Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘(A)Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their [a]vows or any of their [b]voluntary offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering— 19 (B)for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect [c]from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 (C)Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord (D)to fulfill a special vow or for a [d]voluntary offering, [e]of the herd or [f]of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those that are blind, fractured, maimed, or have a wart, a festering rash, or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. 23 Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an [g]overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a [h]voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 Also (E)anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor [i]sacrifice in your land, 25 nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a [j]foreigner (F)as the [k]food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”

26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall [l]remain (G)seven days [m]with its mother, and from the eighth day on it will be considered acceptable as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 (H)But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. 29 When you sacrifice (I)a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning. I am the Lord. 31 (J)So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.

32 “And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 (K)who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:18 Or vowed offerings
  2. Leviticus 22:18 Or freewill offerings
  3. Leviticus 22:19 Lit among
  4. Leviticus 22:21 Or freewill offering
  5. Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
  6. Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
  7. Leviticus 22:23 Or a deformed
  8. Leviticus 22:23 Or freewill offering
  9. Leviticus 22:24 Lit do
  10. Leviticus 22:25 Lit son of a stranger
  11. Leviticus 22:25 Lit bread
  12. Leviticus 22:27 Lit be
  13. Leviticus 22:27 Lit under

Acceptable Sacrifices

17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the foreign residents(A) in Israel who presents his offering(B)—whether they present freewill gifts or payment of vows to the Lord as burnt offerings— 19 must offer an unblemished male(C) from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for you to be accepted. 20 You are not to present anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

21 “When a man presents a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or flock, it has to be unblemished to be acceptable; there must be no defect in it. 22 You are not to present any animal to the Lord that is blind, injured, maimed, or has a running sore, festering rash,(D) or scabs; you may not put any of them on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord.(E) 23 You may sacrifice as a freewill offering any animal from the herd or flock that has an elongated or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable as a vow offering. 24 You are not to present to the Lord anything that has bruised, crushed, torn, or severed testicles;(F) you must not sacrifice them in your land. 25 Neither you nor[a] a foreigner are to present food to your God from any of these animals. They will not be accepted for you because they are deformed and have a defect.”(G)

26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 27 “When an ox, sheep, or goat is born, it must remain with[b] its mother for seven days; from the eighth day(H) on, it will be acceptable as a gift, a fire offering to the Lord. 28 But you are not to slaughter an animal from the herd or flock on the same day as its young.(I) 29 When you sacrifice a thank offering(J) to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It is to be eaten on the same day.(K) Do not let any of it remain until morning; I am Yahweh.

31 “You are to keep My commands and do them; I am Yahweh. 32 You must not profane My holy name; I must be treated as holy(L) among the Israelites. I am Yahweh who sets you apart, 33 the One who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh.”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:25 Lit nor from the hand of
  2. Leviticus 22:27 Lit under