Bible in 90 Days

Cleansing an Infected House

³³ The Lord further spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

³⁴ “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put ^[a]a mark of leprosy on a house in your land, ³⁵ then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a mark of leprosy in my house.’ ³⁶ The priest shall order that they empty the house before he goes in to examine the mark, so that everything in the house will not have to be declared unclean; afterward he shall go in to see the house. ³⁷ He shall examine the mark, and if the mark on the walls of the house has greenish or reddish depressions and appears deeper than the surface, ³⁸ the priest shall go out of the house, to the doorway, and ^[b]quarantine the house for seven days. ³⁹ The priest shall return on the seventh day and look; and if the mark has spread on the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ he shall order them to tear out the contaminated stones and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ He shall have the entire inside area of the house scraped, and the plaster that is scraped off shall be dumped in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴² Then they shall take new stones and replace the [contaminated] stones, and he shall take plaster and replaster the house.

⁴³ “If, however, the mark breaks out again in the house after he has removed the stones and has scraped and replastered the house, ⁴⁴ then the priest shall come and look again, and if the mark has spread in the house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house; it is [ceremonially] unclean. ⁴⁵ He shall tear down the house—its stones and its timber and all the plaster of the house—and shall take everything outside the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ Moreover, whoever goes into the house during the time that it is quarantined becomes unclean until evening. ⁴⁷ And whoever lies down in the house [to rest] shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes in and inspects it and the mark has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean because the mark has not reappeared. ⁴⁹ To cleanse the house then, he shall take two birds and cedar wood and scarlet string and hyssop; ⁵⁰ and he shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware container over running water, ⁵¹ and he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird as well as in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² So he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, along with the live bird and the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string. ⁵³ But he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁴ This is the law for any mark of leprosy—even for a scale, ⁵⁵ and for the leprous garment or house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot on the skin— ⁵⁷ to teach when they are unclean and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy [in regard to both persons and property].

Cleansing Unhealthiness

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, his discharge is unclean. ³ This shall be [the law concerning] his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body allows its discharge to flow or obstructs its flow; it is uncleanness in him. ⁴ Every bed on which the one who has the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. ⁵ Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; ⁶ and whoever sits on anything on which the man with the discharge has been sitting shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁷ Also whoever touches the man with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁸ And if he who has the discharge spits on one who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle on which the man with the discharge rides becomes unclean. ¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that has been under him shall be unclean until evening; and whoever carries those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ¹¹ Whomever the one with the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ¹² An earthenware container that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden container shall be rinsed in water.

¹³ ‘When the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his purification; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest; ¹⁵ and the priest shall offer them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord because of his discharge.

¹⁶ ‘Now if any man has a seminal emission, he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. ¹⁷ Every garment and every leather on which there is semen shall be washed with water, and shall be unclean until evening. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

¹⁹ ‘When a woman has a discharge, if her bodily discharge is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹ Anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²² Whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²³ And if it is on her bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. ²⁴ If a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean for seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵ ‘Now if a woman has a flow of blood for many days, not during the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, as long as the impure discharge continues she shall be as she is in the days of her [normal] menstrual impurity; she is unclean.^{(A) 26} Every bed on which she lies during the time of her discharge shall be to her like the bed of her menstrual impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, like the uncleanness of her monthly period. ²⁷ And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²⁸ When she is cleansed from her discharge, then she shall count off for herself seven days, and after that she will be clean. ²⁹ Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; ³⁰ and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; and he shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.’

³¹ “Thus you shall ^[c]separate the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.” ³² This is the law for the one who has a discharge and for the one who has a seminal emission, so that he is unclean by it; ³³ and for the woman who is ill because of her monthly period, and for the one who has a discharge, whether man or woman, or for a man who lies with a woman who is [ceremonially] unclean.

