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LEVITICUS: CHAPTER
21-23
LEVITICUS: CHAPTER
21
Regulations
concerning Priests
1 Then the LORD said to
Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
¦ 'No one shall defile himself for a dead
person among his people,
2 except for his relatives who are nearest to
him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his
brother,
3 also for his virgin sister, who is near to
him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
4 'He shall not defile himself as a relative
by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.
5 'They shall not make any baldness on their
heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in
their flesh.
6 'They shall be holy to their God and not profane
the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the
LORD, the food of their God; so they shall be
holy.
7 'They shall not take a woman who is profaned
by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband;
for he is holy to his God.
8 'You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he
offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD,
who sanctifies you, am holy.
9 'Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes
herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with
fire.
10 'The priest who is the highest among
his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who
has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head
nor tear his clothes;
11 nor shall he approach any dead person, nor
defile himself even for his father or his mother;
12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane
the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil
of his God is on him; I am the LORD.
13 'He shall take a wife in her virginity.
14 'A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who
is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to
marry a virgin of his own people,
15 so that he will not profane his offspring
among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies
him.' "
16 Then the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying,
17 "Speak to Aaron, saying, 'No man of your offspring
throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer
the food of his God.
18 'For no one who has a defect shall approach:
a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a disfigured face,
or any deformed limb,
19 or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,
20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has
a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.
21 'No man among the descendants of Aaron the
priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the LORD'S
offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near
to offer the food of his God.
22 'He may eat the food of his God, both
of the most holy and of the holy,
23 only he shall not go in to the veil or come
near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane
My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies
them.' "
24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and
to all the sons of Israel.
LEVITICUS: CHAPTER
22
Sundry Rules
for Priests
1 Then the LORD spoke
to Moses, saying,
2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with
the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to
Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the LORD.
3 "Say to them, 'If any man among all your descendants
throughout your generations approaches the holy gifts which the
sons of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he
has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am
the LORD.
4 'No man of the descendants of Aaron, who is
a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until
he is clean. And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse or
if a man has a seminal emission,
5 or if a man touches any teeming things by which
he is made unclean, or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever
his uncleanness;
6 a person who touches any such shall be unclean
until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he
has bathed his body in water.
7 'But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and
afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food.
8 'He shall not eat an animal which dies
or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am the LORD.
9 'They shall therefore keep My charge, so that
they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane
it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
10 'No layman, however, is to eat the
holy gift; a sojourner with the priest or a hired man shall not
eat of the holy gift.
11 'But if a priest buys a slave as his
property with his money, that one may eat of it, and those who are born
in his house may eat of his food.
12 'If a priest's daughter is married to a layman,
she shall not eat of the offering of the gifts.
13 'But if a priest's daughter becomes 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 layman shall eat
of it.
14 'But if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally,
then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift
to the priest.
15 'They shall not profane the holy gifts
of the sons of Israel which they offer to the LORD,
16 and so cause them to bear punishment
for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the LORD
who sanctifies them.' "
Flawless
Animals for Sacrifice
17 Then the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying,
18 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all
the sons of Israel and say to them, 'Any man of the house of Israel
or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is
any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present
to the LORD for a burnt offering—
19 for you to be accepted—it must be
a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.
20 'Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer,
for it will not be accepted for you.
21 'When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings
to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or for a
freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to
be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.
22 'Those that are blind or fractured
or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not
offer to the LORD, nor make of them an offering
by fire on the altar to the LORD.
23 'In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an
overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill
offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.
24 'Also anything with its testicles bruised
or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the LORD,
or sacrifice in your land,
25 nor shall you accept any such from the hand
of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption
is in them, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.' "
26 Then the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying,
27 "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born,
it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day
on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the
LORD.
28 "But, whether it is an ox or a sheep,
you shall not kill both it and its young in one day.
29 "When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving
to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you
may be accepted.
30 "It shall be eaten on the same day, you shall
leave none of it until morning; I am the LORD.
31 "So you shall keep My commandments, and do
them; I am the LORD.
32 "You shall not profane My holy name,
but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD
who sanctifies you,
33 who brought you out from the land of Egypt,
to be your God; I am the LORD."
LEVITICUS: CHAPTER
23
Laws of Religious
Festivals
1 The LORD spoke again
to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them,
'The LORD'S appointed
times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed
times are these:
3 'For six days work may be done, but
on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation.
You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD
in all your dwellings.
4 'These are the appointed times of the
LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim
at the times appointed for them.
5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day
of the month at twilight is the LORD'S
Passover.
6 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month
there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD;
for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
7 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation;
you shall not do any laborious work.
8 'But for seven days you shall present an offering
by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a
holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.' "
9 Then the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying,
10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them,
'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its
harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your
harvest to the priest.
11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD
for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall
wave it.
12 'Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you
shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering
to the LORD.
13 'Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths
of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire
to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with
its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
14 'Until this same day, until you have brought
in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted
grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your
generations in all your dwelling places.
15 'You shall also count for yourselves
from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the
sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.
16 'You shall count fifty days to the day after
the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to
the LORD.
17 'You shall bring in from your dwelling places
two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of
an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first
fruits to the LORD.
18 'Along with the bread you shall present seven
one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two
rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the LORD,
with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by
fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
19 'You shall also offer one male goat for a
sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace
offerings.
20 'The priest shall then wave them with the
bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before
the LORD; they are to be holy to the LORD
for the priest.
21 'On this same day you shall make a proclamation
as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious
work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout
your generations.
22 'When you reap the harvest of your
land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field
nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the
needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "
23 Again the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying,
24 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In
the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a
reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25 'You shall not do any laborious work, but
you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.' "
The Day of
Atonement
26 The LORD spoke
to Moses, saying,
27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh
month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you,
and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the
LORD.
28 "You shall not do any work on this same day,
for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before
the LORD your God.
29 "If there is any person who will not humble
himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people.
30 "As for any person who does any work on this
same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
31 "You shall do no work at all. It is to be
a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling
places.
32 "It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to
you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening,
from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath."
33 Again the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying,
34 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On
the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven
days to the LORD.
35 'On the first day is a holy convocation; you
shall do no laborious work of any kind.
36 'For seven days you shall present an offering
by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall
have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD;
it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.
37 'These are the appointed times of the
LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations,
to present offerings by fire to the LORD—burnt
offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each
day's matter on its own day—
38 besides those of the sabbaths of the
LORD, and besides your gifts and besides all
your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.
39 'On exactly the fifteenth day of the
seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you
shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven
days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day.
40 'Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves
the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees
and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD
your God for seven days.
41 'You shall thus celebrate it as a feast
to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall
be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate
it in the seventh month.
42 'You shall live in booths for seven days;
all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths,
43 so that your generations may know that I had
the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land
of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.' "
44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the
appointed times of the LORD. |
