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Leviticus 20-27
New American Standard Bible

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “You shall also say to the sons of Israel:

‘Anyone from the sons of Israel or from the strangers residing in Israel (A)who gives any of his [a]children to Molech, shall certainly be put to death; (B)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his [b]children to Molech, (C)so as to defile My sanctuary and (D)to profane My holy name. 4 If the people of the land, however, [c]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his [d]children to Molech, so as not to put him to death, 5 then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the prostitute with him, by playing the prostitute with Molech.

6 ‘As for the person who turns to [e](E)mediums and to spiritists, to play the prostitute with them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and (F)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 So (G)you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

9 ‘(H)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and has brought his [f]own death upon himself.

10 ‘(I)If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 (J)If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their [g]own deaths upon themselves. 12 (K)If there is a man who sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed [h]incest, and have brought their [i]own deaths upon themselves. 13 (L)If there is a man who sleeps with a male as those who sleep with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they must be put to death. They have brought their [j]own deaths upon themselves. 14 (M)If there is a man who [k]marries a woman and her mother, it is an outrageous sin; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no such outrageous sin in your midst. 15 (N)If there is a man who has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. 16 If there is a woman who approaches any animal to [l]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they must be put to death. They have brought their [m]own deaths upon themselves.

17 ‘(O)If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. 18 (P)If there is a man who sleeps with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; so both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 (Q)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his [n]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. 20 (R)If there is a man who sleeps with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. 21 (S)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is [o]detestable; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

22 ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to [p]live will not (T)vomit you out. 23 Furthermore, you shall not [q]follow (U)the customs of the nation which I am going to drive out before you, because they did all these things; (V)therefore I have felt disgust for them. 24 So I have said to you, “(W)You are to take possession of their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has (X)singled you out from the peoples. 25 (Y)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make [r]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird, or by anything [s]that crawls on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as unclean. 26 So you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I (Z)have singled you out from the peoples to be Mine.

27 ‘Now a man or a woman (AA)who is a medium or a spiritist [t]must be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; they have brought their [u]own deaths upon themselves.’”

Regulations concerning Priests

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘(AB)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2 (AC)except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, 3 also for his virgin sister who is near to him [v]because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself. 4 He shall not defile himself as a [w]relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself. 5 (AD)They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, (AE)nor shave off the edges of their beards, (AF)nor make any cuts in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God and (AG)not profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire [x]to the Lord, (AH)the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 (AI)They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and [y]profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers (AJ)the food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 (AK)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

10 ‘The priest who is [z]highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and [aa]who has been consecrated to wear the garments, (AL)shall not [ab]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 (AM)nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; 12 (AN)nor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for (AO)the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. 13 He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 (AP)A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to [ac]marry a virgin of his own people, 15 so that he will not profane his [ad]children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your [ae]descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the (AQ)food of his God. 18 (AR)For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a (AS)slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature, 19 or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or (AT)crushed testicles. 21 No man among the [af]descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward to offer (AU)the food of his God. 22 He may eat (AV)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, 23 only he shall not come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Various Rules for Priests

22 Then 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. 3 Say to them, ‘(AW)Any man among all your [ag]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. 4 (AX)No man of the [ah]descendants of Aaron, who has [ai]leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. (AY)And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or (AZ)a man who has a seminal emission, 5 or (BA)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; 6 a [aj]person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his [ak]body in water. 7 But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for (BB)it is his [al]food. 8 He shall not eat (BC)an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. 9 They shall therefore perform their (BD)duty to Me, so that (BE)they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 ‘(BF)No [am]layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired worker shall not eat the holy gift. 11 (BG)But if a priest buys a [an]slave as his property with his money, [ao]that person may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his [ap]food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to a [aq]layman, she shall not eat of the [ar]offering of the holy gifts. 13 But 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 [as]food; (BH)but no [at]layman shall eat of it. 14 (BI)If, 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. 15 And (BJ)they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 and thereby (BK)bring upon them [au]punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

17 Then 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, ‘(BL)Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their [av]vows or any of their [aw]voluntary offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering— 19 (BM)for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect [ax]from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 (BN)Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord (BO)to fulfill a special vow or for a [ay]voluntary offering, [az]of the herd or [ba]of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those 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. 23 Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an [bb]overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a [bc]voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 Also (BP)anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor [bd]sacrifice in your land, 25 nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a [be]foreigner (BQ)as the [bf]food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”

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

Laws of Holy Days

23 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(BW)The Lord’s appointed times which you shall (BX)proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

3 ‘(BY)For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

4 ‘These are the (BZ)appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5 (CA)In the [bi]first month, on the fourteenth day of the month [bj]at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the (CB)Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall (CC)not do any laborious work. 8 But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”

9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and you (CD)gather its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its (CE)grain offering shall then be [bk]two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a [bl]fourth of a hin of wine. 14 Until this very day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, (CF)you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new produce. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

