Home -> Major Sections of the Bible -> Leviticus 17:1 - Leviticus 27:34
God's Laws About Holiness and Obedience
Leviticus 17:1 - Leviticus 27:34
Blood Designated for Atonement, Forbidden as Food
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: 'This is the thing which the LORD has commanded,
3
Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,
4
and hasn't brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to offer it as an offering to the LORD before The LORD's tabernacle: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.
5
This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to The LORD, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to The LORD.
6
The priest shall sprinkle the blood on The LORD's altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to The LORD.
7
They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.'
8
"You shall say to them, 'Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9
and doesn't bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to The LORD; that man shall be cut off from his people.
10
"'Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.
12
Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, "No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood."
13
"'Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust.
14
For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life: therefore I said to the children of Israel, "You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off."
15
"'Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he shall be clean.
16
But if he doesn't wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.'"
Laws on Sexual Relations
1
The LORD said to Moses,
2
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'I am the LORD your God.
3
You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived: and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.
4
You shall do my ordinances, and you shall keep my statutes, and walk in them: I am the LORD your God.
5
You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am The LORD.
6
"'None of you shall approach anyone who are his close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am The LORD.
7
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, nor the nakedness of your mother: she is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.
8
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife. It is your father's nakedness.
9
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home, or born abroad.
10
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter, or of your daughter's daughter, even their nakedness: for theirs is your own nakedness.
11
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, conceived by your father, since she is your sister.
12
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister: she is your father's near kinswoman.
13
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister: for she is your mother's near kinswoman.
14
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, you shall not approach his wife. She is your aunt.
15
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son's wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.
16
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife. It is your brother's nakedness.
17
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
18
"'You shall not take a wife to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is yet alive.
19
"'You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.
20
"'You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, and defile yourself with her.
21
"'You shall not give any of your children to sacrifice to Molech. You shall not profane the name of your God. I am The LORD.
22
"'You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is detestable.
23
"'You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No woman may give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.
24
"'Don't defile yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled.
25
The land was defiled: therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants.
26
You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you;
27
(for the men of the land that were before you had done all these abominations, and the land became defiled);
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that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
29
"'For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.
30
Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs, which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.'"
Idolatry Forbidden; Various Laws
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, 'You shall be holy; for I, the LORD your God, am holy.
3
"'Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
4
"'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.
5
"'When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to The LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
6
It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day: and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire.
7
If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted;
8
but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of The LORD, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
9
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10
You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
11
"'You shall not steal."'You shall not lie."'You shall not deceive one another.
12
"'You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am The LORD.
13
"'You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him."'The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14
"'You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am The LORD.
15
"'You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
16
"'You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people."'You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am The LORD.
17
"'You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18
"'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am The LORD.
19
"'You shall keep my statutes."'You shall not cross-breed different kinds of animals."'You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed;"'Don't wear a garment made of two kinds of material.
20
"'If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed, or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21
He shall bring his trespass offering to The LORD, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering.
22
The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed: and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
23
"'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years they shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.
24
But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to The LORD.
25
In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am the LORD your God.
26
"'You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
27
"'You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard.
28
"'You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am The LORD.
29
"'Don't profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
30
"'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am The LORD.
31
"'Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
32
"'You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am The LORD.
33
"'If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34
The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
35
"'You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
36
You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37
"'You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am The LORD.'"
Punishments for Sins
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Moreover, you shall tell the children of Israel, 'Anyone of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech; he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3
I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people because he has given of his offspring to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
4
If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person, when he gives of his offspring to Molech, and don't put him to death;
5
then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people.
6
"'The person that turns to those who are mediums, and to the wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people.
7
"'Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God.
8
You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
9
"'For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
10
"'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11
"'The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12
"'If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have committed a perversion; their blood shall be upon them.
13
"'If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
14
"'If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burned with fire, both he and they; that there may be no wickedness among you.
15
"'If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.
16
"'If a woman approaches any animal, and lies down with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
17
"'If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness; it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity.
18
"'If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister; for he has made his close relative naked. They shall bear their iniquity.
20
If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.
21
"'If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.
22
"'You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I am bringing you to dwell, may not vomit you out.
23
You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
24
But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
25
"'You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you.
26
You shall be holy to me; for I, The LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
27
"'A man or a woman that is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.'"
Regulations for Priests
1
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people;
2
except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,
3
and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
4
He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
5
"'They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.
6
They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
7
"'They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. They shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.
8
You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I The LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
9
"'The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
10
"'He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes.
11
He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father, or for his mother.
12
He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am The LORD.
13
"'He shall take a wife in her virginity.
14
A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife.
15
He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"
16
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
17
"Say to Aaron, 'None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God.
18
For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,
19
or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand,
20
or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.
21
No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
22
He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
23
He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"
24
So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
Rules for Priests and Flawless Sacrifices
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am The LORD.
3
"Tell them, 'If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the children of Israel make holy to The LORD, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am The LORD.
4
5
or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has;
6
the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his body in water.
7
When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.
8
That which dies of itself, or is torn by animals, he shall not eat, defiling himself by it. I am The LORD.
9
"'They shall therefore follow my requirements, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
10
"'No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
11
But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread.
12
If a priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things.
13
But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread: but no stranger shall eat any of it.
14
"'If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest.
15
The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to The LORD,
16
and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt, when they eat their holy things; for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"
17
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
18
"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows, or any of their freewill offerings, which they offer to the LORD for a burnt offering;
19
that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats.
20
But whatever has a defect, that you shall not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you.
21
Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect.