Law of Atonement

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who had died when they [irreverently] approached the presence of the Lord.^{(B) 2} The Lord said to Moses,

“Tell Aaron your brother that he ^[d]must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil (the Holy of Holies), before the ^[e]mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.^{(C) 3} Aaron [as high priest] shall enter the Holy Place in this way: with [the blood of] a young bull as a sin offering and [the blood of] a ram as a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be belted with the linen sash, and dressed with the linen turban (these are the holy garments). He shall bathe his body in water and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites [at their expense] two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. ⁶ Then Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord, the other lot for the ^[f]scapegoat. ⁹ Then Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement on it; it shall be sent into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

¹¹ “Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household (the other priests), and he shall kill the bull as the sin offering for himself. ¹² He shall take a censer full of burning coals from the [bronze] altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil [into the Most Holy Place], ¹³ and put the incense on the fire [in the censer] before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on [the ark of] the Testimony, otherwise he will die. ¹⁴ He shall take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for [the sins of] the people and bring its blood within the veil [into the Most Holy Place] and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.^{(D) 16} So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place (Holy of Holies) because of the uncleanness and transgressions of the Israelites, for all their sins. He shall also do this for the Tent of Meeting which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness (impurities).^{(E) 17} There shall be no person in the Tent of Meeting when the high priest goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place [within the veil] until he comes out, so that he may make atonement for himself (his own sins) and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar [of burnt offering in the court] which is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ¹⁹ With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on the altar of burnt offering seven times and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

²⁰ “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place and the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat [the scapegoat, the sin-bearer], and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is prepared [for the task]. ²² The goat shall carry on itself all their (the Israelites) wickedness, carrying them to a solitary (infertile) land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.^(F)

²³ “Then Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place (Holy of Holies), and shall leave them there. ²⁴ He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come out and offer his burnt offering and that of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ And he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶ The man who released the goat as the [sin-bearing] scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place (Holy of Holies), shall be taken outside the camp; their skins, their meat, and their waste shall be burned in the fire.^{(G) 28} Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

An Annual Atonement

²⁹ “This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month (nearly October) on the tenth day of the month you shall ^[g]humble yourselves [by fasting] and not do any work, whether the native-born or the stranger who lives temporarily among you; ³⁰ for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.^{(H) 31} It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute. ³² So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve and minister as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall wear the holy linen garments, ³³ and make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting, and for the altar [of burnt offering in the court]. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ This shall be a permanent statute for you, so that atonement may be made for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Blood for Atonement

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, ³ “Any man from the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp ⁴ and has not brought it to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to ^[h]offer it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, that man shall be guilty of bloodshed. He has shed blood and shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. ⁵ This is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing [to idols] in the open field [where they killed them], that they may bring them in to the Lord, at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting and offer the fat up in smoke as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-idols or demons or field spirits with which they have played the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.”’

⁸ “Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel or any of the strangers living temporarily among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹ and does not bring it to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the Lord shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

¹⁰ ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or any stranger living temporarily among you, who eats any blood, against that person I shall set My face and I will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].^{(I) 11} For the ^[i]life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life [which it represents].’^{(J) 12} Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger living temporarily among you eat blood.’ ¹³ So when any Israelite or any stranger living temporarily among them, catches ^[j]any ceremonially clean animal or bird when hunting, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

¹⁴ “For in regard to the life of all flesh, its blood is [the same] as its life; therefore I said to the Israelites, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ^[k]life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’ ¹⁵ Every person who eats an animal which dies [of natural causes] or was torn by a predator, whether he is native-born or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be [ceremonially] unclean until evening; then he will become clean.^{(K) 16} But if he does not wash his clothes or bathe his body, he shall bear his guilt [for it will not be borne by the sacrifice of atonement].”