15 ‘(CG)You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a (CH)new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread as a wave offering, made of [bm]two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked (CI)with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the bread you shall present seven one-year-old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 19 You shall also offer (CJ)one male goat as a [bn]sin offering, and two male lambs one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 On this very day you shall (CK)make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious (CL)work. It is to be a permanent statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

22 ‘(CM)When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘(CN)In the [bo]seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a [bp]rest, a (CO)reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall (CP)not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’”

The Day of Atonement

26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “On exactly (CQ)the tenth day of this seventh month is (CR)the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble [bq]yourselves and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do any work on this very day, for it is a (CS)Day of Atonement, (CT)to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 If there is any [br]person who does not humble himself on this very day, (CU)he shall be cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this very day, that person I will eliminate from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble [bs]yourselves; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”

33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On (CV)the fifteenth of this [bt]seventh month is the (CW)Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall (CX)not do any laborious work. 36 (CY)For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On (CZ)the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. You shall not do any laborious work.

37 ‘These are (DA)the appointed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the Lord—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, (DB)each day’s matter on its own day— 38 besides those of the Sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts and besides all your [bu]vowed and [bv]voluntary offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, (DC)when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a [bw]rest on the first day and a [bx]rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the [by]foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and branches of trees with thick branches and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 So you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall live (DD)in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that (DE)your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel (DF)the appointed times of the Lord.

The Lamp and the Bread of the Sanctuary

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you (DG)clear oil from beaten olives for the [bz]light, to make a lamp [ca]burn continually. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations. 4 He shall keep the lamps in order on the (DH)pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

5 “(DI)Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve [cb]cakes with it; [cc]two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the (DJ)pure gold table before the Lord. 7 You shall put pure frankincense on each row so that it may be (DK)a memorial portion for the bread, an offering by fire to the Lord. 8 (DL)Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord (DM)continually; it is an everlasting covenant [cd]for the sons of Israel. 9 And (DN)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.”

10 Now the son of an Israelite woman—his father was an Egyptian—went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man had a fight within the camp. 11 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the (DO)Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 Then they put him in custody, waiting for Moses to give them a clear decision in accordance with (DP)the command of the Lord.

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and have all who heard him (DQ)lay their hands on his head; then (DR)have all the congregation stone him. 15 You shall also speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘(DS)If anyone curses his God, then he will bear the responsibility for his sin. 16 Moreover, the one who (DT)blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The stranger as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

17 ‘Now (DU)if someone [ce]takes any human life, he must be put to death. 18 But (DV)the one who [cf]takes the life of an animal shall make restitution, life for life. 19 If someone injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so shall it be done to him: 20 (DW)fracture for fracture, (DX)eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a person, so shall it be [cg]inflicted on him. 21 So the one who [ch]kills an animal shall make restitution, but (DY)the one who [ci]kills a person shall be put to death. 22 There shall be only (DZ)one [cj]standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.’” 23 Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp, and stoned him with stones. So the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Sabbatical Year and Year of Jubilee

25 The Lord then spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am going to give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For (EA)six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, 4 but during (EB)the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap your harvest’s [ck]aftergrowth, and you shall not gather your grapes of untrimmed vines; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6 (EC)All of you shall have the Sabbath produce of the land as food; for yourself, your male and female slaves, and your hired worker and your foreign resident, those who live as strangers among you. 7 Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its produce to eat.

8 ‘You are also to count off seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven Sabbaths of years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram’s horn [cl]abroad on (ED)the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. 10 So you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and (EE)proclaim [cm]a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, [cn]and (EF)each of you shall return to his own property, [co]and each of you shall return to his family. 11 You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor harvest its aftergrowth, nor gather grapes from its untrimmed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its produce from the field.

13 ‘(EG)On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. 14 Furthermore, if you make a sale to your friend, or buy from your friend’s hand, (EH)you shall not [cp]wrong one another. 15 Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your [cq]friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. 16 (EI)In proportion to [cr]a greater number of years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to [cs]fewer years you shall decrease its price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. 17 So (EJ)you shall not [ct]wrong one another, but you shall [cu]fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

18 ‘You shall therefore [cv]follow My statutes and keep My judgments so as to carry them out, so that (EK)you may live securely on the land. 19 Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 20 But if you say, “(EL)What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 then (EM)I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the produce for three years. 22 When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat (EN)old things from the produce, eating the old until the ninth year when its produce comes in.

The Law of Redemption

23 ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, because (EO)the land is Mine; for (EP)you are only strangers and residents with Me. 24 So for every [cw]piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

25 ‘(EQ)If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor that he sells part of his property, then his closest [cx]redeemer is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. 26 Or in case someone has no redeemer, but [cy]recovers to find sufficient means for its redemption, 27 (ER)then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. 28 But if [cz]he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall [da]revert, so that (ES)he may return to his property.

