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The New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Book of LeviticusThe book draws together various bodies of law and ritual, starting with laws concerning Levites. The keynote is the holiness of God, to which his people must correspond. For this especially, certain classes of people, certain objects and certain actions are set apart from common usage. Israel must remain fully aware that its God is totally other than the common world of human experience. In fact this system of holiness developed over several centuries. Burnt offerings and cereal offerings stem only from Canaan; the law of the single sanctuary at Jerusalem (to combat the contamination of the local shrines) dates from King Josiah; the Law of Holiness (chh. 17-26) with its emphasis on the awesome transcendence of God, dates from the Babylonian exile; the full rite of consecration of priests may be even later than this. Many of the regulations are drawn from the body of law widespread in the Near East, some based on hygiene appropriate to hot and desert lands. But two principles are paramount, setting this legislation apart from the laws of Israel's neighbours: 1 all life, both human and animal, and its processes are sacred to Yahweh, and 2 Israelites must be free to serve Yahweh, neither subject to, nor humiliated by, any human being.
Chapter 1
the ritual of sacrifice
the burnt offering1:1Yahweh summoned Moses and, speaking to him from the Tent of Meeting, said, 2'Speak to the Israelites; say to them, "When any of you brings an offering to Yahweh, he can offer an animal either from the herd or from the flock. 3"If his offering is to be a burnt offering from the herd, he must offer an unblemished male; he will offer it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, to make it acceptable to Yahweh. 4He must lay his hand on the victim's head, and it will be accepted as effectual for his expiation. 5He will then slaughter the bull before Yahweh, and the priests descended from Aaron will offer the blood. They will pour it all around the altar which stands at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 6He will then skin the victim and quarter it. 7The priests descended from Aaron will put a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8The priests descended from Aaron will then arrange the quarters, the head and the fat on the wood on the fire on the altar. 9He will wash the entrails and shins in water, and the priest will burn it all on the altar as a burnt offering, food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 10"If his offering is to be of an animal from the flock, of a lamb or a goat to be offered as a burnt offering, he must offer an unblemished male. 11He will slaughter it on the north side of the altar, before Yahweh, and the priests descended from Aaron will pour the blood all around the altar. 12He will then quarter it, and the priest will arrange the quarters, the head and the fat on the wood on the fire on the altar. 13He will wash the entrails and shins in water, and the priest will burn it all on the altar as a burnt offering, food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 14"If his offering to Yahweh is to be a burnt offering of a bird, he must offer a turtledove or a young pigeon. 15The priest will offer it at the altar and wring off its head, which he will burn on the altar; its blood must then be squeezed out on the side of the altar. 16He will then remove the crop and the feathers and throw them on the eastern side of the altar, where the fatty ashes are put. 17He will then split it in half with a wing on each side, but without separating the two parts. The priest will then burn it on the altar, on the wood which is on the fire, as a burnt offering, food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh." '
Chapter 2
The cereal offering
2:1"If anyone offers Yahweh a cereal offering, his offering must consist of wheaten flour on which he must pour wine and put incense. 2He will bring it to the priests descended from Aaron; he will take a handful of the wheaten flour, some of the oil and all the incense, and this the priest will burn on the altar as a memorial, as food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 3The remainder of the cereal offering will revert to Aaron and his sons, an especially holy portion of the food burnt for Yahweh. 4"When you offer a cereal offering of dough baked in the oven, the wheaten flour must be prepared either in the form of unleavened cakes mixed with oil, or in the form of unleavened wafers spread with oil. 5"If your offering is a cereal offering cooked on the griddle, the wheaten flour mixed with oil must contain no leaven. 6You will break it in pieces and pour oil over it. It is a cereal offering. 7"If your offering is a cereal offering cooked in the pan, the wheaten flour must be prepared with oil. 8"You will bring Yahweh the cereal offering thus prepared and present it to the priest; he will take it to the altar. 9And from the cereal offering the priest will take the memorial and burn it on the altar, food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 10The remainder of the cereal offering will revert to Aaron and his descendants: it is especially holy since it is taken from the food burnt for Yahweh. 11"None of the cereal offerings which you offer to Yahweh must be prepared with leaven, for you must never include leaven or honey in food burnt for Yahweh. 12You may offer them to Yahweh as an offering of first-fruits, but they will not make a pleasing smell if they are burnt on the altar. 13You will put salt in every cereal offering that you offer, and you will not fail to put the salt of the covenant of your God on your cereal offering; to every offering you will add an offering of salt to your God. 14If you offer Yahweh a cereal offering of first-fruits, you will offer it in the form of roasted ears of wheat or of bread made from ground wheat. 15You will add oil to it and put incense on it; it is a cereal offering; 16and from it the priest will burn the memorial with some bread and oil (and all the incense) as food burnt for Yahweh."'
Chapter 3
The communion sacrifice
3:1'"If his sacrifice is a communion sacrifice, and if he offers an animal from the herd, be it male or female, whatever he offers before Yahweh must be unblemished. 2He will lay his hand on the victim's head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priests descended from Aaron will then pour the blood all around the altar. 3He will offer part of the communion sacrifice as food burnt for Yahweh: the fat covering the entrails, all the fat on the entrails, 4both kidneys, the fat on them and on the loins, the mass of fat which he will remove from the liver and kidneys. 5The priests descended from Aaron will then burn this on the altar, in addition to the burnt offering, on the wood of the fire, food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 6"If it is an animal from the flock which he offers as a communion sacrifice to Yahweh, be the animal that he offers male or female, it must be unblemished. 7"If he offers a sheep, he will offer it before Yahweh, 8he will lay his hand on the victim's head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting; the priests descended from Aaron will then pour its blood all around the altar. 9Of the communion sacrifice he will offer the following as food burnt for Yahweh: the fat, all the tail taken off near the base of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, all the fat on the entrails, 10both kidneys, the fat on them and on the loins, the mass of fat which he will remove from the liver and kidneys. 11The priest will then burn this on the altar as food, as food burnt for Yahweh. 12"If his offering is a goat, he will offer it before Yahweh, 13he will lay his hand on the victim's head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting, and the descendants of Aaron will then pour its blood all around the altar. 14This is what he will then offer of it as food burnt for Yahweh: the fat covering the entrails, all the fat on the entrails, 15both kidneys, the fat on them and on the loins, the mass of fat which he will remove from the liver and kidneys. 16The priest will then burn these pieces on the altar as food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. "All the fat belongs to Yahweh. 17This is a perpetual law for all your descendants, wherever you may live: that you will not eat either fat or blood." '
Chapter 4
The sacrifice for sin:
of the high priest4:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Speak to the Israelites and say: "If anyone sins inadvertently against any of Yahweh's commandments and does anything prohibited by them, 3if the one who sins is the anointed priest, thus making the people guilty, then for the sin which he has committed he must offer Yahweh a young bull, an unblemished animal from the herd, as a sacrifice for sin. 4He will bring the bull before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, will lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before Yahweh. 5The anointed priest will then take some of the bull's blood and carry it into the Tent of Meeting. 6He will then dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in front of the sanctuary curtain, before Yahweh. 7The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense smoking before Yahweh in the Tent of Meeting, and will pour all the rest of the bull's blood at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8"Of the bull offered as a sacrifice for sin, he will set aside all the fat: the fat covering the entrails, all the fat on the entrails, 9both kidneys, the fat on them and on the loins, the mass of fat which he will remove from the liver and kidneys- 10exactly as was done with the portion set aside in the communion sacrifice-and the priest will burn these pieces on the altar of burnt offerings. 11"The bull's skin and all its meat, its head, its shins, its entrails and its offal, 12the whole bull he will then have carried out of the camp to a clean place, the place where the fatty ashes are thrown, and will burn it on a wood fire; it must be burnt where the ashes are thrown.
of the community of Israel
13"If the whole community of Israel has sinned inadvertently and, without being aware of it has incurred guilt by doing something forbidden by Yahweh's commandments, 14once the sin of which it is guilty has been discovered, the community must offer a young bull, an unblemished animal from the herd, as a sacrifice for sin, and bring it in front of the Tent of Meeting. 15The elders of the community will then lay their hands on the bull's head before Yahweh, and the bull will be slaughtered before Yahweh. 16"The anointed priest will then take some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting. 17He will then dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in front of the curtain, before Yahweh. 18He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar standing before Yahweh inside the Tent of Meeting, and then pour all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 19"He will then set aside all the fat from the animal and burn it on the altar. 20He will then deal with the bull as he did with the bull in the sacrifice for sin. It will be dealt with in the same way; and once the priest has performed the rite of expiation for the people, they will be forgiven. 21"He will then have the bull carried out of the camp and will burn it as he burned the first one. This is the sacrifice for the sin of the community.