Laws on Immoral Relations

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, and you shall not do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes (practices, customs). ⁴ You are to follow My judgments (precepts, ordinances) and keep My statutes and live by them. I am the Lord your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which, if a person keeps them, he shall live; I am the Lord.^(L)

⁶ ‘^[l]No one shall approach any blood relative of his ^[m]to uncover nakedness (have intimate relations). I am the Lord. ⁷ You shall not uncover the ^[n]nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, either the daughter of your father or of your mother, whether born at home or born elsewhere. ¹⁰ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; their nakedness you shall not uncover, for they are your own nakedness [that is, your own descendants]. ¹¹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter; born to your father, she is your sister. ¹² You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. ¹⁴ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother’s wife; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover their nakedness (have intimate relations with them); they are [her] blood relatives; it is an outrageous offense. ¹⁸ You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹ ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity and ceremonial uncleanness. ²⁰ You shall not have intimate relations with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. ²¹ You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the Lord. ²² You shall not lie [intimately] with a male as one lies with a female; it is repulsive.^{(M) 23} You shall not have intimate relations with any animal to be defiled with it; nor shall a woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴ ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. ²⁵ For the land has become defiled; therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments (precepts) and shall not commit any of these repulsive acts, neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives temporarily among you ²⁷ (for all these repulsive acts have been done by the men who lived in the land before you, and the land has become defiled); ²⁸ [do none of these things] so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you. ²⁹ For whoever commits any of these repulsive acts, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them]. ³⁰ So keep My command: do not practice any of the repulsive customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.’”

Idolatry Forbidden

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

² “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.^{(N) 3} Each of you shall ^[o]respect his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. ⁴ Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods (images cast in metal); I am the Lord your God.

⁵ ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the day following; and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. ⁷ But if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is repulsive; it will not be accepted [by God as an offering]. ⁸ Everyone who eats it will bear [the responsibility for] his wickedness, for he has profaned a holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

Various Laws

⁹ ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings (grain left after reaping) of your harvest. ¹⁰ And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather its fallen grapes; you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ ‘You shall not steal, nor deal deceptively, nor lie to one another.^{(O) 12} You shall not swear [an oath] falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

¹³ ‘You shall not oppress or exploit your neighbor, nor rob him. You shall not withhold the wages of a hired man overnight until morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.

¹⁵ ‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor show a preference for the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. ¹⁶ You shall not go around as a gossip among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor [with slander or false testimony]; I am the Lord.

¹⁷ ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.^{(P) 18} You shall not take revenge nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor (acquaintance, associate, companion) as yourself; I am the Lord.^(Q)

¹⁹ ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear clothing of two kinds of material mixed together.

²⁰ ‘Now if a man has intimate relations with a woman who is a slave acquired for [marriage to] another man, but who has not been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment [after an investigation]; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free; ²¹ but he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, a ram as a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed; and he shall be forgiven for his sin.

²³ ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall consider their fruit ^[p]forbidden. For three years the fruit shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. ²⁴ In the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ In the fifth year you may eat the fruit [of the trees], this is so that their yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination [using omens or witchcraft] or soothsaying. ²⁷ You shall not trim and round off the side-growth of [the hair on] your heads, nor mar the edges of your beard. ²⁸ You shall not make any cuts on your body [in mourning] for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord.

²⁹ ‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not fall to prostitution and become full of wickedness. ³⁰ You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am the Lord.

³¹ ‘Do not turn to mediums [who pretend to consult the dead] or to spiritists [who have spirits of divination]; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

³² ‘You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.

³³ ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress or mistreat him. ³⁴ But the stranger who resides with you shall be to you like someone native-born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ ‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight or quantity. ³⁶ You shall have just and accurate balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just ^[q]hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You shall observe and keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them. I am the Lord.’”

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Moreover, you shall say to the children of Israel,

‘Any Israelite or any stranger residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech (the god of the Ammonites) [as a human sacrifice] shall most certainly be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³ I will also set My face against that man [opposing him, withdrawing My protection from him] and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them], because he has given some of his children to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land should ever tolerate that man when he gives any of his children [as a burnt offering] to Molech, and fail to put him to death [as My law requires], ⁵ then I shall set My face against that man and against his [extended] family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in ^[r]playing the prostitute (commit apostasy) with Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to mediums [who consult the dead] or to spiritists, to play the prostitute after them, I shall set My face against that person and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].^{(R) 7} You shall consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall keep My statutes and do them. I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he shall most certainly be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on him [that is, he bears full responsibility for the consequences].

