Leviticus 22

Rules for the priests about holy offerings

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy offerings from Israel's people. Those are gifts that the people offer to me. The priests must not spoil the honour of my holy name. I am the Lord. Tell them this, as a rule that will continue for ever:

3 No priest may come near to the holy offerings when he is unclean. Those are gifts that Israel's people have offered to me, the Lord. If any unclean priest goes near them, he can never serve me again. I am the Lord.

4 If any descendant of Aaron is unclean, he must not eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean again. He may be unclean because of a skin disease, or some kind of pus is coming out from his body. He may have touched something that has touched a dead body and is unclean. He may have touched a man whose semen has come out from his sex part. 5 He may have touched an unclean animal that moves near to the ground. He may have touched a person who is unclean for any reason. All these things will cause the priest himself to become unclean.

6 Any priest who touches any of these unclean things will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat any of the holy offerings until he has washed his whole body. 7 When the sun goes down, he will be clean. Then he can eat the holy offerings which are his food.

8 A priest may find the body of an animal that has died by itself, or wild animals have killed it. He must not eat the meat of that animal. It will make him unclean. I am the Lord. 9 Priests must obey my commands. If they do not obey them, they will be guilty of sin. They will die because they have not respected my commands. I am the Lord. I cause the priests to be holy.

10 Only people who belong to a priest's family may eat any of the holy offerings. No visitor who is living in the priest's house may do that. No servant that the priest pays to work for him may do that. 11 But a slave that the priest has bought for himself may eat the holy offerings. And a slave that was born in the priest's house may eat them. 12 If a priest's daughter marries a man who is not a priest, she may not eat the holy offerings. 13 But if her husband dies or she becomes separate from him, it is different. She may have no children to take care of her. Then she may return to live in her father's home where she lived when she was young. If so, she is allowed to eat some of the food that her father receives as a priest. Only someone who belongs to a priest's family may eat that food.

14 Someone might eat a holy offering by mistake. If that happens, he must pay the priest for that food. He must also add one fifth of its value. 15 The priests must always respect the holy offerings as special food. They are gifts which Israel's people offer to the Lord. 16 If the priests allow other people to eat the holy offerings, those people are guilty of sin. They will receive punishment. I am the Lord and I cause the offerings to be holy.’

Offerings that God will not accept

17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 ‘Speak to Aaron, to his sons and to all Israel's people. Tell them, “This is the rule about burnt offerings from the people of Israel or from the foreign people who live among them. It may be an offering that they have promised to give to the Lord. Or it may be an offering that they choose to give. 19 I will only accept your gift if it is a perfect male animal. It can be a bull, a sheep or a goat. 20 You must not offer to me any animal that has something wrong with it. If it is not perfect, I will not accept it as a gift from you.

21 This is also the rule if someone brings an animal as a sacrifice for a friendship offering. He may do that because of a special promise. Or he may do it because he chooses to give it. It may be a bull, a sheep or a goat. I will only accept it if the animal is perfect. It must not have anything wrong with it.

22 You must not offer to the Lord an animal that is blind. It must not have a broken bone or a body that has become spoiled. It must not have sores or any other disease on its skin. You must not offer on the altar any animal like that as a gift to the Lord.

23 You may bring a bull or a sheep that has a leg which is longer or shorter than the other legs. I will accept that animal as a gift that you choose to bring to me. I will not accept that animal as an offering that you make because of a promise.

24 You must not offer to the Lord an animal that has something wrong with its testicles. I will not accept the animal if anyone has hurt its testicles or removed them. You must never hurt the testicles of any animal in your land. 25 You must not offer to me animals like that which you have bought from a foreign person. I will not accept them as a gift of food from you. Those animals have bodies which are spoiled. They are not perfect.” ’

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 ‘When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it must stay with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day, you may offer it as a gift to the Lord. I will accept it. 28 You must not kill a cow or a sheep on the same day that you kill its baby.

29 When you bring an animal as a sacrifice to thank the Lord for something, offer it in the proper way. Then I will accept it as your gift. 30 You must eat the animal's meat on the same day that you offer it. None of the meat may remain until the next morning. I am the Lord.

31 You must be careful to obey my commands. I am the Lord. 32 You must not bring shame to my holy name. You people of Israel must know that I am holy as I live among you. I am the Lord and I cause you to be holy. 33 I am the one who brought you out of Egypt, so that I would be your God. I am the Lord.’