of a leader of the community
22"When a leader has sinned and inadvertently incurred guilt by doing something forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh his God 23(or if the sin which he has committed is drawn to his attention), he must bring a he-goat as his offering, an unblemished male. 24He will then lay his hand on the goat's head and slaughter it on the spot where the burnt offerings are slaughtered before Yahweh. This is a sacrifice for sin; 25the priest will take some of the victim's blood on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. He will then pour the rest of its blood at the foot of the altar of burnt offerings 26and burn all the fat on the altar, as with the fat in the communion sacrifice. This is how the priest must perform the rite of expiation for him to free him from his sin, and he will be forgiven.
of a private individual
27"If one of the country people sins inadvertently and incurs guilt by doing something forbidden by Yahweh's commandments 28(or if the sin which he has committed is drawn to his attention), he must bring a she-goat as his offering for the sin which he has committed, an unblemished female. 29He will then lay his hand on the victim's head and slaughter it on the spot where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30The priest will take some of its blood on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. He will then pour all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. 31He will then remove all the fat, as the fat was removed for the communion sacrifice, and the priest will burn it on the altar as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. This is how the priest must perform the rite of expiation for him, and he will be forgiven. 32"If he wishes to bring a lamb as an offering for this kind of sacrifice, he must bring an unblemished female. 33He will then lay his hand on the victim's head and slaughter it as a sacrifice for sin on the spot where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. 34The priest will take some of the victim's blood on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. He will then pour all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. 35He will then remove all the fat, as was done for the sheep in the communion sacrifice, and the priest will burn it as food burnt for Yahweh. This is how the priest must perform for him the rite of expiation for the sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven." '
Chapter 5
Some cases of sacrifice for sin
5:1' "If someone sins in any of these following cases: "He should have come forward to give evidence when he heard the formal adjuration, having seen the incident or known the facts; but he has not spoken out, and so bears the consequences of his guilt; 2"or someone touches something unclean, whatever it may be-the dead body of an unclean animal, wild or tame, or of one of the unclean reptiles-and without realising it becomes unclean, he becomes answerable for it; 3"or he touches some human uncleanness, whatever it may be, contact with which makes him unclean; he does not notice it, then, realising it later, he becomes answerable for it; 4"or someone lets slip an oath to do something either evil or good, in any of those matters on which someone may let slip an oath; he does not notice it, then, realising it later, he becomes answerable for it; 5"if he is answerable in any of those cases, he will have to confess the sin committed. 6As a sacrifice of reparation for the sin committed, he will bring Yahweh a female from the flock (sheep or goat) as a sacrifice for sin; and the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him to free him from his sin.
Sins of private individuals (continued)
7"If he cannot afford an animal from the flock as a sacrifice of reparation for the sin he has committed, he will bring Yahweh two turtledoves or two young pigeons-one as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a burnt offering. 8He will bring them to the priest who will first offer the one intended for the sacrifice for sin. The priest will wring its neck but not remove the head. 9He will sprinkle the side of the altar with the victim's blood, and then squeeze out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. This is a sacrifice for sin. 10He will then offer the other bird as a burnt offering according to the ritual. This is how the priest must perform the rite of expiation for the person for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven. 11"If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he will bring a tenth of an ephah of wheaten flour as an offering for the sin committed; he must not mix oil with it or put incense on it, since this is a sacrifice for sin. 12He will bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of it as a memorial, and burn this on the altar in addition to the offerings of food burnt for Yahweh. This is a sacrifice for sin. 13This is how the priest must perform the rite of expiation for the person for the sin he has committed in any of those cases, and he will be forgiven. In this case, the priest has the same rights as in the case of a cereal offering." '
The sacrifice of reparation
14Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 15'If someone is unfaithful and sins inadvertently by infringing Yahweh's sacred rights, as a sacrifice of reparation he must bring Yahweh an unblemished ram from his flock, the value of which will be decided by you in silver shekels according to the rate of the sanctuary-shekel. 16He will make amends for what his sin subtracted from the sacred rights, adding one-fifth to the value, and give it to the priest. The priest will then perform the rite of expiation for him with the ram for the sacrifice of reparation and he will be forgiven. 17'If someone sins and without realising it does one of the things forbidden by Yahweh's commandments, he will answer for it and bear the consequences of his guilt. 18As a sacrifice of reparation he must bring the priest an unblemished ram from his flock to the value which you decide, and the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him for the oversight unwittingly committed, and he will be forgiven. 19This is a sacrifice of reparation; the man was certainly answerable to Yahweh.' 20Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 21'If someone sins and is unfaithful against Yahweh by deceiving his fellow-countryman over a deposit or a security, or by withholding something due to him or by exploiting him; 22'or if he finds lost property and denies it; 'or if he perjures himself about anything that a human being may do criminally in such matters; 23'if he sins and so becomes answerable, he must restore what he has taken or demanded in excess: the deposit confided to him, the lost property that he has found, 24or any object about which he has perjured himself. He will add one-fifth to the principal and pay the whole to the person who held the property rights on the day when he incurred the guilt. 25He will then bring Yahweh an unblemished ram from his flock to the value which you decide, to the priest as a sacrifice of reparation, 26and the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh and he will be forgiven, whatever the act by which he incurred guilt.'
Chapter 6
Priesthood and sacrifice
The burnt offering6:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Give these orders to Aaron and his sons: "This is the ritual for the burnt offering (that is, the burnt offering that stays on the altar brazier all night until morning and is consumed by the altar fire). 3"The priest will put on his linen tunic and put his linen drawers on to cover himself. He will then remove the fatty ashes of the burnt offering consumed by the altar fire and put them at the side of the altar. 4He will then take off his clothes, put on others and carry the ashes to a clean place outside the camp. 5"The fire on the altar that consumes the burnt offering must not be allowed to go out. Every morning the priest will make it up with wood, arranging the burnt offering on it and burning the fat from the communion sacrifices. 6The fire must always be burning on the altar; it must never go out.
The cereal offering
7'This is the ritual for the cereal offering: "One of the descendants of Aaron will bring it into Yahweh's presence in front of the altar, 8will take a handful of the wheaten flour (with the oil and all the incense which have been added to it) and burn the memorial on the altar as a smell pleasing to Yahweh; 9and Aaron and his sons will eat the remainder in the form of unleavened loaves. They will eat it inside the holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting. 10The portion I give them of the food burnt for me must not be baked with leaven; it is especially holy, like the sacrifice for sin and the sacrifice of reparation. 11All male descendants of Aaron are entitled to eat this portion of the food burnt for Yahweh (this is a perpetual law for all your descendants) and anyone who touches it will become holy." ' 12Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 13'This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must make to Yahweh on the day they are anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of wheaten flour as a perpetual cereal offering, half in the morning and half in the evening. 14It will be prepared on the griddle and mixed with oil; you will bring the paste as a cereal offering in several pieces, offering them as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 15When one of his sons is anointed priest to succeed him, he will do the same. This is a perpetual law. 'The entire cereal offering will be burnt for Yahweh. 16Every cereal offering made by a priest will be a total sacrifice; none of it will be eaten.'
The sacrifice for sin
17Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 18'Speak to Aaron and his sons and say: "This is the ritual for the sacrifice for sin: "The victim must be slaughtered before Yahweh on the spot where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. It is especially holy. 19The priest who offers this sacrifice will eat it. It will be eaten inside the holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting. 20Everything touching the victim's meat will become holy, and if any of the blood splashes on clothing, the stain will be washed off inside the holy place. 21The earthenware vessel in which the meat is cooked must be broken; if a bronze vessel has been used for the cooking, it must be scrubbed and thoroughly rinsed with water. 22Any male who is a priest may eat the sacrifice. It is especially holy. 23But no one may eat any of the victims offered for sin, the blood of which has been taken into the Tent of Meeting to make expiation inside the sanctuary. These must be burnt." '
Chapter 7
The sacrifice of reparation
7:1"This is the ritual for the sacrifice of reparation: "It is especially holy. 2The victim must be slaughtered where the burnt offerings are slaughtered, and the priest will pour the blood all around the altar. 3He will then offer all the fat: the tail, the fat covering the entrails, 4both kidneys, the fat on them and on the loins, the mass of fat which he will remove from the liver and kidneys. 5The priest will burn these pieces on the altar as food burnt for Yahweh. This is a sacrifice of reparation. 6Every male who is a priest may eat it. It will be eaten inside the holy place; it is especially holy.
The rights of the priests
7"As with the sacrifice for sin, so with the sacrifice of reparation-the ritual is the same for both. The offering with which the priest performs the rite of expiation will revert to the priest. 8The hide of the victim presented by someone to the priest to be offered as a burnt offering will revert to the priest. 9Every cereal offering baked in the oven, every cereal offering cooked in the pan or on the griddle will revert to the priest who offers it. 10Every cereal offering, mixed with oil or dry, will revert to all the descendants of Aaron without distinction.
