Leviticus 16-20

Legacy Standard Bible

The Day of Atonement

16 Now Yahweh spoke to Moses after ^(A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near the presence of Yahweh and died. ² And Yahweh said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter ^(B)at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the ^[a]mercy seat which is on the ark, so that he will not die; for ^(C)I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³ Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull from the herd for a ^(D)sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the ^(E)holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his ^[b]body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall ^(F)bathe his ^[c]body in water and put them on. ⁵ And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel ^(G)two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ Then ^(H)Aaron shall bring near the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. ⁷ And he shall take the two goats and present them before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for the ^[d]scapegoat. ⁹ Then Aaron shall bring near the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot for the ^[e]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make ^(I)atonement upon it, to send it out into the wilderness as the ^[f]scapegoat.

¹¹ “Then Aaron shall bring near the bull of the sin offering, ^(J)which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and ^(K)for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² And he shall take a ^(L)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before Yahweh and ^[g]two handfuls of finely ground ^(M)fragrant incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³ And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of incense may cover the ^(N)mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, ^(O)so that he will not die. ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(P)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it ^(Q)with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering ^(R)which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull. And he shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ^16 (S)So he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ Now when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and ^(T)put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ^19 (U)With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it and set it apart as holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.

²⁰ “And when he finishes making atonement for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring near the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and ^(V)confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions ^[h]in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it out into the wilderness by the hand of a man ready to do this. ²² And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an isolated land; and he shall send out the goat in the wilderness.

²³ “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off ^(W)the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there. ^24 (X)And he shall bathe his ^[i]body with water in a holy place and put on ^(Y)his clothes and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶ And the one who sent the goat out as the ^[j]scapegoat ^(Z)shall wash his clothes and bathe his ^[k]body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁷ But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, ^(AA)whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. ²⁸ Then the ^(AB)one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

²⁹ “And this shall be a perpetual statute for you: ^(AC)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not ^(AD)do any work, whether the native or the sojourner who sojourns among you; ³⁰ for it is on this day that ^[l]atonement shall be made for you to ^(AE)cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before Yahweh. ³¹ It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may ^(AF)humble your souls; it is a perpetual statute. ³² So the priest who is anointed and ^[m]ordained to minister as a priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on ^(AG)the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³ and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for ^(AH)the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ Now you shall have this as a ^(AI)perpetual statute, to ^(AJ)make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so he did.

Statutes Against Eating Blood

17 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh has commanded, saying, ³ “Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴ and ^(AK)has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to bring it near as an offering to Yahweh before the ^[n]tabernacle of Yahweh, it will be counted as bloodguiltiness to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ^5 [o]The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to Yahweh, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh. ⁶ And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and ^(AL)offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. ^7 (AM)And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the ^[p]goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a perpetual statute to them throughout their generations.”’

⁸ “Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and ^(AN)does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to ^[q]offer it to Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰ ‘^(AO)And any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, ^(AP)I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For ^(AQ)the ^[r]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 ^(AR)it is the blood that makes atonement by the ^[s]life.’ ¹² Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, and no sojourner who sojourns among you may eat blood.’ ¹³ So any man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, ^(AS)shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

¹⁴ “^(AT)For as for the ^[t]life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its ^[u]life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ^[v]life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ ^15 (AU)And when any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^(AV)he shall bear his ^[w]guilt.”

Statutes on the Nakedness of Relatives

18 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(AW)I am Yahweh your God. ³ You shall not do according to what is ^(AX)done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is ^(AY)done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴ You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; ^(AZ)I am Yahweh your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^(BA)which if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ^[x]of his to uncover nakedness; I am Yahweh. ^7 (BB)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. ^8 (BC)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9 (BD)The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰ The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for ^[y]their nakedness is yours. ¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, ^[z]born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12 (BE)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 (BF)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ^15 (BG)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^16 (BH)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ^17 (BI)You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is ^[aa]lewdness. ¹⁸ And you shall not ^[ab]marry a woman in addition to ^[ac]her sister ^[ad]as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹ ‘^(BJ)Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^(BK)menstrual impurity. ^20 (BL)And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. ²¹ And you shall not give any of your seed ^(BM)to pass them over to Molech, nor shall you ^(BN)profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. ^22 (BO)And you shall not lie with a male as ^[ae]one lies with a female; it is an abomination. ^23 (BP)Also you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ^[af]mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴ ‘So do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these ^(BQ)the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. ²⁵ So the land has become defiled, ^(BR)and I have brought its ^[ag]punishment upon it. And the land ^(BS)has vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But as for you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the sojourner who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); ²⁸ 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 does any of these abominations, ^[ah]those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Thus you are to keep ^(BT)My charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^(BU)I am Yahweh your God.’”

