Leviticus 17

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, This is the word which the Lord has commanded, saying,

“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them this is what the LORD has commanded:

3 Every man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers dwelling amongst you, who shall kill a calf, or a sheep, or a goat in the camp, or who shall kill it out of the camp,

‘Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it

4 and shall not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of witness, so as to sacrifice it for a whole burnt offering or peace-offering to the Lord to be acceptable for a sweet smelling savour: and whoever shall kill it without, and shall not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of witness, so as to offer it as a gift to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed to that man, he has shed blood; that soul shall be cut off from his people.

instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle—that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people.

5 That the children of Israel may offer their sacrifices, all that they shall kill in the fields, and bring them to the Lord to the doors of the tabernacle of witness to the priest, and they shall sacrifice them as a peace-offering to the Lord.

For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace to the LORD.

6 And the priest shall pour the blood on the altar round about before the Lord by the doors of the tabernacle of witness, and shall offer the fat for a sweet smelling savour to the Lord.

The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

7 And they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to vain [gods] after which they go a whoring; it shall be a perpetual statute to you for your generations.

They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’

8 And you shall say to them, Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the sons of the proselytes dwelling amongst you, shall offer a whole burnt offering or a sacrifice,

Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice

9 and shall not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of witness to sacrifice it to the Lord, that man shall be destroyed from amongst his people.

but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people.

10 And whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers dwelling amongst you, shall eat any blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eats blood, and will destroy it from its people.

If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.

11 For the life of flesh is its blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for its blood shall make atonement for the soul.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, and the stranger that abides amongst you shall not eat blood.

Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner living among you eat blood.’

13 And whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers dwelling amongst you shall take any animal in hunting, beast, or bird, which is eaten, then shall he pour out the blood, and cover it in the dust.

And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.

14 For the blood of all flesh is its life; and I said to the children of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood: every one that eats it shall be destroyed.

For the life of all flesh is its blood. Therefore I have told the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any living thing, because the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.’

15 And every soul which eats that which has died of itself, or is taken of beasts, either amongst the natives or amongst the strangers, shall wash his garments, and bathe himself in water, and shall be unclean until evening: then shall he be clean.

And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.

16 But if he do not wash his garments, and do not bathe his body in water, then shall he bear his iniquity.

But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, then he shall bear his iniquity.”