The communion sacrifice
Sacrifice with praise11"This is the ritual for the communion sacrifice to be offered to Yahweh: 12"If this is offered as a sacrifice with praise, to the latter must be added an offering of unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and wheaten flour in the form of cakes mixed with oil. 13This offering, then, must be added to the cakes of leavened bread and to the communion sacrifice with praise. 14One of the cakes of this offering must be presented as an offering to Yahweh; it will revert to the priest who pours out the blood of the communion sacrifice. 15The meat of the victim will be eaten on the day the offering is made; nothing may be left until next morning.
Votive or voluntary sacrifices
16"If the victim is offered as a votive or a voluntary sacrifice, it must be eaten on the day it is offered, and the remainder may be eaten on the following day; 17but on the third day whatever is left of the meat of the victim must be burnt.
General rules
18"If any of the meat of a victim offered as a communion sacrifice is eaten on the third day, the person who has offered it will not be acceptable and will receive no credit for it. It will count as rotten meat, and the person who eats it will bear the consequences of the guilt. 19"Meat that has touched anything unclean cannot be eaten; it must be burnt. "Anyone clean may eat the meat, 20but anyone unclean who eats the meat of a communion sacrifice offered to Yahweh will be outlawed from his people. 21Furthermore, if anyone touches anything unclean, human or animal, or any foul thing, and then eats the meat of a communion sacrifice offered to Yahweh, that individual will be outlawed from his people." ' 22Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 23'Speak to the Israelites and say: "You may not eat the fat of ox, sheep or goat. 24The fat of an animal that has died a natural death or been savaged by beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you are not to eat it. 25Anyone who eats the fat of an animal offered as food burnt for Yahweh will be outlawed from his people. 26"Wherever you live, you will never eat blood, whether it be of bird or of beast. 27Anyone who eats any blood will be outlawed from his people." '
The priest's portion
28Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 29'Speak to the Israelites and say: "Anyone who offers Yahweh a communion sacrifice must bring him part of his sacrifice as an offering. 30He must bring the food to be burnt for Yahweh, that is to say, the fat adhering to the forequarters, with his own hands. He will bring it, and also the forequarters, with which he will make the gesture of offering before Yahweh. 31The priest will then burn the fat on the altar, and the forequarters will revert to Aaron and his descendants. 32You will set aside the right thigh from your communion sacrifice and give it to the priest. 33The right thigh will be the portion of the descendant of Aaron who offers the blood and fat of the communion sacrifice. 34For I have deprived the Israelites of the forequarter offered and the thigh presented in their communion sacrifices, and given them to the priest Aaron and his descendants; this is a perpetual law for the Israelites." '
Conclusion
35Such was the portion of Aaron and his descendants in the food burnt for Yahweh, the day he presented them to Yahweh for them to become his priests. 36This was what Yahweh ordered the Israelites to give them on the day they were anointed: a perpetual law for all their descendants. 37Such was the ritual for burnt offering, cereal offering, sacrifice for sin, sacrifice of reparation, investiture sacrifice and communion sacrifice, 38which Yahweh laid down for Moses on Mount Sinai, the day he ordered the Israelites to make their offerings to Yahweh in the desert of Sinai.
Chapter 8
II: THE INVESTITURE OF THE PRIESTS
Consecration rites *[Ex 28:1-29:35]8:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Take Aaron and with him his sons, the vestments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sacrifice for sin, the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. 3Then call the whole community together at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.' 4Moses did as Yahweh ordered; the community gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, 5and Moses said to them, 'This is what Yahweh has ordered to be done.' 6He made Aaron and his sons come forward and washed them with water. 7He then dressed him in the tunic, passed the waistband round his waist, vested him in the robe and put the ephod on him. He then put the waistband of the ephod round his waist, fastening it to him. 8He put the breastplate on him, and placed the urim and thummim in it. 9He put the turban on his head, and on the front of the turban, the golden flower; this was the symbol of holy consecration, which Yahweh had prescribed to Moses. 10Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the Dwelling and everything inside it, to consecrate them. 11He sprinkled the altar seven times and anointed the altar and its accessories, the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12He then poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13Moses then made Aaron's sons come forward; he dressed them in tunics, passed the waistbands round their waists and put on their head-dresses, as Yahweh had ordered him. 14He then had the bull for the sacrifice for sin brought forward. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the victim's head 15and Moses slaughtered it. He then took the blood and with his finger put some of it on the horns on the corners of the altar to purify the altar. He then poured the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar, which he consecrated by performing the rite of expiation over it. 16He then took all the fat covering the entrails, the mass of fat over the liver, both kidneys and their fat; and he burnt this on the altar, 17but the bull's skin, its meat and its offal he burnt outside the camp, as Yahweh had ordered Moses. 18He then had the ram for the burnt offering brought forward. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram's head 19and Moses slaughtered it. He poured its blood all around the altar. 20He then quartered the ram and burned the head, the quarters and the fat. 21He then washed the entrails and shins, and burnt the whole ram on the altar, as a burnt offering, offered to be a pleasing smell, as food burnt for Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered Moses. 22He then had the other ram brought forward, the ram for the investiture sacrifice. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head 23and Moses slaughtered it. He took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24He then made Aaron's sons come forward and he put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Next, Moses poured the rest of the blood all around the altar. 25He then took the fat: the tail, all the fat covering the entrails, the mass of fat over the liver, both kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh. 26From the basket of unleavened bread placed before Yahweh, he took an unleavened cake, a cake of bread made with oil, and a wafer; he placed these on the fat and the right thigh, 27and put it all into Aaron's hands and those of his sons, and made the gesture of offering before Yahweh. 28Moses then took them away from them and burned them on the altar, with the burnt offering. This was the investiture sacrifice, offered to be a pleasing smell, as food burnt for Yahweh. 29Moses then took the forequarter and made the gesture of offering before Yahweh. This was the portion of the ram of investiture that reverted to Moses, as Yahweh had ordered Moses. 30Moses then took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled Aaron and his vestments, and his sons and their vestments, with it. In this way he consecrated Aaron and his vestments and his sons and their vestments. 31Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, 'Cook the meat at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and eat it there, as also the bread of the investiture sacrifice still in the basket of the investiture offerings, as I ordered, when I said, "Aaron and his sons must eat it." 32What remains of the meat and bread you will burn. 33For seven days you will not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, until the time of your investiture is complete; for your investiture will require seven days. 34Yahweh has ordered us to do as we have done today to perform the rite of expiation for you; 35hence, for seven days, day and night, you will remain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting observing Yahweh's ritual; do this, and you will not incur death. For this was the order I received.' 36So Aaron and his sons did everything that Yahweh had ordered through Moses.
Chapter 9
The priests assume their functions
9:1On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; 2he said to Aaron, 'Take a calf to offer a sacrifice for sin, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and bring them before Yahweh. 3Then say to the Israelites, "Take a goat to be offered as a sacrifice for sin, a calf and a lamb one year old (both without blemish) for a burnt offering, 4a bull and a ram for communion sacrifices to be slaughtered before Yahweh, and a cereal offering mixed with oil. For Yahweh will appear to you today." ' 5They brought what Moses had ordered in front of the Tent of Meeting; then the whole community approached and stood before Yahweh. 6Moses then said, 'This is what Yahweh has ordered you to do, so that his glory may be visible to you.' 7Moses then addressed Aaron, 'Go to the altar and offer your sacrifice for sin and your burnt offering, and so perform the rite of expiation for yourself and your family. Then present the people's offering and perform the rite of expiation for them, as Yahweh has ordered.' 8Aaron went to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sacrifice for his own sin. 9Aaron's sons then presented the blood to him; he dipped his finger in it and put some on the horns of the altar, and then poured the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. 10The fat of the sacrifice for sin and the kidneys and the mass of fat over the liver he burned on the altar, as Yahweh had ordered Moses, 11and the meat and the skin he burned outside the camp. 12He then slaughtered the burnt offering; Aaron's sons then handed him the blood, which he poured all around the altar. 13They then handed him the quartered victim and the head, and he burned these on the altar. 14He then washed the entrails and shins and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. 15He then presented the people's offering. He took the goat for the people's sacrifice for sin, slaughtered it, and made a sacrifice for sin with it in the same way as with the first. 16He then had the burnt offering brought forward and proceeded according to the ritual. 17He then had the cereal offering brought forward, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering. 18Then he slaughtered the bull and the ram as a communion sacrifice for the people. Aaron's sons handed him the blood and he poured it all around the altar. 19The fat of the bull and the ram, the tail, the covering fat, the kidneys, the mass of fat over the liver, 20he placed on the ribs and then burned on the altar. 21With the ribs and the right thigh Aaron made the gesture of offering as Yahweh had ordered Moses. 22Aaron then raised his hands towards the people and blessed them. Having thus performed the sacrifice for sin, the burnt offering and the communion sacrifice, he came down 23and entered the Tent of Meeting with Moses. Then they came out together to bless the people and the glory of Yahweh appeared to the entire people: 24a flame leapt out from Yahweh's presence and consumed the burnt offering and fat on the altar. At this sight the entire people shouted for joy and fell on their faces.