¹⁰ ‘The man who commits adultery with another’s wife, even his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall most certainly be put to death.^{(S) 11} The man who lies [intimately] with his father’s wife has ^[s]uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them. ¹² If a man lies [intimately] with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall most certainly be put to death; they have committed incest; their blood is on them. ¹³ If a man lies [intimately] with a male as if he were a woman, both men have committed a detestable (perverse, unnatural) act; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them. ¹⁴ It is immoral and shameful if a man marries a woman and her mother; all three shall be burned in fire, so that there will be no immorality among you.^{(T) 15} If a man has intimate relations with an animal, he shall most certainly be put to death; you shall kill the animal also. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.

¹⁷ ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears [responsibility for] his guilt. ¹⁸ If a man lies [intimately] with a woman during her menstrual cycle and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them]. ¹⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of (have intimate relations with) your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ²⁰ If there is a man who lies [intimately] with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ²¹ If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is a hated and unclean thing; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘Therefore keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out [as it did those before you].^{(U) 23} You shall not follow the statutes (laws, practices, customs) of the nation which I am driving out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I have loathed them. ²⁴ But I have said to you, “You are to inherit and take possession of their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land [of plenty] ^[t]flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples (pagan nations). ²⁵ You are therefore to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart from you as unclean. ²⁶ You are to be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples (nations) to be Mine.

²⁷ ‘A man or woman who is a medium [who pretends to consult the dead] or who is a spiritist shall most certainly be put to death, and be stoned with stones; their blood is on them.’”

Regulations concerning Priests

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘No one shall defile himself [that is, become ceremonially unclean] for the dead among his people [by touching a corpse or assisting in preparing it for burial], ² except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, ³ also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may become unclean. ⁴ He shall not become unclean as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ⁵ The priests ^[u]shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy. ⁷ They shall not take [as a wife] a woman who is a prostitute, nor a woman who is divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. ⁹ The daughter of any priest who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she shall be burned in fire.^(V)

¹⁰ ‘But he who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the [sacred] garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes [in mourning], ¹¹ nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself [by doing so, even] for his father or for his mother; ¹² nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane (make ceremonially unclean) the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. ¹³ He shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴ He may not marry a widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by prostitution, but he is to marry a virgin from his own people,^{(W) 15} so that he will not profane or dishonor his children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies the high priest.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘Throughout their generations none of your descendants who has any [physical] defect shall approach [the altar] to present the food of his God. ¹⁸ For no man who has a defect shall approach [God’s altar as a priest]: no man who is blind or lame, or who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles. ²¹ No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a [physical] defect and is disfigured or deformed is to approach [the altar] to present the offerings of the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he shall not approach [the altar] to present the food of his God. ²² He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, ²³ but he shall not go within the veil or approach the altar [of incense], because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”^{(X) 24} So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites.

Various Rules for Priests

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings, gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name; I am the Lord. ³ Say to them, ‘Any one of your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord. ⁴ No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge may eat the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a seminal emission, ⁵ or whoever touches any crawling thing by which he is made unclean, or any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever it may be,^{(Y) 6} the person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.^{(Z) 7} When the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat the holy things, for it is his food. ⁸ He shall not eat that which dies [of natural causes] or is torn by a predator, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. ⁹ Therefore the priests shall observe My ordinance, so that they will not bear sin because of it and die if they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

