Leviticus 22

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Give orders to Aaron and to his sons to keep themselves separate from the holy things of the children of Israel which they give to me, and not to make my holy name common: I am the Lord,

“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, tell them to keep away from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they set apart to me. They must not profane my holy name. I am Yahweh.

3 Say to them, If any man of all your seed through all your generations, being unclean, comes near the holy things which the children of Israel make holy to the Lord, he will be cut off from before me: I am the Lord.

Say to them, 'If any of your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel have set apart to Yahweh, while he is unclean, that person must be cut off from before me: I am Yahweh.

4 No man of the seed of Aaron who is a leper, or who has a flow from his body, may take of the holy food till he is clean. And any man touching anything which is unclean because of the dead, or any man whose seed goes from him;

None of the descendants of Aaron who has an infectious skin disease, or an infection flowing from his body, may eat any of the sacrifices made to Yahweh until he is clean. Whoever touches anything unclean through contact with the dead, or by contact with a man who has a flow of semen,

5 Or anyone touching any unclean thing which goes flat on the earth, or someone by whom he may be made unclean in any way whatever;

or whoever touches any creeping animal that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever kind of uncleanness it may be—

6 Any person touching any such unclean thing will be unclean till evening, and may not take of the holy food till his flesh has been bathed in water;

then the priest who touches anything unclean will be unclean until evening. He must not eat any of the holy things, unless he has bathed his body in water.

7 And when the sun has gone down he will be clean; and after that he may take part in the holy food, because it is his bread.

When the sun has set, he will then be clean. After sunset he may eat from the holy things, because they are his food.

8 That which comes to a natural death, or is attacked by beasts, he may not take as food, for it will make him unclean: I am the Lord.

He must not eat anything found dead or killed by wild animals, by which he would defile himself. I am Yahweh.

9 So then, let them keep what I have put into their care, for fear that sin may come on them because of it, so causing their death because they have made it common: I am the Lord, who make them holy.

The priests must follow my instructions, or they will be guilty of sin and could die for profaning me. I am Yahweh who makes them holy.

10 No outside person may take of the holy food, or one living as a guest in the priest's house, or a servant working for payment.

No one outside the priest's family, including guests of a priest or his hired servants, may eat anything that is holy.

11 But any person for whom the priest has given money, to make him his, may take of it with him; and those who come to birth in his house may take of his bread.

But if a priest buys any slave with his own money, that slave may eat from the things set apart to Yahweh. The priest's family members and slaves born in his house, they also may eat with him from those things.

12 And if the daughter of a priest is married to an outside person she may not take of the holy things which are lifted up as offerings.

If a priest's daughter married someone who is not a priest, she may not eat any of the holy contribution offerings.

13 But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or parted from her husband, and has no child, and has come back to her father's house as when she was a girl, she may take of her father's bread; but no outside person may do so.

But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and if she has no child, and if she returns to live in her father's house as in her youth, she may eat from her father's food. But no one who is not in the priestly family may eat from the priest's food.

14 And if a man takes the holy food in error, he will have to give the holy thing back to the priest, with the addition of a fifth part.

If a man eats a holy food without knowing it, then he must repay the priest for it; he must add one-fifth to it and give it back to the priest.

15 And they may not make common the holy things which the children of Israel give to the Lord,

The people of Israel must not profane the holy things that they have raised high and presented to Yahweh,

16 So causing sin to come on them when they take their holy things for food: I am the Lord who make them holy.

and cause themselves to carry the sin that would make them guilty of eating the holy food, for I am Yahweh who makes them holy.'”

17 And the Lord said to Moses,

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18 Say to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel, If any man of the children of Israel, or of another nation living in Israel, makes an offering, given because of an oath or freely given to the Lord for a burned offering;

“Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Any Israelite, or an alien living in Israel, when they present a sacrifice—whether it is to fulfill a vow, or whether it is a freewill offering, or they present to Yahweh a burnt offering,

19 So that it may be pleasing to the Lord, let him give a male, without any mark, from among the oxen or the sheep or the goats.

if it is to be accepted, they must offer a male animal without blemish from the cattle, sheep, or goats.

20 But anything which has a mark you may not give; it will not make you pleasing to the Lord.

But you must not offer whatever has a blemish. I will not accept it on your behalf.

21 And whoever makes a peace-offering to the Lord, in payment of an oath or as a free offering, from the herd or the flock, if it is to be pleasing to the Lord, let it be free from any mark or damage.

Whoever offers a sacrifice of fellowship offerings from the herd or the flock to Yahweh to fulfill a vow, or as a freewill offering, it must be unblemished to be accepted. There must be no defect in the animal.

22 Anything blind or broken or damaged or having any disease or any mark on it may not be offered to the Lord; you may not make an offering of it by fire on the altar to the Lord.

You must not offer animals that are blind, disabled, or maimed, or that have warts, sores, or scabs. You must not offer these to Yahweh as a sacrifice by fire on the altar.

23 An ox or a lamb which has more or less than its natural parts, may be given as a free offering; but it will not be taken in payment of an oath.

You may present as a freewill offering an ox or a lamb that is deformed or small, but an offering like that will not be accepted for a vow.

24 An animal which has its sex parts damaged or crushed or broken or cut, may not be offered to the Lord; such a thing may not be done anywhere in your land.

Do not offer any animal to Yahweh that has bruised, crushed, torn, or cut testicles. Do not do this within your land.

25 And from one who is not an Israelite you may not take any of these for an offering to the Lord; for they are unclean, there is a mark on them, and the Lord will not be pleased with them.

You must not present the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner. Those animals are deformed and have defects in them, they will not be accepted for you.'”

26 And the Lord said to Moses,

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

27 When an ox or a sheep or a goat is given birth, let it be with its mother for seven days; and after the eighth day it may be taken as an offering made by fire to the Lord.

“When a calf or a sheep or a goat is born, it must remain seven days with its mother. Then from the eighth day on, it may be accepted as a sacrifice for an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

28 A cow or a sheep may not be put to death with its young on the same day.

Do not kill a cow or ewe along with its young, both on the same day.

29 And when you make an offering of praise to the Lord, make it in a way which is pleasing to him.

When you sacrifice a thank offering to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it in an acceptable way.

30 Let it be used for food on the same day; do not keep any part of it till the morning: I am the Lord.

It must be eaten on the same day that it is sacrificed. You must leave none of it until the next morning. I am Yahweh.

31 So then, keep my orders and do them: I am the Lord.

So you must keep my commandments and carry them out. I am Yahweh.

32 And do not make my holy name common; so that it may be kept holy by the children of Israel: I am the Lord who make you holy,

You must not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the people of Israel. I am Yahweh who makes you holy,

33 Who took you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God: I am the Lord.

who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am Yahweh.”