Leviticus 22:1-16

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.