29 ‘Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30 But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not [db]revert in the jubilee. 31 The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall, shall be regarded [dc]as open fields; they have redemption rights and [dd]revert in the jubilee. 32 As for the (ET)cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession. 33 What, therefore, [de]belongs to the Levites may be redeemed, and a house sale [df]in the city of this possession [dg]reverts in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34 (EU)But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

Of Poor Countrymen

35 ‘(EV)Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his [dh]means among you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a resident, so that he may live with you. 36 (EW)Do not take [di]any kind of interest from him, but [dj]fear your God, so that your countryman may live with you. 37 You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food [dk]for profit. 38 (EX)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and (EY)to be your God.

39 ‘Now (EZ)if a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. 40 He shall be with you as a hired worker, (FA)as if he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you up to the year of jubilee. 41 He shall then leave you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, so that he may return to the property of his forefathers. 42 For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. 43 (FB)You shall not rule over him with [dl]severity, but are to revere your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 45 You may also acquire them from the sons of the foreign residents who reside among you, and from their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession. 46 You may also pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. (FC)But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with [dm]severity over one another.

Of Redeeming a Person Who Is Poor

47 ‘Now if the [dn]means of a stranger or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes poor in relation to him and sells himself to a stranger who is residing with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or [do](FD)if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50 He then, with his purchaser, shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years calculated. It is like the days of a hired worker that he will be with him. 51 If there are still many years remaining, (FE)he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52 but if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. 53 He shall be with him like a worker hired year by year; (FF)he shall not rule over him with [dp]severity in your sight. 54 Even if he is not redeemed by [dq]these means, (FG)he shall still leave in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55 For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Blessings of Obedience

26 ‘You shall not make for yourselves (FH)idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves (FI)a carved image or (FJ)a memorial stone, nor shall you place a (FK)figured stone in your land to bow down [dr]to it; for I am the Lord your God. 2 (FL)You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord. 3 (FM)If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4 then (FN)I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 (FO)Indeed, your threshing season will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. So you will eat your [ds]food to the full and (FP)live securely in your land. 6 (FQ)I shall also grant peace in the land, so that (FR)you may lie down, with no one to make you afraid. (FS)I shall also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and (FT)no sword will pass through your land. 7 Instead, you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 (FU)five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 So I will turn toward you and (FV)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will (FW)confirm My covenant with you. 10 And (FX)you will eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. 11 (FY)Moreover, I will make My [dt]dwelling among you, and My soul will not [du]reject you. 12 (FZ)I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 (GA)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and (GB)I broke your yoke and made you walk erect.

Penalties of Disobedience

14 ‘(GC)But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, 15 if, instead, you (GD)reject My statutes, and if your soul loathes My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, but rather to (GE)break My covenant, 16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will [dv]summon a (GF)sudden terror against you, consumption and fever that will make the eyes fail and the (GG)soul languish; also, (GH)you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it. 17 And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and (GI)those who hate you will rule over you, and (GJ)you will flee when no one is pursuing you. 18 If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you (GK)seven times more for your sins. 19 I will also (GL)break down your pride of power; and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 (GM)Your strength will be consumed uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

21 ‘Yet if you [dw](GN)show hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you (GO)seven times according to your sins. 22 (GP)I will also let loose among you the animals of the field, which will deprive you of your children and eliminate your cattle, and reduce your number so that (GQ)your roads become deserted.

23 ‘(GR)And if by these things you do not learn your lesson regarding Me, but you show hostility toward Me, 24 then I in turn will (GS)show hostility toward you; and I, even I, will strike you (GT)seven times for your sins. 25 I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute (GU)vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send a (GV)plague among you, so that you will be handed over to the enemy. 26 (GW)When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread [dx]in rationed amounts, so that you will (GX)eat and not be satisfied.

27 ‘Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, 28 then (GY)I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I for My part will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 Further, (GZ)you will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I then (HA)will destroy your high places, and cut down your (HB)incense altars, and [dy]pile your [dz]remains on the [ea]remains of your idols, for My soul will loathe you. 31 I will turn your cities into (HC)ruins as well and make your (HD)sanctuaries desolate, and I will not (HE)smell your soothing aromas. 32 And I will make (HF)the land desolate (HG)so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 You, however, I (HH)will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins.

34 ‘(HI)Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths. 35 All the days of its desolation it will have the rest which it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it. 36 As for those among you who are left, I will also bring (HJ)despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a scattered leaf will chase them, and even when no one is pursuing they will flee [eb]as though from the sword, and they will fall. 37 (HK)They will then stumble over each other as if running from the sword, although no one is pursuing; and you will have no strength to stand before your enemies. 38 Instead, (HL)you will perish among the nations, and your enemies’ land will consume you. 39 (HM)So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their wrongdoing in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the wrongdoing of their forefathers they will rot away with them.