¹⁰ ‘No layman [that is, someone outside of Aaron’s family] is to eat the holy gift [which has been offered to God]; a foreigner residing with the priest or a hired man shall not eat the holy thing. ¹¹ But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, the slave may eat the holy thing, and those who are born in the priest’s house; they may eat his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman [one not part of the priestly tribe], she shall not eat the offering of the holy things. ¹³ But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat her father’s food; but no layman shall eat it. ¹⁴ But if a person unknowingly eats a holy gift [which has been offered to God], then he shall add one-fifth of its value to it and give the holy gift to the priest. ¹⁵ The priests shall not profane the holy things the Israelites offer to the Lord, ¹⁶ and so cause them [by neglect of any essential observance] to bear the ^[v]punishment of guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any stranger in Israel who presents his offering, whether to fulfill any of their vows or as any of their freewill (voluntary) offerings which they presented to the Lord as a burnt offering— ¹⁹ so that you may be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. ²⁰ You shall not offer anything which has a blemish, because it will not be accepted for you.^{(AA) 21} Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow to the Lord or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it. ²² Animals that are blind or fractured or mutilated, or have a sore or a running wound or an itch or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord nor make an offering of them by fire on the altar to the Lord. ²³ For a freewill offering you may offer either a bull or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member (deformity), but for [the payment of] a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴ You shall not offer to the Lord any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut off, or sacrifice it in your land. ²⁵ Nor shall you offer as the food of your God any such [animals obtained] from a foreigner, because their corruption and blemish makes them unfit; there is a defect in them, they shall not be accepted for you.’”

²⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain for seven days with its mother; and after the eighth day it shall be accepted as an offering by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ And whether [the mother] is a cow or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day. ²⁹ When you sacrifice an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰ It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the next morning; I am the Lord. ³¹ So you shall keep My commandments and do them; I am the Lord.

³² “You shall not profane My holy name [using it to honor an idol, or treating it with irreverence or contempt or as a byword]; but I will be sanctified (set apart as holy) among the Israelites. I am the Lord, who sanctifies and declares you holy, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord.”

Laws of Religious Festivals

23 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The appointed times (established feasts) of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

The Sabbath

³ ‘For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation (calling together). You shall not do any work [on that day]; it is the Sabbath of the Lord ^[w]wherever you may be.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

⁴ ‘These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times: ⁵ The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month ^[x]at twilight. ⁶ The Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.^{(AB) 7} On the first day you shall have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. ⁸ But you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].’”

The Feast of First Fruits

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the ^[y]sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted; the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² Now on the day when you wave the sheaf you shall offer a male lamb one year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with [olive] oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a sweet and soothing aroma, with its drink offering [to be poured out], a fourth of a ^[z]hin of wine. ¹⁴ You shall not eat any bread or roasted grain or new growth, until this same day when you bring in the offering to your God; it is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.

The Feast of Weeks

¹⁵ ‘You shall count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf (tied bundle of grain) of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths (seven full weeks). ¹⁶ You shall count ^[aa]fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring in from your places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall offer with the bread seven unblemished lambs, one year old, and one young bull and two rams. They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ And you shall sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs, one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the first fruits and the two lambs. They are to be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ On this same day you shall make a proclamation, you are to have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be.

²² ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the edges of your field, nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Feast of Trumpets

²³ Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Say to the children of Israel, ‘On the first day of the seventh month (almost October), you shall observe a day of solemn sabbatical rest, a memorial day announced by the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall not do any laborious work [on that day], but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “Also the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall ^[ab]humble yourselves [by fasting] and present an offering by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. ²⁹ If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. ³⁰ If there is any person who does any work on this same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. ³¹ You shall do no work at all [on that day]. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be. ³² It is to be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

³³ Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Say to the children of Israel, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and for seven days, is the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) to the Lord. ³⁵ The first day is a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. ³⁶ For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a festive assembly; you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].

³⁷ ‘These are the appointed times (established feasts) of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to present an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its own day. ³⁸ This is in addition to the [weekly] Sabbaths of the Lord, and in addition to your gifts and all your vowed offerings and all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

³⁹ ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month (nearly October), when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a Sabbath rest on the first day and a Sabbath rest on the eighth day. ⁴⁰ Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook [and make booths of them]; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall live in booths (temporary shelters) for seven days; all native-born in Israel shall live in booths, ⁴³ so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” ⁴⁴ So Moses declared to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the Lord.

