Leviticus 22:1-16
New American Standard Bible
Various Rules for Priests
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘(A)Any man among all your [a]descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel consecrate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from My presence; I am the Lord. 4 (B)No man of the [b]descendants of Aaron, who has [c]leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. (C)And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or (D)a man who has a seminal emission, 5 or (E)a man who touches any swarming things by which he is made unclean, or touches any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness; 6 a [d]person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his [e]body in water. 7 But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for (F)it is his [f]food. 8 He shall not eat (G)an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. 9 They shall therefore perform their (H)duty to Me, so that (I)they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
10 ‘(J)No [g]layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired worker shall not eat the holy gift. 11 (K)But if a priest buys a [h]slave as his property with his money, [i]that person may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his [j]food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to a [k]layman, she shall not eat of the [l]offering of the holy gifts. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s [m]food; (L)but no [n]layman shall eat of it. 14 (M)If, however, someone eats a holy food unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy food to the priest. 15 And (N)they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 and thereby (O)bring upon them [o]punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 22:3 Lit seed
- Leviticus 22:4 Lit seed
- Leviticus 22:4 I.e., leprosy or another serious skin disease
- Leviticus 22:6 Lit soul
- Leviticus 22:6 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 22:7 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:10 Or unauthorized person
- Leviticus 22:11 Lit soul
- Leviticus 22:11 Lit he may
- Leviticus 22:11 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:12 Lit stranger
- Leviticus 22:12 Or uplifted offering
- Leviticus 22:13 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:13 Lit stranger
- Leviticus 22:16 Or wrongdoing requiring a guilt offering
Leviticus 22:1-16
New Living Translation
22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful with the sacred gifts that the Israelites set apart for me, so they do not bring shame on my holy name. I am the Lord. 3 Give them the following instructions.
“In all future generations, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean when he approaches the sacred offerings that the people of Israel consecrate to the Lord, he must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.
4 “If any of Aaron’s descendants has a skin disease[a] or any kind of discharge that makes him ceremonially unclean, he may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has been pronounced clean. He also becomes unclean by touching a corpse, or by having an emission of semen, 5 or by touching a small animal that is unclean, or by touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason. 6 The man who is defiled in any of these ways will remain unclean until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has bathed himself in water. 7 When the sun goes down, he will be ceremonially clean again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food. 8 He may not eat an animal that has died a natural death or has been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile him. I am the Lord.
9 “The priests must follow my instructions carefully. Otherwise they will be punished for their sin and will die for violating my instructions. I am the Lord who makes them holy.
10 “No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings. Even guests and hired workers in a priest’s home are not allowed to eat them. 11 However, if the priest buys a slave for himself, the slave may eat from the sacred offerings. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries someone outside the priestly family, she may no longer eat the sacred offerings. 13 But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father’s home as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food again. Otherwise, no one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings.
14 “Any such person who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an additional 20 percent. 15 The priests must not let the Israelites defile the sacred offerings brought to the Lord 16 by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. This would bring guilt upon them and require them to pay compensation. I am the Lord who makes them holy.”
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