Chapter 10
Complementary legislation
A lesson in exact observance10:1Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, put fire in it and incense on the fire, and presented unauthorised fire before Yahweh, which was not in accordance with his orders. 2At this a flame leapt out from Yahweh's presence and swallowed them up, and they perished before Yahweh. 3Moses then said to Aaron, 'That is what Yahweh meant when he said: In those who are close to me I show my holiness, and before all the people I show my glory.' Aaron remained silent.
Removal of bodies
4Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, 'Come here and take your brothers away from the sanctuary, out of the camp.' 5They came and carried them away, still in their tunics, out of the camp, as Moses had said.
Rules for priestly mourning
6Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, 'Do not disorder your hair or tear your clothes; or you may incur death and his retribution may overtake the whole community. No, it is for the entire House of Israel to lament your brothers who have been the victims of Yahweh's fire. 7To avoid incurring death, do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for Yahweh's anointing oil is on you.' And they did as Moses said.
Wine forbidden
8Yahweh spoke to Aaron and said: 9'When you come to the Tent of Meeting, you and your sons with you, to avoid incurring death you may not drink wine or any other fermented liquor. This is a perpetual law for all your descendants. 10And so shall it be also when you separate the sacred from the profane, the unclean from the clean, 11and when you teach the Israelites any of the decrees that Yahweh has pronounced for them through Moses.'
The priests' portion in offerings
12Moses said to Aaron and his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, 'Take the cereal offering left over from the food burnt for Yahweh. Eat the unleavened part of it beside the altar, since it is especially holy. 13Eat it in the holy place, since it is the portion of the food burnt for Yahweh that is prescribed for you and your sons; this is the order I have received. 14'You, your sons and daughters with you, will eat in a clean place the forequarter offered and the thigh presented, for these have been given to you and your children as your due from the Israelites' communion sacrifices. 15The thigh presented and the forequarter offered, once the fat has been burnt, revert to you and your sons with you, after they have been presented before Yahweh with the gesture of offering, in virtue of a perpetual law as Yahweh has ordered.'
A special regulation concerning sacrifice for sin
16Moses then enquired carefully about the goat offered as a sacrifice for sin, and found that they had burnt it. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's surviving sons, and said, 17'Why did you not eat this victim for sin in the holy place, since it is especially holy and was given to you to take away the community's guilt, by performing the rite of expiation for them before Yahweh? 18Since its blood was not taken inside the sanctuary, you should have eaten its meat there, as I ordered you.' 19Aaron said to Moses, 'Look, today they offered their sacrifice for sin and their burnt offering before Yahweh, and these disasters have befallen me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would this have met with Yahweh's approval?' 20And when Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
Chapter 11
III: RULES CONCERNING THE CLEAN AND UNCLEAN
Clean and unclean animals *[Dt 14:3-21.]
On land11:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and said to them, 2'Speak to the Israelites and say: "Of all animals living on land these are the creatures you may eat: 3"You may eat any animal that has a cloven hoof, divided into two parts, and that is a ruminant. 4The following, which either chew the cud or have a cloven hoof, are the ones that you may not eat: you will regard the camel as unclean, because though it is ruminant, it does not have a cloven hoof; 5you will regard the coney as unclean, because though it is ruminant, it does not have a cloven hoof; 6you will regard the hare as unclean, because though it is ruminant, it does not have a cloven hoof; 7you will regard the pig as unclean, because though it has a cloven hoof, divided into two parts, it is not a ruminant. 8You will not eat the meat of these or touch their dead bodies; you will regard them as unclean.
In water
9"Of all that lives in water, these you may eat: "Anything that has fins and scales, and lives in the water, whether in sea or river, you may eat. 10But anything in sea or river that does not have fins and scales, of all the small water-creatures and all the living things found there, you will regard as detestable. 11You will regard them as detestable; you must not eat their meat and you will regard their carcases as detestable. 12Anything that lives in water, but not having fins and scales, you will regard as detestable.
Birds
13"Of the birds these are the ones that you will regard as detestable; they may not be eaten, they are detestable for eating: "The tawny vulture, the griffon, the osprey, 14the kite, the various kinds of buzzard, 15all kinds of raven, 16the ostrich, the screech owl, the seagull, the various kinds of hawk, 17horned owl, night owl, cormorant, barn owl, 18ibis, pelican, white vulture, 19stork, the various kinds of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
Winged insects
20"All winged insects moving on four feet you will regard as detestable for eating. 21Of all these winged insects you may eat only the following: those with the sort of legs above their feet which enable them to leap over the ground. 22These are the ones you may eat: the various kinds of migratory locust, the various kinds of solham locust, hargol locust and hagab locust. 23But all other winged insects on four feet you will regard as detestable for eating.
Contact with unclean animals
24"By the following you will be made unclean. Anyone who touches the carcase of one will be unclean until evening. 25Anyone who picks up their carcases must wash his clothing and will be unclean until evening. 26Animals that have hoofs, but not cloven, and that are not ruminant, you will regard as unclean; anyone who touches them will be unclean. 27Those four-footed animals which walk on the flat of their paws you will regard as unclean; anyone who touches their carcases will be unclean until evening, 28and anyone who picks up their carcases must wash his clothing and will be unclean until evening. You will regard them as unclean.
Small ground animals
29"Of the small creatures which crawl along the ground, these are the ones which you will regard as unclean: the mole, the rat, the various kinds of lizard: 30gecko, koah, letaah, chameleon and tinshamet.
Further rules on contact with things unclean
31"Of all the small creatures, these are the animals which you must regard as disgusting. Anyone who touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. 32"Any object on which one of these creatures falls when it is dead becomes unclean: wooden utensil, clothing, skin, sacking, any utensil whatever. It must be immersed in water and will remain unclean until evening: then it will be clean. 33If the creature falls into an earthenware vessel, the vessel must be broken; whatever the vessel contains is unclean. 34Any edible food will be unclean if the water touches it; any drinkable liquid will be unclean, no matter what its container. 35Anything on which the carcase of such a creature may fall will be unclean: be it oven or stove, it must be destroyed; for they are unclean and you will regard them as unclean 36(although springs, wells and stretches of water will remain clean); anyone who touches one of their carcases will be unclean. 37If one of their carcases falls on any kind of seed, the seed will remain clean; 38but if the seed has been moistened and one of their carcases falls on it, you will regard it as unclean. 39"If one of the animals that you use as food dies, anyone who touches the carcase will be unclean until evening; 40anyone who eats any of the carcase must wash his clothing and will remain unclean until evening; anyone who picks up the carcase must wash his clothing and will remain unclean until evening.
The religious aspect
41"Any creature that swarms on the ground is detestable for eating; it must not be eaten. 42Anything that moves on its belly, anything that moves on four legs or more-in short all the creatures that swarm on the ground-you will not eat, since they are detestable. 43Do not make yourselves detestable with all these swarming creatures; do not defile yourselves with them, do not be defiled by them. 44For it is I, Yahweh, who am your God. You have been sanctified and have become holy because I am holy: do not defile yourselves with all these creatures that swarm on the ground. 45Yes, it is I, Yahweh, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God: you must therefore be holy because I am holy." '
Conclusion
46Such is the law concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water and all creatures that swarm on the ground. 47Its purpose is to distinguish the clean from the unclean, the creatures that may be eaten from those that may not be eaten.
Chapter 12
Purification of a woman after childbirth
12:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 2'Speak to the Israelites and say: "If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy, she will be unclean for seven days as when in a state of pollution due to menstruation. 3On the eighth day the child's foreskin must be circumcised, 4and she will wait another thirty-three days for her blood to be purified. She will not touch anything consecrated nor go to the sanctuary until the time of her purification is over. 5"If she gives birth to a girl, she will be unclean for two weeks, as during her monthly periods; and will wait another sixty-six days for her blood to be purified. 6"When the period of her purification is over, for either boy or girl, she will bring the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a lamb one year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or turtledove as a sacrifice for sin. 7The priest must offer this before Yahweh, perform the rite of expiation for her, and she will be purified from her discharge of blood. "Such is the law concerning a woman who gives birth to either a boy or a girl. 8If she cannot afford a lamb, she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the burnt offering and the other for the sacrifice for sin. The priest will perform the rite of expiation for her and she will be purified."