Yahweh Is Holy

19 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

² “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(BV)You shall be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy. ³ Every one of you ^(BW)shall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep ^(BX)My sabbaths; ^(BY)I am Yahweh your God. ⁴ Do not turn to ^(BZ)idols or make for yourselves molten ^(CA)gods; I am Yahweh your God.

⁵ ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. ⁷ So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. ⁸ And everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Statutes

⁹ ‘^(CB)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 of your harvest. ¹⁰ Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the afflicted and for the sojourner. I am Yahweh your God.

¹¹ ‘^(CC)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ^(CD)nor lie to one another. ^12 (CE)And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to ^(CF)profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

¹³ ‘^(CG)You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. ^(CH)The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse a deaf man nor ^(CI)place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

¹⁵ ‘^(CJ)You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness. ¹⁶ You shall not go about as ^(CK)a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand against the ^[ai](CL)life of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.

¹⁷ ‘You ^(CM)shall not hate your brother in your heart; you ^(CN)may surely reprove your neighbor, and so not bear sin because of him. ^18 (CO)You shall not take vengeance, ^(CP)and you shall not keep your anger against the sons of your people, but ^(CQ)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.

¹⁹ ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; ^(CR)you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

²⁰ ‘^(CS)Now if a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave assigned to another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free. ²¹ And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting, ^(CT)a ram for a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

²³ ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as ^[aj]forbidden. Three years it shall be ^[ak]forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. ²⁴ But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh. ²⁵ Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.

²⁶ ‘You shall not eat anything ^(CU)with the blood nor interpret ^(CV)omens or soothsaying. ^27 (CW)You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. ²⁸ And you shall not make any cuts in your ^[al]body for the ^[am]dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am Yahweh.

²⁹ ‘^(CX)Do not ^[an]profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. ³⁰ You shall ^(CY)keep My sabbaths and ^(CZ)fear My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

³¹ ‘Do not turn to ^[ao](DA)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.

³² ‘^(DB)You shall rise up before the gray-haired and honor the ^[ap]aged, and you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.

³³ ‘^(DC)And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. ³⁴ The sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and ^(DD)you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

³⁵ ‘^(DE)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or in volume. ³⁶ You shall have ^[aq](DF)just balances, ^[ar]just weights, a ^[as]just ^[at]ephah, and a ^[au]just ^[av]hin; I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You shall thus keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them; I am Yahweh.’”

Set Yourselves Apart as Holy

20 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “You shall also say to the sons of Israel:

‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the sojourners sojourning in Israel ^(DG)who gives any of his seed to Molech shall surely be put to death; ^(DH)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³ I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people because he has given some of those who are his seed to Molech, ^(DI)so as to defile My sanctuary and ^(DJ)to profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land, however, ^[aw]should ever turn a blind eye to that man when he gives any of those who are his seed to Molech, so as not to put him to death, ⁵ then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, in playing the harlot after Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to ^[ax](DK)mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷ Therefore, you shall set yourselves apart as holy and ^(DL)be holy, for I am Yahweh your God. ^8 (DM)And you shall keep My statutes and do them; I am Yahweh who makes you holy.

⁹ ‘^(DN)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother. His bloodguiltiness is upon him.

¹⁰ ‘^(DO)If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ^11 (DP)If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^12 (DQ)If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^[ay]perversion. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^13 (DR)If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^14 (DS)If there is a man who ^[az]marries a woman and her mother, it is lewdness; both he and they shall be burned with fire so that there will be no lewdness in your midst. ^15 (DT)If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. ¹⁶ If there is a woman who approaches any animal to ^[ba]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹⁷ ‘^(DU)If there is a man who 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 his guilt. ^18 (DV)If there is a man who lies with a ^[bb]menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19 (DW)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his ^[bc]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ^20 (DX)If there is a man who lies with his aunt, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ^21 (DY)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is an ^[bd]impure act; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ^[be]inhabit will not ^(DZ)vomit you out. ²³ Moreover, you shall not walk in ^(EA)the statutes of the nation which I will cast out before you, for they did all these things, and ^(EB)therefore I have loathed them. ²⁴ Hence I have said to you, “^(EC)You yourselves shall possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has ^(ED)separated you from the peoples. ^25 (EE)You are therefore to separate between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ^[bf]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything ^[bg]that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. ²⁶ Thus you shall be holy to Me, for I Yahweh am holy; and I ^(EF)have separated you from the peoples to be Mine.

²⁷ ‘Now a man or a woman ^(EG)who is a medium or a ^[bh]spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’”