Leviticus 17
New King James Version
The Sanctity of Blood
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: 3 “Whatever man of the house of Israel who (A)kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, 4 and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, the guilt of bloodshed shall be (B)imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be [a]cut off from among his people, 5 to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices (C)which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 And the priest (D)shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and (E)burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 7 They shall no more offer their sacrifices (F)to [b]demons, after whom they (G)have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.” ’
8 “Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, (H)who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not (I)bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be [c]cut off from among his people.
10 (J)‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, (K)I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the (L)life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar (M)to make atonement for your souls; for (N)it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ 12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’
13 “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who (O)hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall (P)pour out its blood and (Q)cover it with dust; 14 (R)for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’
15 (S)“And every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, (T)he shall both wash his clothes and (U)bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then (V)he shall bear his [d]guilt.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 17:4 Put to death
- Leviticus 17:7 Having the form of a goat or satyr
- Leviticus 17:9 Put to death
- Leviticus 17:16 iniquity
Leviticus 17
Lexham English Bible
The Place of Sacrifice
17 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,[b] and you shall say to them, ‘This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, 3 “Any man[c] from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp[d] 4 and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to present an offering to Yahweh before[e] Yahweh’s tabernacle, then[f] that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. 5 This is so that the Israelites[g] may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field[h] and bring[i] them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly’s entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them. 6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall burn[j] the fat as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. 7 And they may no longer sacrifice[k] their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is a lasting statute[l] for them throughout[m] their generations.”’
Instructions Against Eating Blood
8 “And you shall say to them, ‘if there is anyone[n] from the house of Israel or[o] from the alien who dwells in their midst who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to sacrifice[p] it for Yahweh, then[q] that man shall be cut off from his people. 10 And if there is anyone[r] from the house of Israel or[s] from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then[t] I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. 11 Indeed[u] the flesh’s life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement. 12 Therefore[v] I said to the Israelites,[w] ‘None of you[x] may eat blood, nor[y] may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.’
13 “And if there is anyone[z] from the Israelites[aa] or[ab] from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then[ac] he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil. 14 Indeed,[ad] the life of all flesh, its blood, is in its life, so[ae] I said to the Israelites,[af] ‘You may not eat the blood of any flesh, because the life of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’
15 “And if there is any person who eats a dead body or[ag] a mangled carcass, whether among the native or[ah] among the alien, then[ai] he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[aj] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. 16 But[ak] if he does not wash his garments[al] and he does not wash his body, then[am] he shall bear his guilt.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 17:1 Or “And”
- Leviticus 17:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 17:3 Literally “A man a man”
- Leviticus 17:3 Literally “from an outside place of the camp”
- Leviticus 17:4 Literally “to the faces of”
- Leviticus 17:4 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 17:5 Literally “on the faces of the field”
- Leviticus 17:5 Or “they shall bring”
- Leviticus 17:6 Literally “turn into smoke”
- Leviticus 17:7 Literally “not they may sacrifice again”
- Leviticus 17:7 Literally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
- Leviticus 17:7 Literally “to”
- Leviticus 17:8 Literally “A man a man”
- Leviticus 17:8 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:9 Literally “do” or “make”
- Leviticus 17:9 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:10 Literally “a man a man”
- Leviticus 17:10 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:10 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:11 Or “Because”
- Leviticus 17:12 Literally “Unto thus”
- Leviticus 17:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 17:12 Literally “all of individual self from you not”
- Leviticus 17:12 Or “and not”
- Leviticus 17:13 Literally “a man a man”
- Leviticus 17:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 17:13 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:13 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:14 Or “Because”
- Leviticus 17:14 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:14 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 17:15 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:15 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:15 Or “and”
- Leviticus 17:15 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Leviticus 17:16 Or “And”
- Leviticus 17:16 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Leviticus 17:16 Or “and”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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