Chapter 13
Human skin-diseases
Swellings, scabs, discolorations13:1Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 2'If a swelling or scab or spot appears on someone's skin, which could develop into a contagious skin-disease, that person must then be taken to the priest, either Aaron or one of his sons. 3The priest will examine the disease on the skin. If the hair on the diseased part has turned white, or if the disease bites into the skin, the skin-disease is contagious, and after examination the priest will declare the person unclean. 4But if there is a white spot on the skin without any visible depression of the skin or whitening of the hair, the priest will isolate the sick person for seven days. 5On the seventh day he will examine the person, and if he observes that the disease persists though without spreading over the skin, he will isolate the person for a further seven days 6and examine him again on the seventh. If he finds that the disease has faded and has not spread over the skin, the priest will declare the person clean. This was merely a scab. Once he has washed his clothing he will be clean. 7'But if the scab spreads over the skin after the sick person has been examined by the priest and declared clean, then he will let himself be examined again by the priest. 8After examining him and certifying the spread of the scab over the skin, the priest will declare him unclean: it is a contagious skin-disease.
Cases of dormant skin-disease
9'Someone who has a contagious skin-disease must be taken to the priest. 10The priest will examine the sick person, and if he finds a whitish swelling with whitening of the hair and an ulcer forming on the skin, 11this is a dormant skin-disease, and the priest will declare the person unclean. He will not isolate him; he is obviously unclean. 12'But if the disease spreads all through the skin, if it covers the person entirely from head to foot so far as the priest can see, 13the priest will then examine the sick person and, if he finds that the skin-disease covers his whole body, declare the sick person clean. Since it has all become white, he is clean. 14But as soon as an ulcer appears on him, he will be unclean. 15After examining the ulcer, the priest will declare him unclean: the ulcer is unclean, it is contagious. 16But if the ulcer becomes white again, the sick person will go to the priest; 17the priest will examine him and if he finds that the disease has turned white, he will declare the sick person clean: he is clean.
Ulcers
18'When an ulcer appears on someone's skin, and then gets better, 19and if then a white swelling or a reddish-white spot forms on the same place, the sick person will show himself to the priest. 20The priest will examine him, and if he finds a visible depression in the skin and a whitening of the hair, he will declare the person unclean: this is a case of contagious skin-disease breaking out in an ulcer. 21But if on examination the priest finds neither white hair nor depression of the skin, but a fading of the affected part, he will isolate the sick person for seven days. 22If the disease has then spread over the skin, he will declare the person unclean: this is a case of contagious skin-disease. 23But if the spot has stayed where it was and has not spread, it is the scar of the ulcer and the priest will declare the person clean.
Burns
24'If someone has a burn on the skin and an abscess, a reddish-white or white spot, forms on the burn, 25the priest will then examine it. If he finds a whitening of the hair or a visible depression of the mark on the skin, a contagious disease has broken out in the burn. The priest will declare the sick person unclean: this is a contagious skin-disease. 26If on the other hand the priest on examination does not find white hair on the mark or depression of the skin, but a fading of the mark, the priest will isolate the person for seven days. 27He will examine the person on the seventh day and, if the disease has spread over the skin, he will declare the sick person unclean: this is a case of contagious skin-disease. 28If the mark has stayed where it was and has not spread over the skin, but has faded instead, it was only a swelling due to the burn. The priest will declare the person clean: it is merely a burn scar.
Diseases of the scalp and chin
29'If a man or a woman has a sore on the head or chin, 30the priest will examine the sore; and if he finds a depression visible in the skin, with the hair on it yellow and thin, he will declare the sick person unclean: this is tinea, that is to say, a contagious skin-disease of the head or chin. 31If on examining this case of tinea the priest finds no visible depression in the skin and no yellow hair, he will isolate the person so affected for seven days. 32He will examine the infected part on the seventh day, and if he finds that the tinea has not spread, that the hair on it is not yellow, and that there is no visible depression in the skin, 33the sick person will shave his hair off, all except the part affected with tinea, and the priest will again isolate him for seven days. 34He will examine the infected part on the seventh day, and if he finds that it has not spread over the skin, and that there is no visible depression of the skin, the priest will declare the sick person clean. After washing his clothes the person will be clean. 35But if after this purification the tinea does spread over the skin, 36the priest will examine the person; if he finds that the tinea has indeed spread over the skin, the sick person is unclean, and there is no need to verify whether the hair is yellow. 37Whereas if, so far as he can see, the tinea is arrested and dark hair is beginning to grow on it, the sick person is cured. He is clean, and the priest will declare him clean.
Rash
38'If spots break out on the skin of a man or woman, and if these spots are white, 39the priest will examine them. If he finds that the spots are of a dull white, this is a rash that has broken out on the skin: the sick person is clean.
Loss of hair
40'If someone loses the hair of the scalp, this is baldness of the scalp but the person is clean. 41If he loses hair off the front of the head, this is baldness of the forehead but the person is clean. 42If, however, a reddish-white sore appears on scalp or forehead, a contagious skin-disease has broken out on the scalp or forehead. 43The priest will examine it, and if he finds a reddish-white swelling on scalp or forehead, looking like a contagious skin-disease, 44the person has such a disease: he is unclean. The priest will declare him unclean; he has a contagious skin-disease of the head.
The law governing cases of contagious skin-diseases
45'Anyone with a contagious skin-disease will wear torn clothing and disordered hair; and will cover the upper lip and shout, "Unclean, unclean." 46As long as the disease lasts, such a person will be unclean and, being unclean, will live alone and live outside the camp.
Infections of clothing
47'When a piece of clothing is infected with mould, be it woollen or linen clothing, 48linen or woollen fabric or covering, or leather or anything made of leather, 49if the spot on the clothing, leather, fabric, covering or object made of leather is a greenish or reddish colour, it is a disease to be shown to the priest. 50The priest will examine the infection and isolate the object for seven days. 51If on the seventh day he observes that the infection has spread on the clothing, fabric, covering, leather or object made of leather, whatever it may be, this is a contagious disease and the object is unclean. 52He will burn this clothing, fabric, linen or woollen covering or leather object whatever it may be, on which the infection has appeared; for this is a contagious disease which must be destroyed by fire. 53'But if on examination the priest finds that the infection has not spread on the clothing, fabric, covering, or leather object whatever it may be, 54he will order the infected object to be washed and will isolate it again for a period of seven days. 55After the washing, he will examine the infection and if he finds that there is no change in its appearance, even though it has not spread, the article is unclean. You will burn it; it is infected through and through. 56'But if on examination the priest finds that the infection has diminished after washing, he will tear it out of the clothing, leather, fabric or covering. 57But if the infection reappears on the same clothing, fabric, covering or leather object whatever it may be, this means that the infection is active; you will burn whatever is infected. 58The clothing, fabric, covering or leather object whatever it may be, from which the infection disappears after being washed, will be clean after it has been washed a second time. 59'Such is the law governing disease in a linen or woollen garment, a fabric or covering or leather object whatever it may be, when it is a question of declaring them clean or unclean.'
Chapter 14
Purification from contagious skin-diseases
14:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'This is the law to be applied on the day of the purification of someone who has suffered from a contagious skin-disease. Such a person will be taken to the priest, 3and the priest will go outside the camp. If he finds on examination that the person has recovered from the disease, 4he will order the following to be brought for his purification: two live birds that are clean, some cedar wood, scarlet material and hyssop. 5He will then order one of the birds to be slaughtered in an earthenware pot over running water. 6He will then take the live bird, the cedar wood, the scarlet material and the hyssop and dip all this (including the live bird) into the blood of the bird slaughtered over running water. 7He will then sprinkle the person to be purified of the skin-disease seven times, and having declared the person clean, will set the live bird free to fly off into the countryside. 8The person who is being purified will then wash all clothing, shave off all hair, and wash, and will then be clean. After this he will return to the camp, although he will remain outside his tent for seven days. 9On the seventh day he will shave off all his hair-head, beard and eyebrows; he will shave off all his hair. After washing his clothing and his body he will be clean. 10'On the eighth day he will take two unblemished lambs, an unblemished ewe one year old, three-tenths of wheaten flour mixed with oil for the cereal offering, and one log of oil. 11The priest who is performing the purification will place the person who is being purified, with all his offerings, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh. 12He will then take one of the lambs and offer it as a sacrifice of reparation, as also the log of oil. With these he will make the gesture of offering before Yahweh. 13He will then slaughter the lamb on that spot inside the holy place where the victims for the sacrifice for sin and for the burnt offering are slaughtered. This reparatory offering, like the sacrifice for sin, will revert to the priest: it is especially holy. 14The priest will then take some blood of this sacrifice and put it on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person who is being purified. 15He will then take the log of oil and pour a little into the hollow of his left hand. 16He will dip a finger of his right hand into the oil in the hollow of his left hand, and sprinkle the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh. 17He will then take some of the oil left in the hollow of his hand and put it on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified, in addition to the blood of the sacrifice of reparation. 18The rest of the oil in the hollow of his hand he will put on the head of the person who is being purified. This is how the priest will perform the rite of expiation for such a person before Yahweh. 19'The priest will then offer the sacrifice for sin, and perform the rite of expiation for uncleanness for the person who is being purified. After this, he will slaughter the burnt offering 20and offer this and the cereal offering on the altar. So, when the priest has performed the rite of expiation for him the person will be clean. 21'If he is poor and cannot afford all this, he need take only one lamb, the one for the sacrifice of reparation, and this will be presented with the gesture of offering to perform the rite of expiation for him. And for the cereal offering he will only take one-tenth of wheaten flour mixed with oil, and the log of oil, 22and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever he can afford, one for a sacrifice for sin and the other for the burnt offering. 23He will bring these on the eighth day to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, for his purification. 24The priest will take the lamb for the sacrifice of reparation and the log of oil, and present them before Yahweh with the gesture of offering. 25He will then slaughter the lamb for the sacrifice of reparation, take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot of the person who is being purified. 26He will pour the oil into the hollow of his left hand, 27and with his finger sprinkle the oil in the hollow of his left hand seven times before Yahweh. 28He will then put some of the oil on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot of the person who is being purified, as he did with the blood of the sacrifice of reparation. 29The remainder of the oil in the hollow of his hand he will put on the head of the person who is being purified, thus performing the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh. 30Of the two turtledoves or two young pigeons-whatever he has been able to afford-he will offer 31a sacrifice for sin with one, and with the other a burnt offering with a cereal offering-whatever he has been able to afford. This is how the priest will perform before Yahweh the rite of expiation for the person who is being purified. 32'Such is the law concerning someone with a contagious skin-disease who cannot afford the means of purification.'