40 ‘But (HN)if they confess their wrongdoing and the wrongdoing of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—(HO)or if their uncircumcised heart is humbled so that (HP)they then make amends for their wrongdoing, 42 then I will remember (HQ)My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also (HR)My covenant with Isaac, and (HS)My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 43 (HT)For the land will be abandoned by them, and will restore its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their wrongdoing, [ec]because they rejected My ordinances and their (HU)soul loathed My statutes. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so (HV)loathe them as (HW)to destroy them, (HX)breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will remember for them the (HY)covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that (HZ)I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 (IA)These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the sons of Israel [ed]through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Rules concerning Assessments

27 Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(IB)When someone makes an explicit vow, he shall be valued according to your assessment of persons belonging to the Lord. 3 If your assessment is of a male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your assessment shall be fifty shekels of silver, by (IC)the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 Or if [ee]the person is a female, then your assessment shall be thirty shekels. 5 And if the person is from five years even to twenty years old, then your assessment for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female, ten shekels. 6 But if the person is from a month even up to five years old, then your assessment shall be (ID)five shekels of silver for a male, and for a female your assessment shall be three shekels of silver. 7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward, if a male, then your assessment shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female, ten shekels. 8 But if he is poorer than your assessment, then he shall be presented before the priest, and the priest shall assess him; (IE)according to [ef]the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall assess him.

9 ‘Now if it is an animal of the kind that [eg]one can present as an offering to the Lord, any such animal that one gives to the Lord shall be holy. 10 (IF)He shall not replace it nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; yet if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. 11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which [eh]one does not present as an offering to the Lord, then he shall place the animal before the priest. 12 And the priest shall assess it [ei]as either good or bad; as you, the priest, assess it, so shall it be. 13 But if he should ever want to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of it to your assessment.

14 ‘Now if someone consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest shall assess it [ej]as either good or bad; as the priest assesses it, so shall it stand. 15 Yet if the one who consecrates it should want to redeem his house, then he shall add a fifth of your assessment price to it, so that it may be his.

16 ‘Again, if someone consecrates to the Lord part of the field of his own property, then your assessment shall be [ek]proportionate to the seed needed for it: a [el]homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your assessment it shall stand. 18 If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for [em]him [en]proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your assessment. 19 If the one who consecrates it should ever want to redeem the field, then he shall add a fifth of your assessment price to it, so that it may belong to him. 20 Yet if he does not redeem the field, [eo]but has sold the field to another person, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and when it [ep]reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the Lord, like a field banned from secular use; (IG)it shall be for the priest as his property. 22 Or if he consecrates to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property, 23 then the priest shall calculate for [eq]him the amount of your assessment up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your assessment as holy to the Lord. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every assessment of yours, moreover, shall be by (IH)the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.

26 ‘(II)However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no one may consecrate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall [er]redeem it according to your assessment and add to it a fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your assessment.

28 ‘Nevertheless, (IJ)[es]anything which someone sets apart to the Lord for [et]destruction out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the field of his own property, shall not be sold nor redeemed. Anything set apart for destruction is most holy to the Lord. 29 No [eu]one who may have been [ev]set apart among mankind shall be ransomed; he must be put to death.

30 ‘Now (IK)all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If, therefore, someone should ever want to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it a fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever (IL)passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 (IM)He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; yet if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”

