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Various Statutes for Priests

22 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they set apart to Me as holy, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh. Say to them, ‘(A)If any man among all your seed throughout your generations comes near to the holy gifts which the sons of Israel set apart as holy to Yahweh, and he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am Yahweh. (B)No man of the seed of Aaron, who is a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. (C)And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or if (D)a man has a seminal emission, or (E)if a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness, a [a]person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his [b]body in water. But the sun will set, and he will be clean. And afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for (F)it is his [c]food. He shall not eat (G)an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am Yahweh. They shall therefore keep (H)My charge so that (I)they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am Yahweh who makes them holy.

10 (J)No [d]layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift. 11 (K)But if a priest buys a person as his property with his money, [e]that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his [f]food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to a [g]layman, she shall not eat of the [h]contribution of the holy gifts. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no seed, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s [i]food; (L)but no [j]layman shall eat of it. 14 (M)But if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift to the priest. 15 (N)They shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel which they raise up to Yahweh, 16 and so cause them (O)to bear [k]punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:6 Lit soul
  2. Leviticus 22:6 Lit flesh
  3. Leviticus 22:7 Lit bread
  4. Leviticus 22:10 Lit stranger
  5. Leviticus 22:11 Lit he may
  6. Leviticus 22:11 Lit bread
  7. Leviticus 22:12 Lit stranger
  8. Leviticus 22:12 Or heave offering
  9. Leviticus 22:13 Lit bread
  10. Leviticus 22:13 Lit stranger
  11. Leviticus 22:16 Or iniquity requiring a guilt offering

Holy Offerings

22 Later on, the Lord told Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons that they are to separate themselves for the sacred things of the Israelis and that they are not to defile my holy name. I am the Lord. Tell them that whoever among your descendants throughout your generations approaches the sacred things that the Israelis had consecrated to the Lord while still remaining unclean is to be eliminated from my presence. I am the Lord. If one of Aaron’s descendants has an infectious skin disease or a discharge, he is not to eat anything sacred until he has been cleansed. Anyone who touches an unclean thing on account of the dead, or who has a seminal discharge, or who becomes unclean by touching a creeping creature or another human being, whatever the uncleanness may be— such a person[a] who comes in contact with anything like this will become unclean until evening. As a result, he is not to eat the sacred things unless he has bathed himself[b] with water. When the sun has gone down and he has been cleansed, he may eat of the sacred things, since that’s his food. He is not to eat the carcass of an animal that was torn by animals,[c] thereby defiling himself with it. I am the Lord. They are to keep my charge. By doing so, they won’t bear the punishment of sin because of it and therefore die if they’ve been defiled by it. I am the Lord, who sets them apart.”

Other Prohibitions

10 “No resident alien is to eat anything sacred. Neither the visitor[d] of the priest nor a hired laborer is to eat anything sacred. 11 If a priest acquires a slave as property with his own money, he may eat with him. Those who were born in his house may eat his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a resident alien, she is not to eat the sacred raised offerings. 13 If the priest’s daughter is a widow, or is divorced and childless,[e] so that she has to return to her father’s house as in her younger days,[f] she may eat her father’s food, but no resident alien may eat it. 14 If a person eats anything sacred inadvertently, he is to add a fifth part to it and then give the sacred thing to the priest. 15 They are not to defile the sacred things of the Israelis that they have offered[g] to the Lord, 16 thereby causing them to bear the punishment of their iniquity for wrongdoing when they eat their sacred things, because I am the Lord, who sets them apart.”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:6 Lit. soul
  2. Leviticus 22:6 Lit. his body
  3. Leviticus 22:8 The Heb. lacks by animals
  4. Leviticus 22:10 Lit. sojourner
  5. Leviticus 22:13 Lit. There’s no offspring to her
  6. Leviticus 22:13 Lit. early life
  7. Leviticus 22:15 Lit. to rise