Leviticus 17-19

The Message

Holy Living: Sacrifices and Blood

17 ^1-7 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites. Tell them, This is what God commands: Any and every man who slaughters an ox or lamb or goat inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to God in front of The Dwelling of God—that man is considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. This is so the Israelites will bring to God the sacrifices that they’re in the habit of sacrificing out in the open fields. They must bring them to God and the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and sacrifice them as Peace-Offerings to God. The priest will splash the blood on the Altar of God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing fragrance to God. They must no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-demons—a kind of religious orgy. This is a perpetual decree down through the generations.

^8-9 “Tell them, Any Israelite or foreigner living among them who offers a Whole-Burnt-Offering or Peace-Offering but doesn’t bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to God, that person must be cut off from his people.

^10-12 “If any Israelite or foreigner living among them eats blood, I will disown that person and cut him off from his people, for the life of an animal is in the blood. I have provided the blood for you to make atonement for your lives on the Altar; it is the blood, the life, that makes atonement. That’s why I tell the People of Israel, ‘Don’t eat blood.’ The same goes for the foreigner who lives among you, ‘Don’t eat blood.’

^13-14 “Any and every Israelite—this also goes for the foreigners—who hunts down an animal or bird that is edible, must bleed it and cover the blood with dirt, because the life of every animal is its blood—the blood is its life. That’s why I tell the Israelites, ‘Don’t eat the blood of any animal because the life of every animal is its blood. Anyone who eats the blood must be cut off.’

^15-16 “Anyone, whether native or foreigner, who eats from an animal that is found dead or mauled must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening and is then clean. If he doesn’t wash or bathe his body, he’ll be held responsible for his actions.”

Sex

18 ^1-5 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, I am God, your God. Don’t live like the people of Egypt where you used to live, and don’t live like the people of Canaan where I’m bringing you. Don’t do what they do. Obey my laws and live by my decrees. I am your God. Keep my decrees and laws: The person who obeys them lives by them. I am God.

⁶ “Don’t have sex with a close relative. I am God.

⁷ “Don’t violate your father by having sex with your mother. She is your mother. Don’t have sex with her.

⁸ “Don’t have sex with your father’s wife. That violates your father.

⁹ “Don’t have sex with your sister, whether she’s your father’s daughter or your mother’s, whether she was born in the same house or elsewhere.

¹⁰ “Don’t have sex with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter. That would violate your own body.

¹¹ “Don’t have sex with the daughter of your father’s wife born to your father. She is your sister.

¹² “Don’t have sex with your father’s sister; she is your aunt, closely related to your father.

¹³ “Don’t have sex with your mother’s sister; she is your aunt, closely related to your mother.

¹⁴ “Don’t violate your father’s brother, your uncle, by having sex with his wife. She is your aunt.

¹⁵ “Don’t have sex with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; don’t have sex with her.

¹⁶ “Don’t have sex with your brother’s wife; that would violate your brother.

¹⁷ “Don’t have sex with both a woman and her daughter. And don’t have sex with her granddaughters either. They are her close relatives. That is wicked.

¹⁸ “Don’t marry your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sex with her while your wife is living.

¹⁹ “Don’t have sex with a woman during the time of her menstrual period when she is unclean.

²⁰ “Don’t have sex with your neighbor’s wife and violate yourself by her.

²¹ “Don’t give any of your children to be burned in sacrifice to the god Molech—an act of sheer blasphemy of your God. I am God.

²² “Don’t have sex with a man as one does with a woman. That is abhorrent.

²³ “Don’t have sex with an animal and violate yourself by it.

“A woman must not have sex with an animal. That is perverse.

^24-28 “Don’t pollute yourself in any of these ways. This is how the nations became polluted, the ones that I am going to drive out of the land before you. Even the land itself became polluted and I punished it for its iniquities—the land vomited up its inhabitants. You must keep my decrees and laws—natives and foreigners both. You must not do any of these abhorrent things. The people who lived in this land before you arrived did all these things and polluted the land. And if you pollute it, the land will vomit you up just as it vomited up the nations that preceded you.

^29-30 “Those who do any of these abhorrent things will be cut off from their people. Keep to what I tell you; don’t engage in any of the abhorrent acts that were practiced before you came. Don’t pollute yourselves with them. I am God, your God.”

“I Am God, Your God”

19 ^1-2 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the congregation of Israel. Tell them, Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy.

³ “Every one of you must respect his mother and father.

“Keep my Sabbaths. I am God, your God.

⁴ “Don’t take up with no-god idols. Don’t make gods of cast metal. I am God, your God.

^5-8 “When you sacrifice a Peace-Offering to God, do it as you’ve been taught so it is acceptable. Eat it on the day you sacrifice it and the day following. Whatever is left until the third day is to be burned up. If it is eaten on the third day it is polluted meat and not acceptable. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has violated what is holy to God. That person will be cut off from his people.

^9-10 “When you harvest your land, don’t harvest right up to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings from the harvest. Don’t strip your vineyard bare or go back and pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am God, your God.

¹¹ “Don’t steal.

“Don’t lie.

“Don’t deceive anyone.

¹² “Don’t swear falsely using my name, violating the name of your God. I am God.

¹³ “Don’t exploit your friend or rob him.

“Don’t hold back the wages of a hired hand overnight.

¹⁴ “Don’t curse the deaf; don’t put a stumbling block in front of the blind; fear your God. I am God.

¹⁵ “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.

¹⁶ “Don’t spread gossip and rumors.

“Don’t just stand by when your neighbor’s life is in danger. I am God.

¹⁷ “Don’t secretly hate your neighbor. If you have something against him, get it out into the open; otherwise you are an accomplice in his guilt.

¹⁸ “Don’t seek revenge or carry a grudge against any of your people.

“Love your neighbor as yourself. I am God.

¹⁹ “Keep my decrees.

“Don’t mate two different kinds of animals.

“Don’t plant your fields with two kinds of seed.

“Don’t wear clothes woven of two kinds of material.

^20-22 “If a man has sex with a slave girl who is engaged to another man but has not yet been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be an investigation. But they aren’t to be put to death because she wasn’t free. The man must bring a Compensation-Offering to God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, a ram of compensation. The priest will perform the ritual of atonement for him before God with the ram of compensation for the sin he has committed. Then he will stand forgiven of the sin he committed.

^23-25 “When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, don’t eat the fruit for three years; consider it inedible. By the fourth year its fruit is holy, an offering of praise to God. Beginning in the fifth year you can eat its fruit; you’ll have richer harvests this way. I am God, your God.

²⁶ “Don’t eat meat with blood in it.

“Don’t practice divination or sorcery.

²⁷ “Don’t cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard.

²⁸ “Don’t gash your bodies on behalf of the dead.

“Don’t tattoo yourselves. I am God.

²⁹ “Don’t violate your daughter by making her a whore—the whole country would soon become a brothel, filled with sordid sex.

³⁰ “Keep my Sabbaths and revere my Sanctuary: I am God.

³¹ “Don’t dabble in the occult or traffic with mediums; you’ll pollute your souls. I am God, your God.

³² “Show respect to the aged; honor the presence of an elder; fear your God. I am God.

^33-34 “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God.

^35-36 “Don’t cheat when measuring length, weight, or quantity. Use honest scales and weights and measures. I am God, your God. I brought you out of Egypt.

³⁷ “Keep all my decrees and all my laws. Yes, do them. I am God.”

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