Leviticus 22
New American Standard Bible
Various Rules for Priests
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘(A)Any man among all your [a]descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel consecrate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from My presence; I am the Lord. 4 (B)No man of the [b]descendants of Aaron, who has [c]leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. (C)And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or (D)a man who has a seminal emission, 5 or (E)a man who touches any swarming things by which he is made unclean, or touches any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness; 6 a [d]person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his [e]body in water. 7 But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for (F)it is his [f]food. 8 He shall not eat (G)an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. 9 They shall therefore perform their (H)duty to Me, so that (I)they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
10 ‘(J)No [g]layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired worker shall not eat the holy gift. 11 (K)But if a priest buys a [h]slave as his property with his money, [i]that person may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his [j]food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to a [k]layman, she shall not eat of the [l]offering of the holy gifts. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s [m]food; (L)but no [n]layman shall eat of it. 14 (M)If, however, someone eats a holy food unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy food to the priest. 15 And (N)they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 and thereby (O)bring upon them [o]punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
Flawless Animals for Sacrifice
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘(P)Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their [p]vows or any of their [q]voluntary offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering— 19 (Q)for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect [r]from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 (R)Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord (S)to fulfill a special vow or for a [s]voluntary offering, [t]of the herd or [u]of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those that are blind, fractured, maimed, or have a wart, a festering rash, or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. 23 Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an [v]overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a [w]voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 Also (T)anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor [x]sacrifice in your land, 25 nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a [y]foreigner (U)as the [z]food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall [aa]remain (V)seven days [ab]with its mother, and from the eighth day on it will be considered acceptable as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 (W)But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. 29 When you sacrifice (X)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 morning. I am the Lord. 31 (Y)So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.
32 “And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 (Z)who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 22:3 Lit seed
- Leviticus 22:4 Lit seed
- Leviticus 22:4 I.e., leprosy or another serious skin disease
- Leviticus 22:6 Lit soul
- Leviticus 22:6 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 22:7 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:10 Or unauthorized person
- Leviticus 22:11 Lit soul
- Leviticus 22:11 Lit he may
- Leviticus 22:11 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:12 Lit stranger
- Leviticus 22:12 Or uplifted offering
- Leviticus 22:13 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:13 Lit stranger
- Leviticus 22:16 Or wrongdoing requiring a guilt offering
- Leviticus 22:18 Or vowed offerings
- Leviticus 22:18 Or freewill offerings
- Leviticus 22:19 Lit among
- Leviticus 22:21 Or freewill offering
- Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
- Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
- Leviticus 22:23 Or a deformed
- Leviticus 22:23 Or freewill offering
- Leviticus 22:24 Lit do
- Leviticus 22:25 Lit son of a stranger
- Leviticus 22:25 Lit bread
- Leviticus 22:27 Lit be
- Leviticus 22:27 Lit under
Leviticus 22
King James Version
22 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the Lord.
3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord.
4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
5 Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;
6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.
8 That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith; I am the Lord.
9 They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the Lord do sanctify them.
10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
11 But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.
12 If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.
13 But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall be no stranger eat thereof.
14 And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.
15 And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the Lord;
16 Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the Lord do sanctify them.
17 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
18 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering;
19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.
21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
22 Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord.
23 Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
24 Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.
25 Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
28 And whether it be cow, or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.
29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will.
30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the Lord.
31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the Lord.
32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you,
33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 22
Living Bible
22 1-2 The Lord told Moses, “Instruct Aaron and his sons to be very careful not to defile my holy name by desecrating the people’s sacred gifts; for I am Jehovah. 3 From now on and forever, if a priest who is ceremonially defiled sacrifices the animals brought by the people or handles the gifts dedicated to Jehovah, he shall be discharged from the priesthood. For I am Jehovah!
4 “No priest who is a leper or who has a running sore may eat the holy sacrifices until healed. And any priest who touches a dead person, or who is defiled by a seminal emission, 5 or who touches any reptile or other forbidden thing, or who touches anyone who is ceremonially defiled for any reason— 6 that priest shall be defiled until evening and shall not eat of the holy sacrifices until after he has bathed that evening. 7 When the sun is down, then he shall be purified again and may eat the holy food, for it is his source of life. 8 He may not eat any animal that dies of itself or is torn by wild animals, for this will defile him. I am Jehovah. 9 Warn the priests to follow these instructions carefully, lest they be declared guilty and die for violating these rules. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
10 “No one may eat of the holy sacrifices unless he is a priest; no one visiting the priest, for instance, nor a hired servant, may eat this food. 11 However, there is one exception—if the priest buys a slave with his own money, that slave may eat it, and any slave children born in his household may eat it. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married outside the tribe, she may not eat the sacred offerings.[a] 13 But if she is a widow or divorced and has no son to support her, and has returned home to her father’s household, she may eat of her father’s food again. But otherwise, no one who is not in the priestly families may eat this food.
14 “If someone should eat of the holy sacrifices without realizing it, he shall return to the priest the amount he has used, with 20 percent added; 15 for the holy sacrifices brought by the people of Israel must not be defiled by being eaten by unauthorized persons, for these sacrifices have been offered to the Lord. 16 Anyone who violates this law is guilty and is in great danger because he has eaten the sacred offerings; for I am Jehovah who sanctifies the offerings.”
17-18 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel that if an Israelite or other person living among you offers a burnt offering sacrifice to the Lord—whether it is to fulfill a promise or is a spontaneous freewill offering— 19 it will only be acceptable to the Lord if it is a male animal without defect; it must be a young bull or a sheep or a goat. 20 Anything that has a defect must not be offered, for it will not be accepted.
21 “Anyone sacrificing a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or flock, whether to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, must sacrifice an animal that has no defect, or it will not be accepted: 22 An animal that is blind or disabled or mutilated, or which has sores or itch or any other skin disease, must not be offered to the Lord; it is not a fit burnt offering for the altar of the Lord. 23 If the young bull or lamb presented to the Lord has anything superfluous or lacking in its body parts, it may be offered as a freewill offering, but not for a vow. 24 An animal that has injured genitals—crushed or castrated—shall not be offered to the Lord at any time. 25 This restriction applies to the sacrifices made by foreigners among you as well as those made by yourselves, for no defective animal is acceptable for this sacrifice.”
26-27 And the Lord said to Moses, “When a bullock, sheep, or goat is born, it shall be left with its mother for seven days, but from the eighth day onward it is acceptable as a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring the same day, whether she is a cow or ewe. 29-30 When you offer the Lord a sacrifice of thanksgiving, you must do it in the right way, eating the sacrificial animal the same day it is slain. Leave none of it for the following day. I am the Lord.
31 “You must keep all of my commandments, for I am the Lord. 32-33 You must not treat me as common and ordinary. Revere me and hallow me, for I, the Lord, made you holy to myself and rescued you from Egypt to be my own people! I am Jehovah!”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 22:12 the sacred offerings, literally, “the elevation of the holy things.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.