< Leviticus 17 >

1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
Then the LORD said to Moses,
2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the other Israeli people, and say this to them: ‘This is what Yahweh has commanded:
“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them this is what the LORD has commanded:
3 If you sacrifice an ox or a lamb or a goat, you must bring it [to the priest] at the entrance of the Sacred Tent [area], to present/offer it to me there.
‘Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it
4 If you slaughter it to be a sacrifice anywhere else in the camp or outside the camp, you will be guilty of killing an animal [in an unacceptable place]. As a result you will no longer be allowed to be/associate with my people.
instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle—that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people.
5 That rule is in order that you Israeli people, instead of offering sacrifices in the open fields, will offer them to me by taking them to the priest at the entrance of the Sacred Tent [area], to be offerings to maintain fellowship [with me].
For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace to the LORD.
6 [After the animal is slaughtered], the priest must sprinkle some of its blood against the altar at the entrance of the Sacred Tent, and burn its fat to be an aroma that is pleasing to me.
The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
7 You people must no longer give sacrifices to the demons that resemble goats which you are worshiping. You people must obey this command forever.’
They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
8 “And tell this to the people: ‘If any Israeli or any foreigner who is living among them brings an offering that is to be completely burned [on the altar], or any other sacrifice,
Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice
9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the Sacred Tent [area] to be a sacrifice to me, that person will no longer be allowed to associate with my people.
but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people.
10 ‘I will reject [IDM] any Israeli or any foreigner who is living among you who eats any blood, and I [will command that he] no longer be allowed to associate with my people.
If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
11 That is because the life of every creature is in its blood; I have declared that it is blood that is to be offered on the altar to enable people to be forgiven for their sins.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
12 That is why I say that you Israelis must not eat blood, and the foreigners who live among you must also not eat blood.
Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner living among you eat blood.’
13 ‘Any Israeli or any foreigner who is living among you who hunts any animal or bird that is permitted for you to eat, must drain out the blood [of the animal or bird that he kills], and cover the blood with dirt.
And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.
14 This is because the life of every creature is in its blood. And that is why I have said [DOU] to you Israelis that anyone who eats blood must no longer [be allowed to associate with my people].
For the life of all flesh is its blood. Therefore I have told the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any living thing, because the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.’
15 ‘Anyone in Israel, including foreigners, who eats any of the meat of any creature that is found dead, or that had been killed by wild animals, must wash his clothes and bathe. Then he must not touch anyone until that evening.
And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
16 If he does not do those things, he will be punished for what he did.’”
But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, then he shall bear his iniquity.”

< Leviticus 17 >