physical defects may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;

[21:19] no one with a crippled hand or foot;

[21:20] no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch.

[21:21] No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any physical defects may present the food offering to me.

[21:22] Such a man may eat the food offered to me, both the holy food offering and the very holy food offering,

[21:23] but because he has a physical defect, he shall not come near the sacred curtain or approach the altar. He must not profane these holy things, because I am the Lord and I make them holy.”

[21:24] This, then, is what Moses said to Aaron, the sons of Aaron, and to all the people of Israel.