Leviticus 17
The people must not eat blood
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to Aaron, to his sons and to all Israel's people. Tell them, “This is what the Lord has commanded. 3-4 If any Israelite wants to kill a bull, a lamb or a goat as a sacrifice, he must bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He must bring it there as an offering to the Lord. If he kills the animal anywhere else in the camp or outside the camp, he is guilty of a sin. He has poured out the animal's blood in a wrong way. He can no longer belong among Israel's people.
5 This rule will stop the people killing animals as sacrifices to the Lord in the fields. Instead, they must bring their offerings to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They must kill the animals there as friendship offerings to the Lord. 6 The priest must splash the animal's blood on the Lord's altar at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He must also burn the animal's fat. It will make a smell that gives pleasure to the Lord. 7 The people must be faithful to the Lord. They must no longer worship the idols of goats and offer sacrifices to them. The people and their descendants must always obey this rule.”
8 You must also tell the people, “An Israelite or a foreigner may want to kill an animal as a burnt offering or as another sacrifice. 9 If so, he must bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He must offer it there to the Lord. If he does not do that, he can no longer belong among Israel's people.
10 Any Israelite or a foreigner who lives among you must not eat any blood. If anyone does that, I will turn against that person. I will remove him so that he no longer belongs among Israel's people. 11 Everything that lives has life because of its blood. I have told you to offer blood on the altar. That is how you become clean from your sins. The animal's blood is the life that makes you clean. 12 For this reason I have told Israel's people that you must not eat blood. And no foreign person who lives among you may eat blood either.
13 Israelites or foreigners who live among them may catch a wild animal or a bird. If it is clean to eat, the person who catches it must pour its blood on the ground. He must cover the blood with some soil. 14 All living things have life because of their blood. So I have told the Israelites that they must not eat the blood of any living thing. Anyone who eats blood can no longer belong among my people.
15 An Israelite or a foreigner may find the body of an animal that has died by itself. Or it may be the body of an animal that wild animals have killed. If he eats the meat of that animal, he must wash his clothes and his whole body. He will be unclean until evening. Then he will become clean. 16 But if he does not wash his clothes and his whole body, he will receive the punishment that he deserves.” ’
17:16Animals that have died by themselves still have the blood in their meat. So they are not clean.
Leviticus 18
Rules about sex
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to Israel's people. Say to them, “I am the Lord your God. 3 You have been living in Egypt, but you must not do the things that the people of Egypt do. I will soon take you to live in the land of Canaan. You must not do the things that the people of Canaan do. You must not live in the way that they think is right. 4 Instead, you must live in the way that I say is right. You must obey my laws. I am the Lord your God. 5 You must obey my laws and my teaching. Anyone who does that will continue to live. I am the Lord.”
18:3Egypt is a country in north Africa that was south of Israel. Pharaohs were the rulers of Egypt.
6 Tell them this:
“You must not have sex with anyone who belongs to your own family. I am the Lord. 7 Do not have sex with your mother. That would cause your father to be ashamed. 8 Do not have sex with any wife of your father. Your father would be ashamed. 9 Do not have sex with your sister. She may be your mother's daughter or your father's daughter. She may have been born in your house or in another house. It does not matter. You must not have sex with any sister. 10 Do not have sex with any granddaughter. That would make you ashamed. 11 Do not have sex with the daughter of your father and any of his wives. She is your sister so you must not have sex with her. 12 Do not have sex with your father's sister. She belongs to your father's family. 13 Do not have sex with your mother's sister. She belongs to your mother's family. 14 Do not have sex with the wife of your father's brother. That would make your uncle ashamed. His wife is your aunt. You must not try to get near to her. 15 Do not have sex with your son's wife. 16 Do not have sex with your brother's wife. That would make your brother ashamed. 17 Do not have sex with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take the woman's son's daughter or her daughter's daughter so that you can have sex with any of them. They belong to the same family. It would be a very wicked thing to do. 18 If your wife is still alive, do not marry her sister as a second wife. While your wife lives, you must not have sex with her sister. 19 Do not have sex with a woman at the time when she bleeds each month. She is unclean during that time. 20 Do not have sex with the wife of another man. You would become unclean. 21 Do not give any of your children as an offering to the god Molech. That would bring shame to the name of your God. I am the Lord!18:21Molech was a false god. To worship him, people sometimes burned their children as an offering to him. See 2 Chronicles 28:3. 22 A man must not have sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. That is a disgusting thing to do. 23 Do not have sex with any animal. That would make you unclean. A woman must not offer herself to an animal to have sex with it. She would be doing a very bad thing.God warns the Israelites not to live like other nations live
24 Do not do any of these things that would make you unclean. The nations who live in Canaan make themselves unclean with all these things. I will chase out those people so that you can live in their land. 25 The land itself has become unclean because the people did these things. So I am punishing those people for their sins. The land has thrown out the people who lived on it.
26 But you yourselves must obey my laws and my rules. Do not do any of these wicked things. That includes the foreign people who live among you. 27 The people who lived in Canaan before you did these disgusting things. Because of that, the land became unclean. 28 So do not make the land unclean, as those people have done. Do not cause the land to throw you out, as it did to the nations who lived there before you.
29 If anyone does any of these disgusting things, they can no longer belong among Israel's people. 30 You must obey what I have commanded you to do. Do not live in the disgusting way that these other people have lived. Do not make yourselves unclean like that. I am the Lord your God.” ’
