Leviticus 10-12

New American Standard Bible

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Now ^(A)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective ^(B)firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on ^[a]the fire and offered ^[b]strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ^2 (C)And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,

So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

⁴ Moses called also to ^(G)Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to an area outside of the camp.” ⁵ So they came forward and carried them, still in their ^(H)tunics, to an area outside the camp, just as Moses had said. ⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “^(I)Do not ^[d]uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you do not die and He does not ^(J)become wrathful against all the congregation. But your ^[e]kinsmen, the entire house of Israel, shall weep for the burning which the Lord has ^[f]brought about. ⁷ You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for ^(K)the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸ The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, ⁹ “^(L)Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you do not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations— ¹⁰ and ^(M)to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹ and ^(N)so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”

¹² Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, ^(O)Eleazar and Ithamar, “^(P)Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire and eat it as unleavened bread beside the altar, for it is most holy. ¹³ You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the Lord’s offerings by fire; for so I have been commanded. ^14 (Q)The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. ¹⁵ They shall bring ^(R)the thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ But Moses searched carefully for the ^(S)goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, ¹⁷ “Why ^(T)did you not eat the sin offering at the ^[g]holy place? For it is most holy, and ^[h]He gave it to you to take away ^(U)the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸ Behold, ^(V)since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you certainly should have ^(W)eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded!” ¹⁹ But Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, this very day they ^(X)presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰ When Moses heard that, it was good in his sight.

Laws about Animals for Food

11 The Lord spoke again to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^(Y)These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth. ³ Whatever has a divided hoof, showing split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. ⁴ Nevertheless, ^(Z)you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which have a divided hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁵ Likewise, the rock hyrax, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁶ The ^[i]rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁷ And the pig, for though it has a divided hoof, and so it shows a split hoof, it does not chew cud; it is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘^(AA)These you may eat, of whatever is in the water: everything that has fins and scales, in the water, in the seas, or in the rivers, you may eat. ^10 (AB)But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you, ¹¹ and they shall be detestable to you; you may not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Whatever in the water does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Avoid the Unclean

¹³ ‘Moreover, these ^(AC)you shall detest among the birds; they are detestable, not to be eaten: the ^[j]eagle, the vulture, and the ^[k]buzzard, ¹⁴ the red kite, the falcon in its kind, ¹⁵ every raven in its kind, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in its kind, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, and the ^[l]great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the ^[m]pelican, and the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, the heron in its kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All the ^[n]winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. ²¹ Yet these you may eat among all the ^[o]winged insects that walk on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to jump on the earth. ²² These of them you may eat: the locust in its kinds, the devastating locust in its kinds, the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds. ²³ But all other ^[p]winged insects which are four-footed are detestable to you.

²⁴ ‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, ²⁵ and ^(AD)whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. ²⁶ As for all the animals which have a divided hoof but do not show a split hoof, or do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷ Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, ²⁸ and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the ^[q]great lizard in its kinds, ³⁰ the gecko, the ^[r]crocodile, the lizard, the ^[s]sand reptile, and the chameleon. ³¹ These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. ³² Also anything on which one of them may fall when they are dead becomes unclean, including any wooden article, or clothing, or a hide, or a sack—any article ^[t]of which use is made—^(AE)it shall be put in the water and be unclean until evening, then it becomes clean. ³³ As for any ^(AF)earthenware vessel into which one of them may fall, whatever is in it becomes unclean and you shall break ^[u]the vessel. ³⁴ Any of the ^[v]food which may be eaten, on which water comes, shall become unclean, and any ^[w]liquid which may be drunk in every vessel shall become unclean. ³⁵ Moreover, everything on which part of their carcass may fall becomes unclean; an oven or a ^[x]stove shall be smashed; they are unclean and shall continue as unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern ^[y]collecting water shall be clean, though the one who touches their carcass shall be unclean. ³⁷ Now if a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean. ³⁸ But if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘Also if one of the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening. ^40 (AG)He, too, who eats some of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and the one who picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ ‘^(AH)Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable, not to be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet, in regard to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, because they are detestable. ^43 (AI)Do not make ^[z]yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean. ⁴⁴ For ^(AJ)I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and ^(AK)be holy, because I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. ^45 (AL)For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; so ^(AM)you shall be holy, because I am holy.’”

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ^47 (AN)to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.

Laws of Motherhood

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:

‘When a woman gives birth and delivers a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days; ^(AO)as she is in the days of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. ³ Then on ^(AP)the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ And she shall stay at home in her condition of ^[aa]blood purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall stay at home in her condition of ^[ab]blood purification for sixty-six days.

⁶ ‘^(AQ)When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one-year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove ^(AR)as a ^[ac]sin offering. ⁷ Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the ^[ad]flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female. ⁸ But if ^[ae]she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take ^(AS)two turtledoves or two young doves, ^(AT)the one as a burnt offering and the other as a ^[af]sin offering; and the ^(AU)priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”