Leviticus 22
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.’”
Flawless Animals for Sacrifice
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘(P)Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their [p]vows or any of their [q]voluntary offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering— 19 (Q)for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect [r]from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 (R)Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord (S)to fulfill a special vow or for a [s]voluntary offering, [t]of the herd or [u]of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those that are blind, fractured, maimed, or have a wart, a festering rash, or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. 23 Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an [v]overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a [w]voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 Also (T)anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor [x]sacrifice in your land, 25 nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a [y]foreigner (U)as the [z]food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall [aa]remain (V)seven days [ab]with its mother, and from the eighth day on it will be considered acceptable as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 (W)But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. 29 When you sacrifice (X)a sacrifice 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 morning. I am the Lord. 31 (Y)So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.
32 “And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 (Z)who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- 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 22:18 Or vowed offerings
- Leviticus 22:18 Or freewill offerings
- Leviticus 22:19 Lit among
- Leviticus 22:21 Or freewill offering
- Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
- Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
- Leviticus 22:23 Or a deformed
- Leviticus 22:23 Or freewill offering
- Leviticus 22:24 Lit do
- Leviticus 22:25 Lit son of a stranger
- Leviticus 22:25 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:27 Lit be
- Leviticus 22:27 Lit under
Leviticus 22
Common English Bible
Priestly uncleanness
22 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful how they treat the holy things that the Israelites devote to me so that they do not make my holy name impure: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them: If any descendant of yours should ever come near the holy things that the Israelites have dedicated to the Lord while he is in an unclean state, he will be cut off from before me; I am the Lord. 4 Any descendant of Aaron who is afflicted with skin disease[a] or has a discharge cannot eat of the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who touches anything made unclean by a dead body, or who has an emission of semen, 5 or who touches any swarming creature or another person who makes him unclean—whatever the uncleanness might be— 6 the person who touches these things will be unclean until evening. He must not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 Once the sun has set and he has become clean again, he may eat of the holy things, for that is his food. 8 He must not eat an animal that has died naturally or that was killed by another animal, becoming unclean by doing so; I am the Lord. 9 The priests must keep my requirement so that they don’t become liable to punishment and die for having made it impure.[b] I am the Lord, who makes them holy.
Unauthorized eating
10 No layperson is allowed to eat the holy offerings. No foreign guest or hired laborer of a priest can eat it. 11 But if a priest purchases a servant, that person can eat it, and servants born into the priest’s household can also eat his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she is not allowed to eat the holy offerings. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced and has no children and so returns to her father’s household as when she was young, she can eat her father’s food. But, again, no layperson is allowed to eat it. 14 If someone eats a holy offering unintentionally, they must provide the priest with an equal item, plus one-fifth. 15 The Israelites must not make the holy offerings impure that they offer up to the Lord 16 or make themselves liable to punishment requiring compensation by eating their own holy offerings. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.
Unacceptable animal offerings
17 The Lord said to Moses: 18 Tell Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites: Whenever someone from Israel’s house or from the immigrants in Israel presents their offering to the Lord as an entirely burned offering—whether it is payment for a solemn promise or a spontaneous gift— 19 for it to be acceptable on your behalf, it must be a flawless male from the herd, the sheep, or the goats. 20 You must not present anything that has an imperfection, because it will not be acceptable on your behalf. 21 Whenever someone presents a communal sacrifice of well-being to the Lord from the herd or flock—whether it is payment for a solemn promise or a spontaneous gift—it must be flawless to be acceptable; it must not have any imperfection. 22 You must not present to the Lord anything that is blind or that has an injury, mutilation, warts, a rash, or scabs. You must not put any such animal on the altar as a food gift for the Lord. 23 You can, however, offer an ox or sheep that is deformed or stunted as a spontaneous gift, but it will not be acceptable as payment for a solemn promise. 24 You must not offer to the Lord anything with bruised, crushed, torn, or cut-off testicles. You must not do that in your land. 25 You are not allowed to offer such animals as your God’s food even if they come from a foreigner. Because these animals have blemishes and imperfections in them, they will not be acceptable on your behalf.
Additional rules for sacrifice
26 The Lord said to Moses: 27 When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on it will be acceptable as an offering, a food gift for the Lord. 28 But you will not slaughter an ox or sheep and its offspring on the same day. 29 When you sacrifice a communal sacrifice of thanksgiving for the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it will be acceptable on your behalf. 30 It must be eaten on the same day; you must not leave any of it until morning; I am the Lord. 31 You must keep my commands and do them; I am the Lord. 32 You must not make my holy name impure so that I will be treated as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord—the one who makes you holy 33 and who is bringing you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 22:4 The precise meaning is uncertain; traditionally leprosy—a term used for several different skin diseases.
- Leviticus 22:9 Vulg; MT and die in it
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