Beginning
22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Israel's people give gifts to God. Those gifts are holy. Tell Aaron and his sons that those things are holy. Tell them that they must remember that. They must give honour to my name. I am the Lord.
3 One of your sons may not be clean. That son must not come near the Lord's holy offerings. But perhaps he may not obey my rule. He might go near to the holy gifts. The priests who are clean must punish him. They must send him away. He must go from God's house. I am the Lord. This rule is for now and for all time. 4 If a son of Aaron has a skin disease, he must not eat the holy gifts. If pus is coming from his body, he is not clean. He must not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. He might touch something that has touched a dead body. Or if he touches an unclean man, he will become unclean. The man may be unclean because semen is coming from his body. 5 Aaron's son might touch an animal that moves on its stomach. Or he might touch a person who is not clean. If he does, Aaron's son will be unclean. 6 The son of Aaron who touches any of these things will be unclean until evening. He must not eat any of the holy gifts until he washes his body. 7 When the sun goes down, he will be clean. He can eat the holy gifts. They are his food. 8 He might find something that is dead. He must not eat it. He must not eat anything that an animal has torn. It will make him unclean. I am the Lord.
9 Aaron's sons must obey God's rules. If they do not obey them, it is a sin. They will die. I am the Lord who makes people holy. 10 Only a person who is from the priest's family can eat the holy gifts. Another person who is living in the priest's house must not eat the holy gifts. If a person is being paid to work for the priest, he must not eat the holy gifts. 11 A slave can eat the holy gifts if he was born in the priest's house. Or he can eat the holy gifts if the priest bought him. 12 A priest's daughter might marry a man who is not a priest. If she has done that, she must not eat the holy food. 13 A priest's daughter's husband might send her away. Or her husband might die. She might not have any children. She may go back to live in her father's house. Then she can eat her father's food.
14 A person might make a mistake and eat a holy gift. He must give back to the priest the same food. He must also give one fifth more. 15 The priest must not give the Lord's holy gifts to people who are not from Aaron's family. The gifts would become unclean. 16 If the people eat them they are sinning. They will have to pay for their sin. I am the Lord and I make them holy.’
Offerings that the Lord will not accept
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 ‘Say this to Aaron, to his sons and to all the people. If any person gives a gift to the Lord, 19 he must give a bull, a sheep or a goat. The gift may be for a promise, or to thank God for something or for a friendship offering. The animal must be perfect. 20 They must not give any animal that is not perfect. The Lord will not accept that animal. 21 When a person brings an animal to the Lord as a special gift, it must be perfect. If it is, God will accept it. 22 A person must not give to the Lord an animal that cannot see. The animal must not have a skin disease. And pus must not be coming from its body. The person must not burn an animal to the Lord on the altar that is not perfect. 23 A person may give a bull or a sheep with a body that is the wrong shape. He can use it as an offering to eat with his friends (friendship offering). But God will not take this animal as a gift for a promise. That gift must be perfect. You must not put on the altar an animal that is not perfect. 24 A person must not give a gift to the Lord of an animal that has something wrong with its testicles. 25 This rule is for Israel's people. You must not take animals from foreigners and then offer them to God as sacrifices. God will not accept them on your behalf, because animals like that are not perfect.’
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 ‘When a cow or a sheep or a goat is born, it must stay with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day the people can give it as a burnt offering to the Lord. 28 They must not kill a cow or a sheep and its baby on the same day.
29 When they sacrifice an animal to thank the Lord, they must sacrifice it in the proper way. This will give the Lord pleasure. 30 They must eat it on the day that they kill it. They must not keep any of it until the next day. I am the Lord.
31 The people must obey my rules. I am the Lord. 32 They must give honour to my holy name. My people must believe that I am holy. I am the Lord. I make people holy. 33 I brought you out of Egypt and I became your God. I am the Lord.’
Rules for the Seasons and for the special days
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell Israel's people about the special days when they must worship the Lord. They are holy days. The Israelites must come together and have a feast on these days.
3 There are six days when a person can work. The seventh day is the Sabbath day. A person must not do any work on that day. It is a day when people meet together for worship. You must not work in any place where you live. It is the Sabbath to the Lord, a day of rest.