34 (IN)These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 20:2 Lit seed
  2. Leviticus 20:3 Lit seed
  3. Leviticus 20:4 Lit hiding they hide their eyes from
  4. Leviticus 20:4 Lit seed
  5. Leviticus 20:6 Or ghosts and spirits
  6. Leviticus 20:9 Lit bloodguilt upon
  7. Leviticus 20:11 Lit bloodguilt upon
  8. Leviticus 20:12 Lit disgracefulness
  9. Leviticus 20:12 Lit bloodguilt upon
  10. Leviticus 20:13 Lit bloodguilt upon
  11. Leviticus 20:14 Lit takes
  12. Leviticus 20:16 Lit lie
  13. Leviticus 20:16 Lit bloodguilt upon
  14. Leviticus 20:19 Lit flesh
  15. Leviticus 20:21 Or an abomination
  16. Leviticus 20:22 Lit dwell in it
  17. Leviticus 20:23 Lit walk in
  18. Leviticus 20:25 Lit your souls
  19. Leviticus 20:25 Lit with which the ground crawls
  20. Leviticus 20:27 Lit among them must
  21. Leviticus 20:27 Lit bloodguilt upon
  22. Leviticus 21:3 Or who has not belonged to a man
  23. Leviticus 21:4 Lit husband among
  24. Leviticus 21:6 Lit of
  25. Leviticus 21:7 I.e., deflowered
  26. Leviticus 21:10 I.e., the high priest
  27. Leviticus 21:10 Lit whose hand has been filled
  28. Leviticus 21:10 Lit unbind
  29. Leviticus 21:14 Lit take as wife
  30. Leviticus 21:15 Lit seed
  31. Leviticus 21:17 Lit seed
  32. Leviticus 21:21 Lit seed
  33. Leviticus 22:3 Lit seed
  34. Leviticus 22:4 Lit seed
  35. Leviticus 22:4 I.e., leprosy or another serious skin disease
  36. Leviticus 22:6 Lit soul
  37. Leviticus 22:6 Lit flesh
  38. Leviticus 22:7 Lit bread
  39. Leviticus 22:10 Or unauthorized person
  40. Leviticus 22:11 Lit soul
  41. Leviticus 22:11 Lit he may
  42. Leviticus 22:11 Lit bread
  43. Leviticus 22:12 Lit stranger
  44. Leviticus 22:12 Or uplifted offering
  45. Leviticus 22:13 Lit bread
  46. Leviticus 22:13 Lit stranger
  47. Leviticus 22:16 Or wrongdoing requiring a guilt offering
  48. Leviticus 22:18 Or vowed offerings
  49. Leviticus 22:18 Or freewill offerings
  50. Leviticus 22:19 Lit among
  51. Leviticus 22:21 Or freewill offering
  52. Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
  53. Leviticus 22:21 Lit among
  54. Leviticus 22:23 Or a deformed
  55. Leviticus 22:23 Or freewill offering
  56. Leviticus 22:24 Lit do
  57. Leviticus 22:25 Lit son of a stranger
  58. Leviticus 22:25 Lit bread
  59. Leviticus 22:27 Lit be
  60. Leviticus 22:27 Lit under
  61. Leviticus 23:5 I.e., Nisan = March/April
  62. Leviticus 23:5 Lit between the two evenings
  63. Leviticus 23:13 About 0.13 cubic feet or 0.004 cubic meters
  64. Leviticus 23:13 About 0.25 gallon or 1 liter
  65. Leviticus 23:17 About 0.13 cubic feet or 0.004 cubic meters
  66. Leviticus 23:19 Or purification offering
  67. Leviticus 23:24 I.e., Tishri = September/October
  68. Leviticus 23:24 Lit Sabbath rest
  69. Leviticus 23:27 Lit your souls
  70. Leviticus 23:29 Lit soul
  71. Leviticus 23:32 Lit your souls
  72. Leviticus 23:34 I.e., Tishri = September/October
  73. Leviticus 23:38 Lit vows, and besides all your
  74. Leviticus 23:38 Or freewill offerings
  75. Leviticus 23:39 Lit Sabbath rest
  76. Leviticus 23:39 Lit Sabbath rest
  77. Leviticus 23:40 Lit products; or fruit
  78. Leviticus 24:2 Or luminary
  79. Leviticus 24:2 Lit ascend
  80. Leviticus 24:5 I.e., ring-shaped bread loaves
  81. Leviticus 24:5 About 0.13 cubic feet or 0.004 cubic meters
  82. Leviticus 24:8 Lit from
  83. Leviticus 24:17 Lit strikes
  84. Leviticus 24:18 Lit strikes
  85. Leviticus 24:20 Lit given
  86. Leviticus 24:21 Lit strikes down
  87. Leviticus 24:21 Lit strikes down
  88. Leviticus 24:22 Lit judgment
  89. Leviticus 25:5 Lit growth from spilled kernels
  90. Leviticus 25:9 Lit signal
  91. Leviticus 25:10 Or freedom
  92. Leviticus 25:10 Or when
  93. Leviticus 25:10 Or when
  94. Leviticus 25:14 Lit oppress
  95. Leviticus 25:15 Lit friend’s hands
  96. Leviticus 25:16 Lit the multitude of
  97. Leviticus 25:16 Lit the years being few
  98. Leviticus 25:17 Lit oppress
  99. Leviticus 25:17 Or revere
  100. Leviticus 25:18 Lit do My
  101. Leviticus 25:24 Lit land
  102. Leviticus 25:25 I.e., male relative to act in his behalf
  103. Leviticus 25:26 Lit his hand reaches
  104. Leviticus 25:28 Lit his hand has not found sufficient to
  105. Leviticus 25:28 Lit go out
  106. Leviticus 25:30 Lit go out
  107. Leviticus 25:31 Lit according to
  108. Leviticus 25:31 Lit go out
  109. Leviticus 25:33 Lit is from
  110. Leviticus 25:33 Lit and
  111. Leviticus 25:33 Lit goes out
  112. Leviticus 25:35 Lit hand
  113. Leviticus 25:36 Prob. interest on money and food loans
  114. Leviticus 25:36 Or revere
  115. Leviticus 25:37 Lit at interest
  116. Leviticus 25:43 Or violence
  117. Leviticus 25:46 Or violence
  118. Leviticus 25:47 Lit hand...reaches
  119. Leviticus 25:49 Lit his hand has reached and he
  120. Leviticus 25:53 Or violence
  121. Leviticus 25:54 Or these years
  122. Leviticus 26:1 Lit over
  123. Leviticus 26:5 Lit bread
  124. Leviticus 26:11 Or tabernacle
  125. Leviticus 26:11 Lit abhor
  126. Leviticus 26:16 Or impose...on you
  127. Leviticus 26:21 Lit walk with Me hostilely, and so throughout the ch
  128. Leviticus 26:26 Lit by weight
  129. Leviticus 26:30 Lit give
  130. Leviticus 26:30 Lit corpses
  131. Leviticus 26:30 Lit corpses
  132. Leviticus 26:36 Lit the flight of the sword
  133. Leviticus 26:43 Lit because and by the cause
  134. Leviticus 26:46 Lit by the hand of
  135. Leviticus 27:4 Lit she
  136. Leviticus 27:8 Lit what the hand reaches
  137. Leviticus 27:9 Lit they
  138. Leviticus 27:11 Lit they
  139. Leviticus 27:12 Lit between
  140. Leviticus 27:14 Lit between good
  141. Leviticus 27:16 Lit according to its seed
  142. Leviticus 27:16 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
  143. Leviticus 27:18 Or it
  144. Leviticus 27:18 Lit according to the years
  145. Leviticus 27:20 Or if he
  146. Leviticus 27:21 Lit goes out
  147. Leviticus 27:23 Or it
  148. Leviticus 27:27 Or ransom
  149. Leviticus 27:28 Lit anything banned
  150. Leviticus 27:28 I.e., as an offering
  151. Leviticus 27:29 Lit one devoted; or banned
  152. Leviticus 27:29 Lit put under the ban
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Leviticus 20-26
New International Version

