Leviticus 22 - 24 — Legacy Standard Bible

Various Statutes for Priests

22Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they set apart to Me as holy, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh. ³“Say to them, ‘^aIf any man among all your seed throughout your generations comes near to the holy gifts which the sons of Israel set apart as holy to Yahweh, and he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am Yahweh. ⁴‘^aNo man of the seed of Aaron, who is a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. ^bAnd if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or if ^ca man has a seminal emission, ⁵or ^aif a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness, ⁶a ¹person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his ²body in water. ⁷‘But the sun will set, and he will be clean. And afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for ^ait is his ¹food. ⁸‘He shall not eat ^aan animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am Yahweh. ⁹‘They shall therefore keep ^aMy charge so that ^bthey will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am Yahweh who makes them holy.

¹⁰‘^aNo ¹layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift. ¹¹‘^aBut if a priest buys a person as his property with his money, ¹that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his ²food. ¹²‘If a priest’s daughter is married to a ¹layman, she shall not eat of the ²contribution of the holy gifts. ¹³‘But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no seed, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s ¹food; ^abut no ²layman shall eat of it. ¹⁴‘^aBut if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift to the priest. ¹⁵‘^aThey shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel which they raise up to Yahweh, ¹⁶and so cause them ^ato bear ¹punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’”

Offerings Without Blemish

¹⁷Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aAny man of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel who brings near his offering, whether it is any of their ¹votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they bring near to Yahweh for a burnt offering— ¹⁹^afor you to be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. ²⁰‘^aWhatever has a defect, you shall not bring it near, for it will not be accepted for you. ²¹‘And when a man brings a sacrifice of peace offerings near to Yahweh ^ato ¹fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be without blemish to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. ²²‘Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or have a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not bring near to Yahweh nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to Yahweh. ²³‘Now in respect to an ox or a lamb which has ¹an overgrown or stunted member, you may offer it for a freewill offering, but for a votive offering it will not be accepted. ²⁴‘Also ^aanything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not bring near to Yahweh, and you shall not do thus in your land, ²⁵nor shall you bring near any such thing from the hand of a foreigner for offering ^aas the ¹food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect; they shall not be accepted for you.’”

²⁶Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall ¹remain ^aseven days ²with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸“^aBut, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. ²⁹“And when you sacrifice ^aa sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰“It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning; I am Yahweh. ³¹“^aSo you shall keep My commandments and do them; I am Yahweh.

³²“And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be treated as holy among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who makes you holy, ³³^awho brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh.”

Yahweh’s Appointed Times

23And Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aThe appointed times of Yahweh which you shall ^bproclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

The Sabbath

³‘^aFor six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to Yahweh in all your places of habitation.

The Passover

⁴‘These are the ^aappointed times of Yahweh, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. ⁵‘^aIn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month ¹at twilight is the Passover of Yahweh. ⁶‘Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the ^aFeast of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷‘On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall ^anot do any laborious work. ⁸‘But for seven days you shall bring near an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”

The Feast of the Harvest

⁹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and ^areap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹‘And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹²‘Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹³‘Its ^agrain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ¹ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to Yahweh for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a ²hin of wine. ¹⁴‘Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, ^ayou shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your places of habitation.

The Feast of Weeks

¹⁵‘^aYou shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. ¹⁶‘You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall bring a ^anew grain offering near to Yahweh. ¹⁷‘You shall bring in from your places of habitation two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ¹ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked ^awith leaven as first fruits to Yahweh. ¹⁸‘Along with the bread you shall bring near seven one year old male lambs without blemish and a bull from the herd and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh. ¹⁹‘You shall also offer ^aone male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰‘The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before Yahweh; they shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. ²¹‘On this same day you shall ^amake a proclamation as well; it shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall do no laborious ^bwork. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your places of habitation throughout your generations.

²²‘^aWhen you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the afflicted and the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.’”

The Feast of Trumpets

²³Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^aIn the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a ¹rest, a ^bmemorial by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵‘You shall ^anot do any laborious work, but you shall bring an offering by fire near to Yahweh.’”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷“On exactly ^athe tenth day of this seventh month is ^bthe day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and bring an offering by fire near to Yahweh. ²⁸“And you shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a ^aday of atonement, ^bto make atonement on your behalf before Yahweh your God. ²⁹“If there is any ¹person who will not humble himself on this same day, ^ahe shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰“And as for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will cause to perish from among his people. ³¹“You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your places of habitation. ³²“It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

³³Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On ^athe fifteenth of this seventh month is the ^bFeast of Booths for seven days to Yahweh. ³⁵‘On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do ^ano laborious work of any kind. ³⁶‘^aFor seven days you shall bring an offering by fire near to Yahweh. On ^bthe eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and bring an offering by fire near to Yahweh; it is a solemn assembly. You shall do no laborious work.

³⁷‘These are ^athe appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to bring offerings by fire near to Yahweh—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, ^beach day’s matter on its own day— ³⁸besides those of the sabbaths of Yahweh and besides your gifts and besides all your ¹votive and freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh.

³⁹‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, ^awhen you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of Yahweh for seven days, with a ¹rest on the first day and a ²rest on the eighth day. ⁴⁰‘And on the first day you shall take for yourselves the ¹foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall be glad before Yahweh your God for seven days. ⁴¹‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴²‘You shall ¹live ^ain booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall ²live in booths, ⁴³so that ^ayour generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’” ⁴⁴So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel ^athe appointed times of Yahweh.

The Lamps and the Bread Before Yahweh

24Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you ^aclear oil from beaten olives for the ¹light, to make a lamp ²burn continually. ³“Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁴“He shall keep the lamps in order on the ^apure gold lampstand before Yahweh continually.

⁵“^aThen you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. ⁶“And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the ^apure gold table before Yahweh. ⁷“And you shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be ^aa memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to Yahweh. ⁸“^aEvery sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh ^bcontinually; it is an everlasting covenant ¹for the sons of Israel. ⁹“^aAnd it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings to Yahweh by fire, his portion forever.”

¹⁰Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp. ¹¹And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the ^aName and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹²And they put him in ¹custody ²so that ^athe command of Yahweh might be made clear to them.

¹³Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴“Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him ^alay their hands on his head; then ^blet all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵“And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^aIf anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. ¹⁶‘Moreover, the one who ^ablasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

¹⁷‘^aIf a man strikes down the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸‘^aAnd the one who strikes down the life of an animal shall make restitution for it, life for life. ¹⁹‘If a man ¹injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: ²⁰^afracture for fracture, ^beye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has ¹injured a man, so it shall be ²inflicted on him. ²¹‘Thus the one who strikes down an animal shall make restitution for it, but ^athe one who strikes down a man shall be put to death. ²²‘There shall be ^aone standard of judgment for you; it shall be for the sojourner as well as the native, for I am Yahweh your God.’” ²³Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.