Similar infections of houses
33Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and said: 34'When you reach Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, if I infect a house with a disease in the country which you are to possess, 35the owner will come and inform the priest and say, "I have seen something like a skin-disease in the house." 36The priest will order the house to be emptied before he goes to examine the infection, or everything in the house will become unclean; after which, the priest will go inside and examine the house; 37and if on examination he finds the walls of the house pitted with reddish or greenish depressions which appear to be eating away the wall, 38the priest will then go out of the house, to the door, and shut it up for seven days. 39On the seventh day, the priest will come back and if on examination he finds that the infection has spread over the walls of the house, 40he will order the infected stones to be removed and thrown into some unclean place outside the town. 41He will then have all the inside of the house scraped, and the plaster that comes off will be emptied in an unclean place outside the town. 42The stones will then be replaced with new ones and the house given a new coat of plaster. 43'If the infection spreads again after the stones have been removed and the house scraped and replastered, 44the priest will come and examine it. If he finds that the infection has spread, this means that there is a contagious disease in the house: it is unclean. 45It must be pulled down and the stones, woodwork and all the plaster be taken to an unclean place outside the town. 46'Anyone who enters the house while it is closed will be unclean until evening. 47Anyone who sleeps there will wash his clothes. Anyone who eats there will wash his clothes. 48But if the priest finds, when he comes to examine the infection, that it has not spread in the house since it was plastered, he will declare the house clean, for the infection is cured. 49'As a sacrifice for the defilement of the house, he will take two birds, some cedar wood, scarlet material and hyssop. 50He will slaughter one of the birds in an earthenware pot over running water. 51He will then take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet material and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the running water and sprinkle the house seven times; 52and after offering the sacrifice for the defilement of the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet material, 53he will set the live bird free to fly out of the town into the countryside. Once the rite of expiation has been performed for the house in this way it will be clean. 54'Such is the law governing all kinds of skin-disease and tinea, 55diseases of clothing and houses, 56swellings, scabs and spots. It defines the occasions when things are unclean and when clean. 57Such is the law on skin-diseases.'
Chapter 15
Sexual impurities of men
15:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and said: 2'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: "When a man has a discharge from his body, that discharge is unclean. 3While the discharge continues, the nature of his uncleanness is as follows: "Whether his body allows the discharge to flow or whether it retains it, he is unclean. 4"Any bed the man lies on and anything he sits on will be unclean. 5"Anyone who touches his bed must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 6"Anyone who sits where the man has sat must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 7"Anyone who touches the body of the man with the discharge must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 8"If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 9"Any saddle the man has ridden on will be unclean. 10"All those who touch any object that has been under him will be unclean until evening. "Anyone who picks up such an object must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 11"All those whom the man with the discharge touches without having washed his hands must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 12"The earthenware vessel he touches must be broken and any wooden utensil must be rinsed. 13"Once the man with the discharge is cured, he will allow seven days for his purification. He will wash his clothes and wash his body in running water and he will be clean. 14On the eighth day he will take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. 15The priest will offer one of them as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a burnt offering. And in this way the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh for his discharge. 16"When a man has a seminal discharge, he must wash his whole body with water and will be unclean until evening. 17Any clothing or leather touched by the seminal discharge must be washed and will be unclean until evening. 18When a woman has had intercourse with a man, both of them must wash and will be unclean until evening.
Of women
19"Whenever a woman has a discharge and the discharge from her body is of blood, she will remain in a state of menstrual pollution for seven days. "Anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 20"Anything she lies on in this polluted state will be unclean; anything she sits on will be unclean. 21"Anyone who touches her bed must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 22"Anyone who touches anything she has sat on must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 23If there is anything on the bed or where she is sitting, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. 24"If a man goes so far as to sleep with her, he will contract her menstrual pollution and will be unclean for seven days. Any bed he lies on will be unclean. 25"If a woman has a prolonged discharge of blood outside the period, or if the period is prolonged, during the time this discharge lasts she will be in the same state of uncleanness as during her monthly periods. 26Any bed she lies on during the time this discharge lasts will be polluted in the same way as the bed she lies on during her monthly periods. Anything she sits on will be unclean as during her monthly periods. 27Anyone who touches it will be unclean and must wash clothing and body and will be unclean until evening. 28"Once she is cured of her discharge, she will allow seven days to go by; after that she will be clean. 29On the eighth day she will take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 30The priest will offer one of them as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a burnt offering. And in this way the priest will perform the rite of expiation for her before Yahweh for the discharge which made her unclean.
Conclusion
31"Hence you will warn the Israelites against contracting a state of uncleanness, rather than incurring death by defiling my Dwelling which is among them. 32"Such is the law governing a man with a discharge or who is made unclean by a seminal discharge, 33a woman in a state of pollution due to menstruation, a man or a woman with a discharge, or a man who sleeps with a woman when she is unclean." '
Chapter 16
The great Day of Expiation
*[An important annual festival combining 1 a sacrifice of expiation by blood
and 2 a primitive ritual of driving the bearer of sin away from the community.]16:1Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when offering unauthorised fire. 2Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 'Tell Aaron your brother that he may not enter the sanctuary inside the curtain in front of the mercy-seat on the ark whenever he chooses, in case he incurs death, for I appear in a cloud on the mercy-seat. 3'This is how he must enter the sanctuary: with a young bull for a sacrifice for sin and a ram for a burnt offering. 4He will put on a tunic of consecrated linen, wear linen drawers on his body, a linen waistband round his waist, and a linen turban on his head. These are the sacred vestments he will put on after washing himself. 5'From the community of Israelites he will receive two he-goats for a sacrifice for sin and a ram for a burnt offering. 6After offering the bull as a sacrifice for his own sin and performing the rite of expiation for himself and his family, 7he will take the two he-goats and place them before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8Aaron will then draw lots over the two goats, one lot to be for Yahweh and the other lot for Azazel. 9Aaron will then take the goat on which the lot "For Yahweh" has fallen, and offer it as a sacrifice for sin. 10But the goat on which the lot "For Azazel" has fallen, will be placed alive before Yahweh, for the rite of expiation to be performed with it, and for it then to be sent to Azazel in the desert. 11'Having offered the bull as a sacrifice for his own sin and performed the rite of expiation for himself and for his family, and slaughtered the bull as a sacrifice for sin, 12Aaron will then fill a censer with live coals from the altar before Yahweh, take two handfuls of finely ground aromatic incense and bring this inside the curtain. 13He will then put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, so that the cloud of incense hides the mercy-seat which is on the Testimony and he does not incur death. 14He will then take some of the bull's blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern side of the mercy-seat. He will sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger in front of the mercy-seat. 15'He will then slaughter the goat for the sacrifice for the sin of the people, and take its blood inside the curtain, and with this blood do as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it on the mercy-seat and in front of it. 16This is how he must perform the rite of expiation for the sanctuary for the uncleanness of the Israelites, for their acts of rebellion and all their sins. 'And this is what he must do for the Tent of Meeting which remains with them, surrounded by their uncleanness. 17No one must be inside the Tent of Meeting, from the moment he enters to make expiation in the sanctuary until the time he comes out. 'When he has made expiation for himself, for his family, and for the whole community of Israel, 18he must come outside, go to the altar before Yahweh and perform the rite of expiation for it. He will take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put it on the horns at the corners of the altar all around it, 19and sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times with his finger, thus purifying it and setting it apart from the uncleanness of the Israelites. 20'Once expiation for the sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting and the altar is complete, he will bring the goat which is still alive. 21Aaron will then lay both his hands on its head and over it confess all the guilt of the Israelites, all their acts of rebellion and all their sins. Having thus laid them on the goat's head, he will send it out into the desert under the charge of a man waiting ready, 22and the goat will bear all their guilt away into some desolate place. 'When he has sent the goat into the desert, 23Aaron will go back into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen vestments which he wore to enter the sanctuary and leave them there. 24He will then wash his body inside the holy place, put on his vestments and come outside to offer his own and the people's burnt offering. He will perform the rite of expiation for himself and for the people, 25and burn the fat of the sacrifice for sin on the altar. 26'The man who led the goat away to Azazel will wash his clothes and body before entering the camp. 27The bull and the goat offered as a sacrifice for sin, the blood of which was taken into the sanctuary for the rite of expiation, must be taken outside the camp, where their skin, meat and offal are to be burnt. 28The man who burns them will wash his clothes and body before entering the camp. 29'This will be a perpetual law for you. 'On the tenth day of the seventh month you will fast and refrain from work, both citizen and resident alien; 30for this is the day on which the rite of expiation will be performed for you to purify you, to purify you before Yahweh from all your sins. 31It will be a sabbatical rest for you and you will fast. This is a perpetual law. 32'The rite of expiation will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and installed to officiate in succession to his father. He will put on the linen vestments, the sacred vestments, 33and perform the rite of expiation for the holy sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and will then perform the rite of expiation for the priests and all the people of the community. 34This will be a perpetual law for you; once a year the rite of expiation will be made for the Israelites for all their sins.' And as Yahweh ordered Moses, so it was done.