Punishments for Sin

20 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death.(A) The members of the community are to stone him.(B) 3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people;(C) for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled(D) my sanctuary(E) and profaned my holy name.(F) 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death,(G) 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

6 “‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.(H)

7 “‘Consecrate yourselves(I) and be holy,(J) because I am the Lord your God.(K) 8 Keep my decrees(L) and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.(M)

9 “‘Anyone who curses their father(N) or mother(O) is to be put to death.(P) Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.(Q)

10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife(R)—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.(S)

11 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father.(T) Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.(U)

12 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law,(V) both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.(W) They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

14 “‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother,(X) it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire,(Y) so that no wickedness will be among you.(Z)

15 “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal,(AA) he is to be put to death,(AB) and you must kill the animal.

16 “‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

17 “‘If a man marries his sister(AC), the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed(AD) from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.(AE)

18 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period,(AF) he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.(AG)

19 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father,(AH) for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.

20 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt,(AI) he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.(AJ)

21 “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife,(AK) it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.(AL)

22 “‘Keep all my decrees and laws(AM) and follow them, so that the land(AN) where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations(AO) I am going to drive out before you.(AP) Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.(AQ) 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.”(AR) I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.(AS)

25 “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds.(AT) Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be holy to me(AU) because I, the Lord, am holy,(AV) and I have set you apart from the nations(AW) to be my own.

27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium(AX) or spiritist among you must be put to death.(AY) You are to stone them;(AZ) their blood will be on their own heads.’”

Rules for Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,(BA) and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean(BB) for any of his people who die,(BC) 2 except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,(BD) his son or daughter, his brother, 3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.(BE) 4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,[a] and so defile himself.

5 “‘Priests must not shave(BF) their heads or shave off the edges of their beards(BG) or cut their bodies.(BH) 6 They must be holy to their God(BI) and must not profane the name of their God.(BJ) Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,(BK) the food of their God,(BL) they are to be holy.(BM)

7 “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,(BN) because priests are holy to their God.(BO) 8 Regard them as holy,(BP) because they offer up the food of your God.(BQ) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.(BR)

9 “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.(BS)

10 “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head(BT) and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,(BU) must not let his hair become unkempt[b] or tear his clothes.(BV) 11 He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.(BW) He must not make himself unclean,(BX) even for his father or mother,(BY) 12 nor leave the sanctuary(BZ) of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil(CA) of his God. I am the Lord.

13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.(CB) 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect(CC) may come near to offer the food of his God.(CD) 18 No man who has any defect(CE) may come near: no man who is blind(CF) or lame,(CG) disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.(CH) 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect(CI) is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord.(CJ) He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.(CK) 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God,(CL) as well as the holy food; 23 yet because of his defect,(CM) he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.(CN) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(CO)’”

24 So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings(CP) the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name.(CQ) I am the Lord.(CR)

3 “Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord,(CS) that person must be cut off from my presence.(CT) I am the Lord.

4 “‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease[c] or a bodily discharge,(CU) he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse(CV) or by anyone who has an emission of semen, 5 or if he touches any crawling thing(CW) that makes him unclean, or any person(CX) who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. 6 The one who touches any such thing will be unclean(CY) till evening.(CZ) He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.(DA) 7 When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food.(DB) 8 He must not eat anything found dead(DC) or torn by wild animals,(DD) and so become unclean(DE) through it. I am the Lord.(DF)

9 “‘The priests are to perform my service(DG) in such a way that they do not become guilty(DH) and die(DI) for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(DJ)

10 “‘No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it.(DK) 11 But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food.(DL) 12 If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. 13 But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it.

