Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any stranger in Israel who presents his offering, whether to fulfill any of their vows or as any of their freewill (voluntary) offerings which they presented to the Lord as a burnt offering— ¹⁹ so that you may be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. ²⁰ You shall not offer anything which has a blemish, because it will not be accepted for you.^{(A) 21} Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow to the Lord or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it. ²² Animals that are blind or fractured or mutilated, or have a sore or a running wound or an itch or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord nor make an offering of them by fire on the altar to the Lord. ²³ For a freewill offering you may offer either a bull or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member (deformity), but for [the payment of] a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴ You shall not offer to the Lord any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut off, or sacrifice it in your land. ²⁵ Nor shall you offer as the food of your God any such [animals obtained] from a foreigner, because their corruption and blemish makes them unfit; there is a defect in them, they shall not be accepted for you.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘Throughout their generations none of your descendants who has any [physical] defect shall approach [the altar] to present the food of his God. ¹⁸ For no man who has a defect shall approach [God’s altar as a priest]: no man who is blind or lame, or who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles. ²¹ No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a [physical] defect and is disfigured or deformed is to approach [the altar] to present the offerings of the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he shall not approach [the altar] to present the food of his God. ²² He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, ²³ but he shall not go within the veil or approach the altar [of incense], because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”^{(A) 24} So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites.