Leviticus 17-18

New American Standard Bible

Blood for Atonement

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, ³“Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴and ^(A)has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the ^[a]tabernacle of the Lord, bloodshed is to be counted against that person. He has shed blood, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵This shall be done so that the sons of Israel will bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing ^[b]in the open field—so that they will bring them to the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and ^(B)offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁷And ^(C)they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to the ^[c]goat demons with which they play the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.”’

⁸“Then you shall say to them, ‘Anyone from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹and ^(D)does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to ^[d]offer it to the Lord, that person also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰‘^(E)And anyone from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, who eats any blood, ^(F)I will set My face against that person who eats the blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹For ^(G)the ^[e]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 ^(H)it is the blood by reason of the ^[f]life that makes atonement.’ ¹²Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who resides among you eat blood.’ ¹³So when anyone from the sons of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, ^[g]while hunting catches an animal or a bird which may be eaten, ^(I)he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dirt.

¹⁴“^(J)For as for the ^[h]life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its ^[i]life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ^[j]life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ ¹⁵And ^(K)any person who eats an animal which dies or is torn by animals, whether he is a native or a stranger, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. ¹⁶But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe his body, then ^(L)he shall bear the responsibility for his ^[k]guilt.”

Laws on Immoral Relations

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(M)I am the Lord your God. ³You shall not do ^[l]what is ^(N)done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do ^[m]what is ^(O)done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, ^[n]to live in accord with them; ^(P)I am the Lord your God. ⁵So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^(Q)which, if ^[o]a person ^[p]follows them, then he will live by them; I am the Lord.

⁶‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ^[q]of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord. ⁷^(R)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. ⁸^(S)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹As for ^(T)the nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born in the household or born outside the household, you shall not uncover their nakedness. ¹⁰The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for ^[r]their nakedness is yours. ¹¹The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹²^(U)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. ¹⁴^(V)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵^(W)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶^(X)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷^(Y)You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is an outrageous sin. ¹⁸And you shall not ^[s]marry a woman in addition to her sister ^[t]as a second wife while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹‘^(Z)Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^(AA)menstrual impurity. ²⁰And ^(AB)you shall not have sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. ²¹You shall not give any of your children ^(AC)to ^[u]offer them to Molech, nor shall you ^(AD)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. ²²^(AE)You shall not sleep with a male as ^[v]one sleeps with a female; it is an abomination. ²³^(AF)Also you shall not have sexual intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ^[w]mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these things ^(AG)the nations which I am driving out from you have become defiled. ²⁵For the land has become defiled, ^(AH)therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land ^(AI)has vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and you shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the stranger who resides among you ²⁷(for the people of the land who were there before you did all these abominations, and the land has become defiled), ²⁸so that the land will not vomit you out should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which was there before you. ²⁹For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰So you are to keep ^(AJ)your ^[x]commitment to Me not to practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves with them; ^(AK)I am the Lord your God.’”