Leviticus 17:10-16

The Voice

¹⁰ If anyone from the community of Israel or an outsider living among you consumes any blood, I will be at odds with him and cut him off from the community of Israel. ¹¹ You see, the life of the body is in the blood, and I have directed that you are to take blood and offer it on the altar to atone for your lives and cover your sins. It is the life flowing in the blood that atones for you and covers you. ¹² This is why I told the people of Israel, “No one of you or any outsider living among you is allowed to eat blood.”

¹³ Now if any Israelite or outsider living among you hunts and kills an animal or a bird that is acceptable and may be eaten, then that person must drain its blood from it and cover it up with the soil of the earth.

¹⁴ You see, the life of every creature is its blood; blood represents life. Blood is life. This is why I told the people of Israel, “Do not eat the blood of any living creature; for the life of any creature is its blood.” Anyone who consumes blood will be cut off from the community. ¹⁵ Any time a person eats an animal that has died of natural causes or has been killed by another animal—regardless of whether that person is native-born or an outsider living among you—he is to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be regarded as impure until dusk; afterward, he will be ritually pure again. ¹⁶ But if the person does not wash his clothes or bathe his body, then he carries his guilt and will suffer the consequences.