The Lamp and the Bread of the Sanctuary

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel to bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light [of the golden lampstand], to make a lamp burn continually. ³ Outside the veil of the Testimony [between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place] in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall always keep the lamps ^[ac]burning before the Lord from evening until morning; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall keep the lamps burning on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.^(AC)

⁵ “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes (bread of the Presence, showbread) with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake (loaf). ⁶ You shall set the bread of the Presence (showbread) in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ You shall put pure frankincense [in two censers, one] beside each row, so that it may be with the bread as a memorial portion, an offering by fire to the Lord. ⁸ Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange the showbread before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the Israelites. ⁹ The bread of the Presence shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a sacred place, for it is for Aaron a most holy portion of the offerings by fire to the Lord, his portion forever.”

¹⁰ Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the Israelites, and he and a man of Israel quarreled and struggled with each other in the camp. ¹¹ The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name [of the Lord] and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹² They put him in custody until the will and command of the Lord might be made clear to them.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴ “Bring the one who has cursed [the Lord] outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head [as witnesses to his guilt]; then let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵ You shall speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God will bear his sin [through his own death]. ¹⁶ Further, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall most certainly be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him. The stranger as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name [of the Lord].

“An Eye for an Eye”

¹⁷ ‘If a man takes the life of any human being [unlawfully], he shall most certainly be put to death. ¹⁸ The one who kills an animal shall replace it, animal for animal. ¹⁹ If a man injures his neighbor (fellow citizen), whatever he has done shall be done to him: ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so shall the same be done to him.^{(AD) 21} The one who kills an animal shall replace it; but he who kills a human being [unlawfully] shall be put to death. ²² You shall have one standard of law for the stranger among you as well as for the native, for I am the Lord your God.’” ²³ Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they brought the one who had cursed [the Lord] outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee

25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am giving you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. ³ For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop. ⁴ But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow [seed in] your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ Whatever reseeds itself (uncultivated) in your harvest you shall not reap, nor shall you gather the grapes from your uncultivated vine, it shall be a year of sabbatical rest for the land. ⁶ And all of you shall have for food whatever the [untilled] land produces during its Sabbath year; yourself, and your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the foreigners who reside among you, ⁷ even your domestic animals and the [wild] animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.

The Year of Jubilee

⁸ ‘You are also to count off seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven Sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall sound the ram’s horn everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month (almost October); on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout your land. ¹⁰ And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and ^[ad]proclaim freedom [for the slaves] throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee (year of remission) for you, and each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property [that was sold to another because of poverty], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated by bondage]. ¹¹ That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you; you shall not sow [seed], nor reap what reseeds itself, nor gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. ¹² For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its crops out of the field.

¹³ ‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property. ¹⁴ If you sell anything to your friend or buy from your friend, you shall not wrong one another. ¹⁵ According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall ^[ae]buy from your friend. And he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops [which may be harvested before you must restore the property to him]. ¹⁶ If the years [until the next Jubilee] are many, you shall increase the price, but if the years remaining are few, you shall reduce the price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. ¹⁷ You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; for I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ ‘Therefore you shall carry out My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them, so that you may live securely on the land. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. ²⁰ And if you say, “What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow [seed] or gather in our crops?” ²¹ then [this is My answer:] I will order My [special] blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce [sufficient] crops for three years. ²² When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crops, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.

The Law of Redemption

²³ ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; you are [only] foreigners and temporary residents with Me.^{(AE) 24} So in all the country that you possess, you are to provide for the redemption of the land [in the Year of Jubilee].

²⁵ ‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell some of his property, then his nearest relative is to come and buy back (redeem) what his relative has sold. ²⁶ Or in case a man has no relative [to redeem his property], but he has become more prosperous and has enough to buy it back, ²⁷ then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his [ancestral] property.^{(AF) 28} But if ^[af]he is unable to redeem it, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee; but at the Jubilee it shall revert, and he may return to his property.

