22 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings(A) the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name.(B) I am the Lord.(C)

“Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord,(D) that person must be cut off from my presence.(E) I am the Lord.

“‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease[a] or a bodily discharge,(F) he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse(G) or by anyone who has an emission of semen, or if he touches any crawling thing(H) that makes him unclean, or any person(I) who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. The one who touches any such thing will be unclean(J) till evening.(K) He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.(L) When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food.(M) He must not eat anything found dead(N) or torn by wild animals,(O) and so become unclean(P) through it. I am the Lord.(Q)

“‘The priests are to perform my service(R) in such a way that they do not become guilty(S) and die(T) for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(U)

10 “‘No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it.(V) 11 But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food.(W) 12 If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it.

14 “‘Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake(X) must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value(Y) to it. 15 The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings(Z) the Israelites present to the Lord(AA) 16 by allowing them to eat(AB) the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt(AC) requiring payment.(AD) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(AE)’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:4 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

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.”

Read full chapter

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