22
Blind, injured, maimed, having a wart, festering, or having a running sore: you shall not offer these to The LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to The LORD.
23
Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
24
You must not offer to the LORD that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land.
25
You must not offer the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner as any of these; because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'"
26
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
27
"When a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, is born, then it shall remain seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to The LORD.
28
Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day.
29
"When you sacrifice 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 the morning. I am The LORD.
31
"Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am The LORD.
32
You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who makes you holy,
33
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am The LORD."
Feasts of Weeks, Trumpets, Tabernacles; Day of Atonement
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The set feasts of The LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.
3
"'Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
4
"'These are the set feasts of The LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
5
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is The LORD's Passover.
6
On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to The LORD. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
7
In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
8
But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.'"
9
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10
"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest:
11
and he shall wave the sheaf before The LORD, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12
On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to The LORD.
13
The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
14
You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15
"'You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed:
16
even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to The LORD.
17
You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to The LORD.
18
You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to The LORD, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to The LORD.
19
You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20
The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before The LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21
You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field, and you must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.'"
23
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
24
"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25
You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to The LORD.'"
26
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
27
"However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to The LORD.
28
You shall do no kind of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29
For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people.
30
Whoever it is who does any kind of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
31
You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32
It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath."
33
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
34
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tents for seven days to The LORD.
35
On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.
36
Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to The LORD. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to The LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.
37
"'These are the appointed feasts of The LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to The LORD, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day;
38
besides the Sabbaths of The LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to The LORD.
39
"'So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.
40
You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
41
You shall keep it a feast to the LORD seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month.
42
You shall dwell in temporary shelters seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters,
43
that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'"
44
Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of The LORD.
Lamp and Bread; Blasphemer Stoned; Eye for Eye
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.
3
Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
4
He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before the LORD continually.
5
"You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake.
6
You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before The LORD.
7
You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to The LORD.
8
Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually. It is on the behalf of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant.
9
It shall be for Aaron and his sons; and they shall eat it in a holy place: for it is most holy to him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute."
10
The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp.
11
The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.
12
They put him in custody, until The LORD's will should be declared to them.
13
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
14
"Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
15
You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
16
He who blasphemes The LORD's name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
17
"'He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
18
He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life.
19
If anyone injures his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him:
20
fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has injured someone, so shall it be done to him.
21
He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death.
22
You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am the LORD your God.'"
23
Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought out him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
The Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee
1
The LORD said to Moses in Mount Sinai,
2
"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to The LORD.
3
You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits;
4
but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to The LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
5
What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
6
The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.
7
For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.
8
"'You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years.
9
Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
10
You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
11
That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.
12
For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.
13
"'In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
14
"'If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
15
According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.
16
According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.
17
You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am the LORD your God.
18
"'Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.
19
The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
20
If you said, "What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase";
21
then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years.
22
You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
23
"'The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
24
In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
25
"'If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
26
If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it;
27
then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
28
But if he isn't able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
29
"'If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
30
If it isn't redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
31
But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
32
"'Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
33
The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
34
But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
35
"'If your brother has become poor, and his hand can't support himself among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.
36
Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you.
37
You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
38
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
39
"'If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.
40
As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:
41
then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.
42
For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.
43
You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.
44
"'As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
45
Moreover of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.
46
You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever; but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
47
"'If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger's family;
48
after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;
49
or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself.
50
He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant.
51
If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
52
If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.
53
As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.
54
If he isn't redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him.
55
For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
Rewards and Punishments concerning Obedience
1
"'You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up an engraved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.
2
"'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am The LORD.
3
"'If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4
then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5
Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time. You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6
"'I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid. I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7
You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8
Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9
"'I will have respect for you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.
10
You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new.
11
I will set my tent among you, and my soul won't abhor you.
12
I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people.
13
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
14
"'But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
15
and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
16
I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.
17
I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
18
"'If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.
19
I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like brass.
20
Your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won't yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21
"'If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.
22
I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. Your roads will become desolate.
23
"'If by these things you won't be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;
24
then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins.
25
I will bring a sword upon you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be gathered together within your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you. You will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26
When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27
"'If you in spite of this won't listen to me, but walk contrary to me;
28
then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins.
29
You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
30
I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
31
I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings.
32
I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein will be astonished at it.
33
I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
34
Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
35
As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn't have in your Sabbaths, when you lived on it.
36
"'As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues.
37
They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies.
38
You will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up.
39
Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away with them.
40
"'If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me,
41
I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity;
42
then I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
43
The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them: and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes.
44
Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God;
45
but I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am The LORD.'"
46
These are the statutes, ordinances and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.
Rules concerning Valuations
1
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man consecrates a person to the LORD in a vow, according to your valuation,
3
your valuation of a male from twenty years old even to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
4
If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
5
If the person is from five years old even to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
6
If the person is from a month old even to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.
7
If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8
But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay.
9
"'If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to The LORD, all that any man gives of such to the LORD becomes holy.
10
He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy.
11
If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to The LORD, then he shall set the animal before the priest;
12
and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be.
13
But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.
14
"'When a man dedicates his house to be holy to The LORD, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad: as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand.
15
If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
16
17
If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
18
But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation.
19
If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.
20
If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;
21
but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to The LORD, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests.
22
"'If he dedicates a field to the LORD which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,
23
then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to The LORD.
24
In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.
25
All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26
"'Only the firstborn among animals, which is made a firstborn to The LORD, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep. It is The LORD's.
27
If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn't redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
28
"'Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to The LORD.
29
"'No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
30
"'All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is The LORD's. It is holy to The LORD.
31
If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.
32
All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to The LORD.
33
He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it. If he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.'"
34
These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
