Levítico 22

¹ Jehovah continued to speak to Moses:

² »Tell Aaron and his sons that they must respect the holy offerings that the Israelites set apart for me. In this way they will not dishonor my holy name. I am Jehovah.«

³ »Tell them: ‘In future generations if any of your descendants, while unclean, comes near the holy offerings the Israelites set apart for Jehovah, that person must be excluded from my presence. I am Jehovah.

⁴ »‘None of the descendants of Aaron who has a dreaded skin disease or a discharge may eat any of the sacred offerings until he is ritually clean. Any priest is unclean if he touches anything that is unclean through contact with a corpse or if he has an emission of semen

⁵ or if he has touched an unclean animal or person.

⁶ »‘Any priest who becomes unclean remains unclean until evening. Even then he may not eat any of the sacred offerings until he has taken a bath.

⁷ »‘After the sunsets he is clean. Then he may eat the sacred offerings, which are his food.

⁸ »‘He must not eat the meat of any animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals. It will make him unclean. I am Jehovah.

⁹ »‘All priests must observe the regulations that I have given. Otherwise, they will become guilty and die, because they have disobeyed the sacred regulations. I am Jehovah and I make them holy.

¹⁰ »‘Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of the sacred offerings. No one else may eat them, not even someone staying with a priest or hired by him.

¹¹ »‘A priest's slaves, bought with his own money or born in his home, may eat the food the priest receives.

¹² »‘A priest's daughter who marries someone who is not a priest may not eat any of the sacred offerings.

¹³ »‘A widowed or divorced daughter who has no children and who has returned to live in her father's house as a dependent may eat the food her father receives as a priest. Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of it.

¹⁴ »‘If any people who are not members of a priestly family eat any of the sacred offerings without intending to, they must repay the priest its full value plus an additional twenty percent.

¹⁵ »‘The priests must not profane the sacred offerings

¹⁶ by letting any unauthorized people eat them. This would bring guilt and punishment on such people. I am Jehovah and I make the offerings holy.’«

¹⁷ Jehovah continued to speak to Moses:

¹⁸ »Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them: ‘Israelites or foreigners may bring burnt offerings to Jehovah for anything they vowed or as freewill offerings.

¹⁹ »‘The offering must be a male that has no defects from your cattle, sheep, or goats in order to be accepted.

²⁰ »‘Do not bring any animal with a physical defect. This is because it will not be acceptable for you.

²¹ »‘A person may bring Jehovah a peace offering to fulfill a vow or for a freewill offering. Whether it is from the cattle, sheep, or goats, it must be an animal that has no defects in order to be acceptable. It must never be an animal that has defects.

²² »‘Do not bring Jehovah an animal that is blind, has broken bones, cuts, warts, scabs, or ringworm. Never give Jehovah any of these in a sacrifice by fire on the altar.

²³ »‘You may use a bull or a sheep with a deformity or one that is stunted in growth as a freewill offering. However, it will not be accepted for a vow.

²⁴ »‘Do not bring Jehovah an animal that has bruised, crushed, torn out, or cut out testicles. Never do any of these things to an animal in your land.

²⁵ »‘Never bring any kind of castrated animal received from a foreigner as a food offering for your God. A castrated animal will not be accepted on your behalf because castration is a physical defect.’«

²⁶ Jehovah continued to speak to Moses.

²⁷ He said: »When a calf, a lamb, or a goat is born, it must stay with its mother for seven days. It may be accepted as a sacrifice by fire to Jehovah from the eighth day on.

²⁸ »Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young the same day.

²⁹ »When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to Jehovah do it in the proper way.

³⁰ »Eat it the same day. Never leave any of it until morning. I am Jehovah.

³¹ »Carefully obey my commandments. Conform your life to them. I am Jehovah.

³² »Never dishonor my holy name. I will show my holiness among the Israelites. I am Jehovah, who sets you apart as holy.

³³ »I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am Jehovah!