Chapter 17
THE LAW OF HOLINESS
Slaughtering and sacrifice17:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and say: "This is the order that Yahweh has given: 3"Any man of the House of Israel who slaughters a bull, lamb or goat, whether inside the camp or outside it, 4without bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to make an offering of it to Yahweh in front of his Dwelling, that man will be answerable for bloodshed; he has shed blood, and that man will be outlawed from his people. 5The purpose of this is that the Israelites should instead bring their sacrifices, which they would otherwise offer in the countryside, to Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and offer them as communion sacrifices to Yahweh; 6and the priest will sprinkle the blood on Yahweh's altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and will burn the fat as a smell pleasing to Yahweh. 7No longer may they offer their sacrifices to the satyrs in whose service they used to prostitute themselves. This is a perpetual law for them and for their descendants." 8'You will also say to them, "Any member of the House of Israel or any resident alien who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9without bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to offer it to Yahweh, will be outlawed from his people. 10"If any member of the House of Israel or any resident alien consumes blood of any kind, I shall set my face against that individual who consumes blood and shall outlaw him from his people. 11For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you for performing the rite of expiation on the altar for your lives, for blood is what expiates for a life. 12That is why I told the Israelites: None of you will consume blood, nor will any resident alien consume blood. 13"Anyone, whether Israelite or resident alien, who hunts and catches game, whether animal or bird, which it is lawful to eat, must pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14For the life of every creature is its blood, and I have told the Israelites: You will not consume the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood, and anyone who consumes it will be outlawed. 15"Anyone, citizen or alien, who eats an animal that has died a natural death or been savaged, must wash clothing and body, and will be unclean until evening, but will then be clean. 16But anyone who does not wash clothing and body will bear the consequences of his guilt." '
Chapter 18
Sexual prohibitions
18:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Speak to the Israelites and say: "I am Yahweh your God: 3You must not behave as they do in Egypt where you used to live; you must not behave as they do in Canaan where I am taking you, nor must you follow their laws. 4You must observe my customs and keep my laws, following them. "I, Yahweh, am your God: 5hence you will keep my laws and my customs. Whoever complies with them will find life in them. "I am Yahweh. 6"None of you will approach a woman who is closely related to him, to have intercourse with her. I am Yahweh. 7"You will not have intercourse with your father or your mother. She is your mother-you will not have intercourse with her. 8"You will not have intercourse with your father's wife; it is your father's sexual prerogative. 9"You will not have intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father's or your mother's daughter. Whether she was born in the same house or elsewhere, you will not have intercourse with her. 10"You will not have intercourse with your son's or your daughter's daughter; for their sexual privacy is your own. 11"You will not have intercourse with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father. She is your sister; you will not have intercourse with her. 12"You will not have intercourse with your father's sister; for she is your father's own flesh and blood. 13"You will not have intercourse with your mother's sister; for she is your mother's own flesh and blood. 14"You will not have intercourse with your father's brother; you will not approach his wife. She is your aunt. 15"You will not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; you will not have intercourse with her. 16"You will not have intercourse with your brother's wife; it is your brother's sexual prerogative. 17"You will not have intercourse with a woman and her daughter; nor will you take her son's or her daughter's daughter, to have intercourse with them. They are your own flesh and blood; it would be incest. 18"You will not take a woman and her sister into your harem at the same time, to have intercourse with the latter while the former is still alive. 19"You will not approach and have intercourse with a woman who is in a state of menstrual pollution. 20"Furthermore, you will not have intercourse with your fellow-citizen's wife; you would become unclean by doing so. 21"You will not allow any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, *[A sacrifice by fire, Phoenician in origin, practised in Jerusalem right up to the Exile] thus profaning the name of your God. I am Yahweh. 22"You will not have intercourse with a man as you would with a woman. This is a hateful thing. 23"You will not have intercourse with any kind of animal; you would become unclean by doing so. Nor will a woman offer herself to an animal, to have intercourse with it. This would be a violation of nature. 24"Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these practices, for it was by such things that the nations that I am driving out before you made themselves unclean. 25The country has become unclean; hence I am about to punish it for its guilt, and the country itself will vomit out its inhabitants. 26"You, however, must keep my laws and customs and not do any of these hateful things: none of your citizens, none of your resident aliens. 27For all these hateful things were done by the people who lived in the country before you, and the country became unclean. 28If you make it unclean, will it not vomit you out as it vomited out the nations there before you? 29Yes, anyone who does any of these hateful things, whatever it may be, any person doing so, will be outlawed from his people; 30so keep my rules and do not observe any of the hateful laws which were in force before you came; then you will not be made unclean by them. I am Yahweh your God." '
Chapter 19
Moral and religious regulations
19:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Speak to the whole community of Israelites and say: "Be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. 3"Each of you will respect father and mother. "And you will keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God. 4"Do not turn to idols and do not cast metal gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God. 5"If you offer a communion sacrifice to Yahweh, make it in such a way as to be acceptable. 6It must be eaten the same day or the day after; whatever is left on the third day must be burnt. 7If eaten on the third day it would be rotten food and not be acceptable. 8Anyone who eats it must bear the consequences of this guilt, having profaned Yahweh's holiness; that person will be outlawed from his people. 9"When you reap the harvest of your land, you will not reap to the very edges of the field, nor will you gather the gleanings of the harvest; 10nor will you strip your vineyard bare, nor pick up the fallen grapes. You will leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am Yahweh your God. 11"You will not steal, nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your fellow-citizen. 12You will not swear by my name with intent to deceive and thus profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh. 13You will not exploit or rob your fellow. You will not keep back the labourer's wage until next morning. 14You will not curse the dumb or put an obstacle in the way of the blind, but will fear your God. I am Yahweh. 15"You will not be unjust in administering justice. You will neither be partial to the poor nor overawed by the great, but will administer justice to your fellow-citizen justly. 16You will not go about slandering your own family, nor will you put your neighbour's life in jeopardy. I am Yahweh. 17You will not harbour hatred for your brother. You will reprove your fellow-countryman firmly and thus avoid burdening yourself with a sin. 18You will not exact vengeance on, or bear any sort of grudge against, the members of your race, but will love your neighbour as yourself. I am Yahweh. 19"You will keep my laws. "You will not mate your cattle with those of another kind; you will not sow two kinds of grain in your field; you will not wear a garment made from two kinds of fabric. 20"If someone has intercourse with a woman who is the concubine slave of a man from whom she has not been redeemed and she has not been given her freedom, he will be liable for a fine, but they will not incur death, since she was not a free woman. 21He will bring a sacrifice of reparation for Yahweh to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. This will be a ram of reparation, 22and with the ram of reparation the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh for the sin committed; and the sin he has committed will be forgiven. 23"Once you have entered the country and planted any kind of fruit tree, you will regard its fruit as uncircumcised. For three years you will count it as uncircumcised and it will not be eaten; 24in the fourth year, all its fruit will be consecrated to Yahweh in a feast of praise; 25and in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, so that it may yield you even more. I am Yahweh your God. 26"You will eat nothing with blood in it. You will not practise divination or magic. 27"You will not round off your hair at the edges or trim the edges of your beard. 28You will not gash your bodies when someone dies, and you will not tattoo yourselves. I am Yahweh. 29"Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country itself will become prostituted and filled with incest. 30"You will keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary. I am Yahweh. 31"Do not have recourse to the spirits of the dead or to magicians; they will defile you. I, Yahweh, am your God. 32"You will stand up in the presence of grey hair, you will honour the person of the aged and fear your God. I am Yahweh. 33"If you have resident aliens in your country, you will not molest them. 34You will treat resident aliens as though they were native-born and love them as yourself-for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. 35"You will not be unjust in administering justice as regards measures of length, weight or capacity. 36You will have just scales, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt; 37hence you are to keep all my laws and all my customs and put them into practice. I am Yahweh." '
Chapter 20
Penalties
Religious offences20:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Say to the Israelites: "Anyone, be he Israelite or alien resident in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech, will be put to death. The people of the country must stone him, 3and I shall set my face against that man and outlaw him from his people; for by giving a child of his to Molech he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4If the people of the country choose to close their eyes to the man's action when he gives a child of his to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5I myself shall turn my face against that man and his clan. I shall outlaw them from their people, both him and all those after him who prostitute themselves by following Molech. 6"If anyone has recourse to the spirits of the dead or to magicians, to prostitute himself by following them, I shall set my face against him and outlaw him from his people. 7"Sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God.
