Forbidden Sacrifices

17 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters(A) an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before His tabernacle—that person will be considered guilty.[a](B) He has shed blood(C) and must be cut off from his people.(D) This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices(E) they have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices(F) to the Lord. The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the Lord’s altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons(G) that they have prostituted(H) themselves with. This will be a permanent statute(I) for them throughout their generations.

“Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners(J) who live among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person must be cut off from his people.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 17:4 Lit tabernacle—blood will be charged against that person

Prohibitions against Eating Blood

17 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel. This is what the Lord has commanded.

“If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull[a] or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle[b] to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer.[c] Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings. Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord’s altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols.[d] This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

“Give them this command as well. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from the community.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:3 Or cow.
  2. 17:4a Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 17:5, 6, 9.
  3. 17:4b Hebrew will be guilty of blood.
  4. 17:7 Or goat demons.