The Place of Sacrifice

1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, saying to them: This is the word, which the Lord has commanded, saying: 3Any man at all of the house of Israel, if he will have killed an ox, or a sheep, or a goat in the camp or beyond the camp, 4and not have presented it as an oblation to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, he shall be guilty of blood. It is just as if he had shed blood; so then, he shall perish from the midst of his people. 5Therefore, the sons of Israel must offer to the priest their victims, which they kill in the field, so that they may be sanctified to the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and so that they may immolate them as peace offerings to the Lord. 6And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and he shall burn the fat as a sweet odor to the Lord. 7And they shall no longer immolate their victims to demons, with whom they have committed fornication. It shall be an everlasting ordinance for them and for their posterity.

8And you shall say to them: The man of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn with you, who offers a holocaust or a victim, 9and who does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be offered to the Lord, shall pass away from his people.

Laws against Eating Blood

10Any man at all of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn among them, if he has eaten blood, I will harden my face against his soul, and I will drive him from his people. 11For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you, so that you may atone with it upon the altar for your souls, and so that the blood may be for an expiation of the soul. 12For this reason, I have said to the sons of Israel: No soul among you shall eat blood, nor among the newcomers who sojourn with you. 13Any man at all from the sons of Israel, or from the newcomers who sojourn with you, whether by hunting or bird-catching, if he seizes a wild beast or a bird, which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood and cover the earth with it.

14For the life of all flesh is in the blood. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whoever has eaten it shall perish. 15The soul who eats what has died on its own, or what has been caught by a beast, whether he is native born or a newcomer, shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and he shall be contaminated until evening. And by this means he shall be made clean. 16But if he will not wash his clothes and his body, he shall bear his iniquity.