Offences against the family
8"You will keep my laws and put them into practice, for it is I, Yahweh, who make you holy. 9Hence: "Anyone who curses father or mother will be put to death. Having cursed father or mother, the blood will be on that person's own head. 10"The man who commits adultery with his neighbour's wife will be put to death, he and the woman. 11"The man who has intercourse with his father's wife has infringed his father's sexual prerogative. Both of them will be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 12"The man who has intercourse with his daughter-in-law: both of them will be put to death; they have violated nature, their blood will be on their own heads. 13"The man who has intercourse with a man in the same way as with a woman: they have done a hateful thing together; they will be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 14"The man who marries a woman and her mother: this is incest. They will be burnt alive, he and they; you will not tolerate incest. 15"The man who has intercourse with an animal will be put to death; you will kill the animal too. 16"The woman who approaches any animal to have intercourse with it: you will kill the woman and the animal. They will be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 17"The man who marries his father's or his mother's daughter: if they have intercourse together, this is an outrage. They will be executed in public, for the man has had intercourse with his sister; he will bear the consequences of his guilt. 18"The man who has intercourse with a woman during her monthly periods and exposes her nakedness: he has laid bare the source of her blood, and she has exposed the source of her blood, and both of them will be outlawed from their people. 19"You will not have intercourse with your mother's sister or your father's sister. Whoever does so, has had intercourse with a close relation; they will bear the consequences of their guilt. 20"The man who has intercourse with the wife of his paternal uncle has infringed his uncle's sexual prerogative; they will bear the consequences of their guilt and die childless. 21"The man who marries his brother's wife: this is pollution; he has infringed his brother's sexual prerogative; they will die childless.
Concluding exhortation
22"You will keep all my laws, all my decisions, and put them into practice, so that the country where I am taking you to live will not vomit you out. 23You will not follow the laws of the nations whom I am driving out before you; they practised all these things, which is why I detested them. 24As I have already told you, you will take possession of their soil, I myself shall give you possession of it, a country flowing with milk and honey. "Since I, Yahweh your God, have set you apart from these peoples, 25you for your part will make a distinction between clean animals and unclean ones and between unclean birds and clean ones, and will not make yourselves detestable with any animal or bird or reptile, which I have set apart from you as unclean. 26"Be consecrated to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and I shall set you apart from all these peoples, for you to be mine. 27"Any man or woman of yours who is a necromancer or magician will be put to death; they will be stoned to death; their blood will be on their own heads." '
Chapter 21
The holiness of the priesthood
The priests21:1Yahweh said to Moses: 'Speak to the priests descended from Aaron and say: "None of them must make himself unclean by touching the corpse of one of his people, 2unless it be of one of his closest relations-father, mother, son, daughter, brother, 3or virgin sister, since she being unmarried is still his close relation: he can make himself unclean for her; 4but for a close female relation who is married he will not make himself unclean; he would profane himself. 5"They will not make tonsures on their heads, shave the edges of their beards, or gash their bodies. 6They will be consecrated to their God and will not profane the name of their God. For their function is to offer the food burnt for Yahweh, the food of their God, and so they must be holy. 7"They will not marry a woman profaned by prostitution, or one divorced by her husband, for the priest is consecrated to his God. 8"You will treat him as holy, for he offers the food of your God. For you, he will be a holy person, for I, Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy. 9"If a priest's daughter profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father and will be burnt alive.
The high priest
10"The priest who is pre-eminent over his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who, robed in the sacred vestments, has received investiture, will not disorder his hair or tear his clothes; 11he will not go near any corpse or make himself unclean even for his father or mother. 12He will not leave the holy place in such a way as to profane the sanctuary of his God; for he bears the consecration of the anointing oil of his God. I am Yahweh. 13"He will marry a woman who is still a virgin. 14He will not marry a woman who has been widowed or divorced or profaned by prostitution, but will marry a virgin from his own people: 15he must not make his own children profane, for I, Yahweh, have sanctified him." '
Impediments to the priesthood
16Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 17'Speak to Aaron and say: "None of your descendants, for all time, may come forward to offer the food of his God if he has any infirmity, 18for none may come forward if he has an infirmity, be he blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, 19or with an injured foot or arm, 20a hunchback, someone with rickets or ophthalmia or the scab or running sores, or a eunuch. 21No descendant of the priest Aaron may come forward to offer the food burnt for Yahweh if he has any infirmity; if he has an infirmity, he will not come forward to offer the food of his God. 22"He may eat the food of his God, things especially holy and things holy, 23but he will not go near the curtain or approach the altar, since he has an infirmity and must not profane my holy things; for I, Yahweh, have sanctified them." ' 24And Moses promulgated this to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the Israelites.
Chapter 22
Holiness in consuming sacred food
The priests22:1Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 2'Speak to Aaron and his sons. They must be consecrated by the holy offerings of the Israelites and must not profane my holy name; for my sake they must sanctify it; I am Yahweh. 3Say to them: "Any one of your descendants, for all time, who in a state of uncleanness approaches the holy offerings consecrated to Yahweh by the Israelites, will be outlawed from my presence. I am Yahweh. 4"Anyone of Aaron's line who is afflicted with a contagious skin-disease or a discharge will not eat holy things until he is clean. Anyone who touches anything made unclean by a dead body, or who has a seminal discharge, 5or who is made unclean by touching any kind of reptile or any one who has contaminated him with his own uncleanness, be it what it may, 6in short, anyone who has had any such contact will be unclean until evening, and must not eat holy things until he has washed his body. 7At sunset he will be clean and may then eat holy things, for these are his food. 8"He must not eat an animal that has died a natural death or been savaged; he would contract uncleanness from it. I am Yahweh. 9"They must keep my rules and not burden themselves with sin. If they profane them, they will incur death; I, Yahweh, have sanctified them.
Lay people
10"No lay person may eat anything holy; no guest or employee of a priest may eat anything holy. 11But if the priest has acquired a slave by purchase, the slave may eat it like anyone born in his household; they will share his food. 12"If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she will have no share in the holy things set aside, 13but if she is widowed or divorced and, being childless, has had to return to her father's house as when she was young, she may share her father's food. No lay person may share it; 14anyone who does eat a holy thing by inadvertence, will restore it to the priest with one-fifth added. 15"They may not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites have set aside for Yahweh. 16By eating these, they would burden them with guilt requiring a sacrifice of reparation; for I, Yahweh, have sanctified these offerings." '
c: Sacrificial animals
17Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 18'Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the Israelites and say: "Any member of the House of Israel or any alien resident in Israel who brings an offering either in payment of a vow or as a voluntary gift, and offers it as a burnt offering to Yahweh, 19must, if he is to be acceptable, offer an unblemished male, be it bull or sheep or goat. 20You will not offer anything with a blemish, for it would not make you acceptable. 21"If anyone offers Yahweh a communion sacrifice, either to fulfil a vow or as a voluntary offering, the animal, be it from the herd or flock, must be perfect, if he is to be acceptable; it must be unblemished. 22You will not offer Yahweh any animal which is blind, lame, mutilated, ulcerous, scabby or covered in sores. No part of such an animal will be offered on the altar as food burnt for Yahweh. 23As a voluntary offering, you may offer a bull or a lamb that is underdeveloped or deformed; but such will not be acceptable in payment of a vow. 24You will not offer Yahweh an animal if its testicles have been bruised, crushed, torn or cut off. You may not do that in your country, 25and you may not accept any such from the hands of a stranger, to be offered as food for your God. Their deformity is a blemish, and they would not make you acceptable." ' 26Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: 27'A calf, lamb, or kid will stay with its dam for seven days after being born. From the eighth day onwards, it will be acceptable as food burnt for Yahweh. 28But no animal, whether cow or ewe, will be slaughtered on the same day as its young. 29'If you offer Yahweh a sacrifice with praise, do it in the acceptable manner; 30<