Various Rules for Priests

1Then 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. 3Say to them, ‘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. 4No 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. And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has a seminal emission, 5or 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; 6a [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. 7But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for it is his [f]food. 8He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the LORD. 9They shall therefore perform their duty to Me, so that they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

10‘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. 11But 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. 12If a priest’s daughter is married to a [k]layman, she shall not eat of the [l]offering of the holy gifts. 13But 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; but no [n]layman shall eat of it. 14If, 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. 15And they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the LORD, 16and thereby bring upon them [o]punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

17Then 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, ‘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— 19for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect [r]from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD 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. 22Those 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. 23Now 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. 24Also anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor [x]sacrifice in your land, 25nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a [y]foreigner as the [z]food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”

26Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall [aa]remain 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. 28But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. 29When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning. I am the LORD. 31So 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, 33who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the LORD.”

[a] 3 Lit seed
[b] 4 Lit seed
[c] 4 I.e., leprosy or another serious skin disease
[d] 6 Lit soul
[e] 6 Lit flesh
[f] 7 Lit bread
[g] 10 Or unauthorized person
[h] 11 Lit soul
[i] 11 Lit he may
[j] 11 Lit bread
[k] 12 Lit stranger
[l] 12 Or uplifted offering
[m] 13 Lit bread
[n] 13 Lit stranger
[o] 16 Or wrongdoing requiring a guilt offering
[p] 18 Or vowed offerings
[q] 18 Or freewill offerings
[r] 19 Lit among
[s] 21 Or freewill offering
[t] 21 Lit among
[u] 21 Lit among
[v] 23 Or a deformed
[w] 23 Or freewill offering
[x] 24 Lit do
[y] 25 Lit son of a stranger
[z] 25 Lit bread
[aa] 27 Lit be
[ab] 27 Lit under