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Statutes Against Eating Blood

17 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “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, “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, and (A)has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to bring it near as an offering to Yahweh before the [a]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. [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 Yahweh, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh. And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and (B)offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. (C)And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the [c]goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a perpetual statute to them throughout their generations.”’

“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, and (D)does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to [d]offer it to Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 17:4 Lit dwelling place
  2. Leviticus 17:5 Lit In order that
  3. Leviticus 17:7 Or goat-idols
  4. Leviticus 17:9 Lit do

Ritual Animal Slaughter

17 The Lord told Moses, “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelis and tell them that this is what the Lord has commanded: When a person from the house of Israel slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat (whether in the camp or outside the camp), but fails to bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as an offering in the presence of the tent of the Lord, that person will incur bloodguilt. Because he has shed blood, that person is to be eliminated from contact with[a] his people.”

Centralized Sacrificial Slaughter

“This statute is required so that[b] the Israelis may bring their sacrifices that they have been sacrificing to the Lord in the open field to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, where they are to slaughter their peace offering to the Lord. The priest is to sprinkle the blood on the Lord’s altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and incinerate the fat, making a pleasing aroma to the Lord. They are no longer to slaughter their sacrifices to the goat demons, with whom they have been committing prostitution. This will be a perpetual statute for you throughout your generations. Tell them that if a person from the house of Israel or a resident alien who lives among you brings a whole burnt offering or a sacrifice to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, but fails to bring it to offer[c] it to the Lord, that person[d] is to be eliminated from contact with[e] his people.”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 17:4 The Heb. lacks from contact with
  2. Leviticus 17:5 Lit. For the sake of
  3. Leviticus 17:9 Lit. to do
  4. Leviticus 17:9 Lit. man
  5. Leviticus 17:9 The Heb. lacks from contact with