14 “‘Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake(DM) must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value(DN) to it. 15 The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings(DO) the Israelites present to the Lord(DP) 16 by allowing them to eat(DQ) the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt(DR) requiring payment.(DS) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(DT)’”

Unacceptable Sacrifices

17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘If any of you—whether an Israelite or a foreigner residing in Israel(DU)—presents a gift(DV) for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfill a vow(DW) or as a freewill offering,(DX) 19 you must present a male without defect(DY) from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf.(DZ) 20 Do not bring anything with a defect,(EA) because it will not be accepted on your behalf.(EB) 21 When anyone brings from the herd or flock(EC) a fellowship offering(ED) to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering,(EE) it must be without defect or blemish(EF) to be acceptable.(EG) 22 Do not offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. 23 You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox[d] or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow. 24 You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut.(EH) You must not do this in your own land, 25 and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God.(EI) They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.(EJ)’”

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “When a calf, a lamb or a goat(EK) is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days.(EL) From the eighth day(EM) on, it will be acceptable(EN) as a food offering presented to the Lord. 28 Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.(EO)

29 “When you sacrifice a thank offering(EP) to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 30 It must be eaten that same day; leave none of it till morning.(EQ) I am the Lord.(ER)

31 “Keep(ES) my commands and follow them.(ET) I am the Lord. 32 Do not profane my holy name,(EU) for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites.(EV) I am the Lord, who made you holy(EW) 33 and who brought you out of Egypt(EX) to be your God.(EY) I am the Lord.”

The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals,(EZ) the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.(FA)

The Sabbath

3 “‘There are six days when you may work,(FB) but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,(FC) a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;(FD) wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread(FE)

4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:(FF) 5 The Lord’s Passover(FG) begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.(FH) 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread(FI) begins; for seven days(FJ) you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly(FK) and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.(FL) And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you(FM) and you reap its harvest,(FN) bring to the priest a sheaf(FO) of the first grain you harvest.(FP) 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord(FQ) so it will be accepted(FR) on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old(FS) without defect,(FT) 13 together with its grain offering(FU) of two-tenths of an ephah[e](FV) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering(FW) of a quarter of a hin[f] of wine.(FX) 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain,(FY) until the very day you bring this offering to your God.(FZ) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,(GA) wherever you live.(GB)

The Festival of Weeks(GC)

15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,(GD) and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah(GE) of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits(GF) to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings(GG)—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering[g] and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering,(GH) together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly(GI) and do no regular work.(GJ) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22 “‘When you reap the harvest(GK) of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(GL) Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.(GM) I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets(GN)

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly(GO) commemorated with trumpet blasts.(GP) 25 Do no regular work,(GQ) but present a food offering to the Lord.(GR)’”

The Day of Atonement(GS)

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month(GT) is the Day of Atonement.(GU) Hold a sacred assembly(GV) and deny yourselves,[h] and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work(GW) on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.(GX) 30 I will destroy from among their people(GY) anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance(GZ) for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest(HA) for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”(HB)

The Festival of Tabernacles(HC)

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh(HD) month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles(HE) begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly;(HF) do no regular work.(HG) 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly(HH) and present a food offering to the Lord.(HI) It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings(HJ) required for each day. 38 These offerings(HK) are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths(HL) and[i] in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings(HM) you give to the Lord.)

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival(HN) to the Lord for seven days;(HO) the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches(HP) from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees(HQ)—and rejoice(HR) before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters(HS) for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know(HT) that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

Olive Oil and Bread Set Before the Lord(HU)

24 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance(HV) for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand(HW) before the Lord must be tended continually.

5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread,(HX) using two-tenths of an ephah[j](HY) for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold(HZ) before the Lord. 7 By each stack put some pure incense(IA) as a memorial[k] portion(IB) to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. 8 This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly,(IC) Sabbath after Sabbath,(ID) on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons,(IE) who are to eat it in the sanctuary area,(IF) because it is a most holy(IG) part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

A Blasphemer Put to Death

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name(IH) with a curse;(II) so they brought him to Moses.(IJ) (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)(IK) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.(IL)

13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.(IM) 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God(IN) will be held responsible;(IO) 16 anyone who blasphemes(IP) the name of the Lord is to be put to death.(IQ) The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 “‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.(IR) 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution(IS)—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.(IT) The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution,(IU) but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.(IV) 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner(IW) and the native-born.(IX) I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him.(IY) The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai,(IZ) 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops.(JA) 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest,(JB) a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.(JC) 5 Do not reap what grows of itself(JD) or harvest the grapes(JE) of your untended vines.(JF) The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year(JG) will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals(JH) in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee(JI)(JJ)

8 “‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet(JK) sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month;(JL) on the Day of Atonement(JM) sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty(JN) throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee(JO) for you; each of you is to return to your family property(JP) and to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee(JQ) for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.(JR) 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee(JS) everyone is to return to their own property.