²⁹ ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption remains valid for a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. ³⁰ But if it is not redeemed for him within a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently and irrevocably to the purchaser throughout his generations. It does not revert back in the Year of Jubilee. ³¹ The houses of the villages that have no surrounding walls, however, shall be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and revert in the Year of Jubilee. ³² As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses in the cities which they possess. ³³ Therefore, what is [purchased] from the Levites may be redeemed [by a Levite], and the house that was sold in the city they possess reverts in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their [ancestral] property among the Israelites. ³⁴ But the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

Of Poor Countrymen

³⁵ ‘Now if your fellow countryman becomes poor and his hand falters with you [that is, he has trouble repaying you for something], then you are to help and sustain him, [with courtesy and consideration] like [you would] a stranger or a temporary resident [without property], so that he may live among you.^{(AG) 36} Do not charge him usurious interest, but fear your God [with profound reverence], so your countryman may [continue to] live among you. ³⁷ You shall not give him your money at interest, nor your food at a profit. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

³⁹ ‘And if your fellow countryman becomes so poor [in his dealings] with you that he sells himself to you [as payment for a debt], you shall not let him do the work of a slave [who is ineligible for redemption], ⁴⁰ but he is to be with you as a hired man, as if he were a temporary resident; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, ⁴¹ and then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the property of his fathers. ⁴² For the Israelites are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale.^{(AH) 43} You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you are to fear your God [with profound reverence].^{(AI) 44} As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. ⁴⁵ Moreover, from the children of the strangers who live as aliens among you, from them you may buy slaves and from their families who are with you, whom they have produced in your land; they may become your possession. ⁴⁶ You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression).

Of Redeeming a Poor Man

⁴⁷ ‘Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger’s family, ⁴⁸ then after he is sold he shall have the right of redemption. One of his relatives may redeem him: ⁴⁹ either his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ Then he [or his redeemer] shall calculate with his purchaser from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the [original] price of his sale shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be considered as that of a hired man. ⁵¹ If there are still many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] part of the price of his sale for his redemption and release. ⁵² And if only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he shall so calculate it with him. He is to refund the proportionate amount for his release. ⁵³ Like a man hired year by year he shall deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness in your sight. ⁵⁴ Even if he is not redeemed during these years and under these provisions, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. ⁵⁵ For the children of Israel are My servants; My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Blessings of Obedience

26 ^[ag]‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. ² You shall keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the Lord. ³ If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and [obediently] do them, ⁴ then I will give you rain in its season, and the land will yield her produce and the trees of the field bear their fruit. ⁵ And your threshing season will last until grape gathering and the grape gathering [time] will last until planting, and you will eat your bread and be filled and live securely in your land. ⁶ I will also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down and there will be no one to make you afraid. I will also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. ⁷ And you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will put ten thousand to flight; your enemies will fall before you by the sword. ⁹ For I will turn toward you [with favor and regard] and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish and confirm My covenant with you.^{(AJ) 10} You will eat the old supply of [abundant] produce, and clear out the old [to make room] for the new. ¹¹ I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject nor separate itself from you. ¹² I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright [with heads held high as free men].

Penalties of Disobedience

¹⁴ ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not [obediently] do all these commandments, ¹⁵ if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul rejects My ordinances, so that you will not [obediently] do all My commandments, and in this way break My covenant, ¹⁶ I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to languish also. And you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat what you plant. ¹⁷ I will set My face against you so that ^[ah]you will be struck down before your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.^{(AK) 18} If in spite of all this you still will not listen to Me and be obedient, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. ¹⁹ I will break your pride in your power, and I will make your sky like iron [giving no rain and blocking all prayers] and your ground like bronze [hard to plow and yielding no produce].^{(AL) 20} Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

²¹ ‘If then, you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times in accordance with your sins. ²² I will let loose the [wild] animals of the field among you, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you so few in number that your roads will lie deserted and desolate.^(AM)

²³ ‘And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act ^[ai]with hostility against Me, ²⁴ then I also will act with hostility against you, and I will strike you seven times for your sins. ²⁵ I will bring a sword on you that will execute vengeance for [breaking] the covenant; and when you gather together in your cities, I will send pestilence (virulent disease) among you, and you shall be handed over to the enemy.^{(AN) 26} When I break your staff of bread [that is, cut off your supply of food], ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will ration your bread; and you will eat and not be satisfied.^(AO)