Leviticus 17-20

New American Standard Bible 1995

Blood for Atonement

17 Then the Lord 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 the Lord 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 ^(A)has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the ^[a]tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ^5 [b]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 the Lord, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and ^(B)offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ^7 (C)They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the ^[c]goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.”’

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

¹⁰ ‘^(E)And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, ^(F)I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For ^(G)the ^[e]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 ^(H)it is the blood by reason of the ^[f]life that makes atonement.’ ¹² Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’ ¹³ So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, ^[g]in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, ^(I)he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

¹⁴ “^(J)For as for the ^[h]life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its ^[i]life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ^[j]life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ ^15 (K)When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, 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 ^(L)he shall bear his ^[k]guilt.”

Laws on Immoral Relations

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(M)I am the Lord your God. ³ You shall not do ^[l]what is ^(N)done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do ^[m]what is ^(O)done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴ You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, ^[n]to live in accord with them; ^(P)I am the Lord your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^(Q)by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ^[o]of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord. ^7 (R)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 (S)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9 (T)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 ^[p]their nakedness is yours. ¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, ^[q]born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12 (U)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 (V)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. ^15 (W)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^16 (X)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ^17 (Y)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 ^[r]lewdness. ¹⁸ You shall not ^[s]marry a woman in addition to ^[t]her sister ^[u]as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹ ‘^(Z)Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^(AA)menstrual impurity. ^20 (AB)You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. ²¹ You shall not give any of your offspring ^(AC)to ^[v]offer them to Molech, nor shall you ^(AD)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. ^22 (AE)You shall not lie with a male as ^[w]one lies with a female; it is an abomination. ^23 (AF)Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ^[x]mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴ ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these ^(AG)the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. ²⁵ For the land has become defiled, ^(AH)therefore I have brought its ^[y]punishment upon it, so the land ^(AI)has spewed out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien 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 spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. ²⁹ For whoever does any of these abominations, ^[z]those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Thus you are to keep ^(AJ)My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^(AK)I am the Lord your God.’”

Idolatry Forbidden

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(AL)You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ³ Every one of you ^(AM)shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep ^(AN)My sabbaths; ^(AO)I am the Lord your God. ⁴ Do not turn to ^(AP)idols or make for yourselves molten ^(AQ)gods; I am the Lord your God.

⁵ ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, 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 Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Sundry Laws

⁹ ‘^(AR)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 needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ ‘^(AS)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ^(AT)nor lie to one another. ^12 (AU)You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to ^(AV)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

¹³ ‘^(AW)You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. ^(AX)The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse a deaf man, nor ^(AY)place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

¹⁵ ‘^(AZ)You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. ¹⁶ You shall not go about as ^(BA)a slanderer among your people, and you are not to ^[aa]act against the ^[ab](BB)life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.

¹⁷ ‘You ^(BC)shall not hate your ^[ac]fellow countryman in your heart; you ^(BD)may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. ^18 (BE)You shall not take vengeance, ^(BF)nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but ^(BG)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

¹⁹ ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; ^(BH)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 ‘^(BI)Now if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for 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 He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting, ^(BJ)a ram for a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord 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 count their fruit as ^[ad]forbidden. Three years it shall be ^[ae]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 the Lord. ²⁵ In the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ ‘You shall not eat anything ^(BK)with the blood, nor practice ^(BL)divination or soothsaying. ^27 (BM)You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. ²⁸ You shall not make any cuts in your ^[af]body for the ^[ag]dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

²⁹ ‘^(BN)Do not ^[ah]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 ^(BO)keep My sabbaths and ^(BP)revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

³¹ ‘Do not turn to ^[ai](BQ)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

³² ‘^(BR)You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the ^[aj]aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

³³ ‘^(BS)When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴ The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and ^(BT)you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ ‘^(BU)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. ³⁶ You shall have ^(BV)just balances, just weights, a just ^[ak]ephah, and a just ^[al]hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord.’”

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

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

‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel ^(BW)who gives any of his ^[am]offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; ^(BX)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 his ^[an]offspring to Molech, ^(BY)so as to defile My sanctuary and ^(BZ)to profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land, however, ^[ao]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his ^[ap]offspring 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, by playing the harlot after Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to ^[aq](CA)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 You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and ^(CB)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ^8 (CC)You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘^(CD)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 ‘^(CE)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 (CF)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 (CG)If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^[ar]incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^13 (CH)If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^14 (CI)If there is a man who ^[as]marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst. ^15 (CJ)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 ^[at]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹⁷ ‘^(CK)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 (CL)If there is a man who lies with a ^[au]menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has ^[av]exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19 (CM)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 ^[aw]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ^20 (CN)If there is a man who lies with his uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ^21 (CO)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is ^[ax]abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ^[ay]live will not ^(CP)spew you out. ²³ Moreover, you shall not ^[az]follow ^(CQ)the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and ^(CR)therefore I have abhorred them. ²⁴ Hence I have said to you, “^(CS)You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has ^(CT)separated you from the peoples. ^25 (CU)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ^[ba]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything ^[bb]that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. ²⁶ Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I ^(CV)have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

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