14 “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other.(JT) 15 You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years(JU) since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price,(JV) because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other,(JW) but fear your God.(JX) I am the Lord your God.(JY)

18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,(JZ) and you will live safely in the land.(KA) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit,(KB) and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.(KC) 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year(KD) if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing(KE) in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.(KF) 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.(KG)

23 “‘The land(KH) must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine(KI) and you reside in my land as foreigners(KJ) and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption(KK) of the land.

25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(KL) is to come and redeem(KM) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(KN) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(KO) since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property.(KP) 28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned(KQ) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(KR)

29 “‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31 But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.

32 “‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns,(KS) which they possess. 33 So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34 But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.(KT)

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor(KU) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them(KV) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest(KW) or any profit from them, but fear your God,(KX) so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest(KY) or sell them food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan(KZ) and to be your God.(LA)

39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.(LB) 40 They are to be treated as hired workers(LC) or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property(LD) of their ancestors.(LE) 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,(LF) they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly,(LG) but fear your God.(LH)

44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves(LI) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption(LJ) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives(LK) may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,(LL) they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee.(LM) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker(LN) for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.(LO) 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.(LP)

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt.(LQ) I am the Lord your God.(LR)

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(LS) or set up an image(LT) or a sacred stone(LU) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(LV) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

2 “‘Observe my Sabbaths(LW) and have reverence for my sanctuary.(LX) I am the Lord.

3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey(LY) my commands, 4 I will send you rain(LZ) in its season,(MA) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.(MB) 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want(MC) and live in safety in your land.(MD)

6 “‘I will grant peace in the land,(ME) and you will lie down(MF) and no one will make you afraid.(MG) I will remove wild beasts(MH) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. 7 You will pursue your enemies,(MI) and they will fall by the sword before you. 8 Five(MJ) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.(MK)

9 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,(ML) and I will keep my covenant(MM) with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.(MN) 11 I will put my dwelling place[l](MO) among you, and I will not abhor you.(MP) 12 I will walk(MQ) among you and be your God,(MR) and you will be my people.(MS) 13 I am the Lord your God,(MT) who brought you out of Egypt(MU) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke(MV) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,(MW) 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws(MX) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,(MY) 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever(MZ) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.(NA) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.(NB) 17 I will set my face(NC) against you so that you will be defeated(ND) by your enemies;(NE) those who hate you will rule over you,(NF) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.(NG)

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,(NH) I will punish(NI) you for your sins seven times over.(NJ) 19 I will break down your stubborn pride(NK) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.(NL) 20 Your strength will be spent in vain,(NM) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.(NN)

21 “‘If you remain hostile(NO) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,(NP) as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals(NQ) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few(NR) in number that your roads will be deserted.(NS)

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction(NT) but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile(NU) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword(NV) on you to avenge(NW) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague(NX) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread,(NY) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me(NZ) but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger(OA) I will be hostile(OB) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.(OC) 29 You will eat(OD) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.(OE) 30 I will destroy your high places,(OF) cut down your incense altars(OG) and pile your dead bodies[m] on the lifeless forms of your idols,(OH) and I will abhor(OI) you. 31 I will turn your cities into ruins(OJ) and lay waste(OK) your sanctuaries,(OL) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.(OM) 32 I myself will lay waste the land,(ON) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.(OO) 33 I will scatter(OP) you among the nations(OQ) and will draw out my sword(OR) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,(OS) and your cities will lie in ruins.(OT) 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate(OU) and you are in the country of your enemies;(OV) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest(OW) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf(OX) will put them to flight.(OY) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.(OZ) 37 They will stumble over one another(PA) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.(PB) 38 You will perish(PC) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.(PD) 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’(PE) sins they will waste away.(PF)

40 “‘But if they will confess(PG) their sins(PH) and the sins of their ancestors(PI)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile(PJ) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts(PK) are humbled(PL) and they pay(PM) for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob(PN) and my covenant with Isaac(PO) and my covenant with Abraham,(PP) and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted(PQ) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected(PR) my laws and abhorred my decrees.(PS) 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,(PT) I will not reject them or abhor(PU) them so as to destroy them completely,(PV) breaking my covenant(PW) with them. I am the Lord their God.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 21:4 Or unclean as a leader among his people
  2. Leviticus 21:10 Or not uncover his head
  3. Leviticus 22:4 The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  4. Leviticus 22:23 The Hebrew word can refer to either male or female.
  5. Leviticus 23:13 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms; also in verse 17
  6. Leviticus 23:13 That is, about 1 quart or about 1 liter
  7. Leviticus 23:19 Or purification offering
  8. Leviticus 23:27 Or and fast; similarly in verses 29 and 32
  9. Leviticus 23:38 Or These festivals are in addition to the Lord’s Sabbaths, and these offerings are
  10. Leviticus 24:5 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms
  11. Leviticus 24:7 Or representative
  12. Leviticus 26:11 Or my tabernacle
  13. Leviticus 26:30 Or your funeral offerings
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