Passover and bread without yeast
4 There are other special days. They are holy feasts. On these days you must tell the people how to obey the Lord's rules. 5 One special day is the 14th day of the first month. When the sun goes down, the Passover to the Lord begins. 6 The 15th day of the first month, the Feast of Flat Bread begins. It is a feast to the Lord. For seven days the people must eat bread that has no yeast in it. 7 On the first day the people must meet together and they must not work. 8 For seven days the people must give burnt offerings to the Lord. On the seventh day they must stop work and they must worship the Lord.’[a]
Gifts of new grain
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 ‘Tell Israel's people this. They will go into the land that I will give to them. And then they will harvest the grain. They must take the first part of the harvest in their arms. They must give this to the priest. 11 The priest will lift it to the Lord. Then the Lord will accept their gift. The priest will do this on the day after the Sabbath day. 12 On the same day the priest will bring a young sheep that is perfect to the Lord. It must be one year old. It is a gift from the people. 13 He will also bring two tenths (2/10) of an ephah (about 4 litres) of the best flour mixed with oil. He will burn the gift as a sacrifice. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure. The people must also give a ¼ hin (about 1 litre) of wine as a gift to God. 14 The people must not eat any of the new grain until they have given their gift to God. They and their children must do this now and always. They must do it in any place that they live.
15 On the day after the Sabbath day the people will sacrifice their gifts to God. After this, they must count seven weeks. 16 They must count 50 days until the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then they must give another gift of new grain to the Lord. 17 Each family must bring two loaves of bread as a special gift to the Lord. They must make the bread with two tenths (2/10) of an ephah (about 4 litres) of good flour and yeast. This gift is from the first of their harvest fruits. 18 With the bread, all the people must bring seven perfect sheep. They must be males, each one year old. They must bring a bull. They must also bring two older male sheep. The priest will burn the grain and the animals as a gift to the Lord. The smell of them while they are burning will give the Lord pleasure. 19 The priest must sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering. The people must give two young sheep. They must be one year old. They are a gift to God. 20 The priest will lift the animals and the bread to the Lord. They are a holy offering to the Lord. They are for the priest. 21 On this day, the people must not do any work. They must not work anywhere that they live. It is a special day to God now and for all time to come.[b]
22 When the people harvest the grain, they must not cut it to the edge of the field. They must not pick up any grain that falls. Some grain must remain in the field. It is for the poor people and for foreign people. I am the Lord your God.’
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 ‘Tell Israel's people this. On the first day of the seventh month, they must rest. It is a special day. They must worship together with the sound of trumpets. 25 They must not work. They must burn an offering to the Lord.’
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 ‘The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. On that day, the people must come together. They must not eat any food. They must make an offering of food to the Lord. 28 They must not do any work. It is a holy day. On this special day, the leader of the priests must come near to the Lord. He will make atonement for the sins of the people. 29 You must punish any person who eats any food on that day. Send them away from my people. 30 I will kill any person who works on that day. 31 Nobody must work on that day. This rule is for now and for all time to come. You must obey it in any place where you are living. 32 It is a Sabbath rest for all the people. They must not eat any food. They must rest from the evening of the ninth day until the evening of the tenth day.’
The Feast of Huts[c]
33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 ‘Tell Israel's people that the Feast of Huts will start on the 15th day of the seventh month. The feast will continue for seven days, as people worship the Lord. 35 The first day is a special day. The people must not do any work. 36 For seven days each person must give a gift to the Lord. The eighth day is holy. The people must come together and they must give a burnt offering to the Lord. This is the last day of the feast. The people must not do any work on that day.
37 These are the rules for the special days of the Lord. You must tell people that they must bring offerings to the Lord on these days. They will bring gifts for burnt offerings each day. They must bring offerings of grain, animals and wine. 38 These are not the usual Sabbath gifts to the Lord. They are not gifts to give thanks or for promises to the Lord. But they are extra gifts for special days.
39 When the people have picked the grain, they can enjoy seven feast days to the Lord. The special days will begin on the 15th day of the seventh month. On the first day and on the eighth day they can rest. 40 On the first day, they must take fruit and leaves from the trees. Then for seven days they must praise the Lord. 41 They must do this to worship the Lord for seven days of each year. They must obey this rule in the seventh month now, and for all the years to come. 42 All Israel's people must live in huts for seven days. 43 Your descendants in the future will know that God brought Israel's people out of Egypt. They will know that he caused them to live in huts as they travelled through the wilderness. I am the Lord, your God.’
44 Moses told the people all that the Lord had told him.
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