Rules About Killing and Eating Animals

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites. Tell them this is what the Lord has commanded: ³ Any one of you Israelites might kill a bull, a lamb, or a goat. You might be in the camp or outside the camp. ⁴ It doesn’t matter; you must bring that animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. You must give a part of that animal as a gift to the Lord. You spilled blood, so you must take a gift to the Lord’s Holy Tent. If you don’t take part of the animal as a gift to the Lord, you must be separated from your people! ⁵ This rule is so that you will bring your fellowship offering to the Lord. You must bring any animal that you kill in the field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Bring those animals to the priest. ⁶ Then the priest will throw their blood onto the Lord’s altar near the entrance of the Meeting Tent. And the priest will burn the fat from those animals on the altar as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ⁷ In this way you will stop being unfaithful to me by offering sacrifices to your ‘goat gods.’ This law will continue forever.

⁸ “Tell the people: Any citizen of Israel, traveler, or foreigner living among you might want to offer a burnt offering or some other sacrifice. ⁹ They must take the sacrifice to the entrance of the Meeting Tent and offer it to the Lord. Whoever does not do this will be separated from their people.

¹⁰ “I will turn against those who eat blood whether they are citizens of Israel or foreigners living among you, I will separate them from their people. ¹¹ This is because the life of the body is in the blood. I have told you that you must pour the blood on the altar to purify yourselves. It is the blood that makes a person pure. ¹² That is why I am telling you Israelites and the foreigners living among you that you must not eat blood.

¹³ “If any of you, whether Israelite or foreigner living among you, goes hunting and kills a wild animal or bird that you are allowed to eat, you must pour the blood of that animal on the ground and cover it with dirt. ¹⁴ This is because the life of every kind of animal is in its blood. So I give this command to the Israelites: Don’t eat meat that still has blood in it! Whoever eats blood must be separated from their people.

¹⁵ “If any of you, whether Israelite or foreigner living among you, eats an animal that died by itself or was killed by some other animal, you will be unclean until evening. You must wash your clothes and bathe your whole body with water. ¹⁶ If you don’t wash your clothes and bathe your whole body, you will be responsible for your guilt.”

Rules About Sexual Relations

18 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites: I am the Lord your God. ³ You must not follow the customs of Egypt where you lived, and you must not follow the customs of the Canaanites where I am leading you. You must not live the way they do. ⁴ You must obey my rules and follow my laws. Be sure to follow my rules because I am the Lord your God. ⁵ You must obey my rules and my laws, because whoever obeys them will live. I am the Lord.

⁶ “You must never have sexual relations with^[a] your close relatives. I am the Lord.

⁷ “You must never have sexual relations with your father or mother. She is your mother, so you must not have sexual relations with her. ⁸ You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife, even if she is not your mother, because that is like having sexual relations with your father.^[b]

⁹ “You must not have sexual relations with your sister. It doesn’t matter if she is the daughter of your father or your mother. And it doesn’t matter if your sister was born in your house^[c] or at some other place.

¹⁰ “You must not have sexual relations with your granddaughter. It doesn’t matter whether she is the daughter of your son or the daughter of your daughter—they are all a part of you!

¹¹ “If your father and his wife^[d] have a daughter, she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.

¹² “You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relative. ¹³ You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴ You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your father’s brother. You must not go near your uncle’s wife for sexual relations. She is your aunt.

¹⁵ “You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

¹⁶ “You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife. That would be like having sexual relations with your brother.^[e]

¹⁷ “You must not have sexual relations with a mother and her daughter or her granddaughter. It doesn’t matter if this granddaughter is the daughter of this woman’s son or daughter. Her granddaughters are her close relatives. It is wrong to do this.

¹⁸ “While your wife is still living, you must not take her sister as another wife. This will make the sisters become enemies. You must not have sexual relations with your wife’s sister.

¹⁹ “You must not go near a woman to have sexual relations with her during her monthly time of bleeding. She is unclean during this time.

²⁰ “You must not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife. This will only make you filthy.^[f]

²¹ “You must not give any of your children through the fire to Molech. If you do this, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²² “Men, you must not have sexual relations with another man as with a woman. That is a terrible sin!

²³ “Men, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. This will make you filthy. And women, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. It is against nature!

²⁴ “Don’t make yourself unclean by doing any of these wrong things! I am throwing nations off their land and giving it to you because they did those terrible sins. ²⁵ They made the land filthy. Now the land is sick of those things, and it will vomit out the people who live there.

²⁶ “So you must obey my laws and rules. You must not do any of these terrible sins. These rules are for the citizens of Israel and the people living among you. ²⁷ Those who lived in the land before you have done all these terrible things. So the land became filthy. ²⁸ If you do these things, you will make the land filthy. And it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were there before you. ²⁹ Whoever does any of these terrible sins must be separated from their people! ³⁰ Other people have done these terrible sins, but you must obey my laws. You must not do any of these terrible sins. Do not make yourself filthy with these terrible sins. I am the Lord your God.”