Prohibitions against Eating Blood

¹⁰ “If anyone from the house of Israel or a resident alien who lives among you eats any form of blood, I’ll oppose^[a] that person who ate the blood and eliminate him from his people, ¹¹ because the life of the flesh is in the blood itself, and I myself have given it to you all so that atonement may be made for your souls on the altar, since the blood itself makes atonement through the life that is in it. ¹² This is why I’ve told the Israelis that no person^[b] among you is to eat blood. Even the resident alien who lives among you is not to eat blood.

¹³ “If a person from the house of Israel or a resident alien who lives among you has hunted live game or a bird that may be eaten, he is to extract its blood and cover it with soil, ¹⁴ because the life of any flesh is the blood itself. Therefore, I’m saying to the Israelis that the blood of any flesh is not to be eaten, because the life of any flesh is in its blood. Anyone who eats of it is to be eliminated from contact with his people.^[c]

¹⁵ “Any person who eats a carcass or an animal that was torn by beasts (whether that person is native born or is a resident alien), is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will remain unclean until evening, and then he’ll become clean. ¹⁶ But if he doesn’t wash or bathe his body, then he is to bear the punishment of his iniquity.”