Leviticus
Summary
Leviticus Chapter 22 provides further regulations for the handling and consumption of the most holy offerings. It specifies that any priest in an unclean state was forbidden from touching the sacred food, and that no unauthorised person was allowed to eat it. The chapter also establishes the standard for the animals brought for sacrifice: they were to be without any defect or blemish. By requiring the best of their flocks and herds, God taught the people that worship is not about giving what is convenient, but about offering that which is most valuable and perfect to the LORD.
The LORD said to Moses,
"Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they do not profane my holy name. I am the LORD.
"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, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD.
If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He is also unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or has an emission of semen,
or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean.
The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.
When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food.
He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the LORD.
The priests are to keep my requirements so that they do not become guilty and die for treating them with contempt. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.
“‘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.
But if a priest buys a slave with his money, or a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.
If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions.
But if she becomes a widow or is divorced, and has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No one else may eat it.
If anyone eats a sacred offering by mistake, they must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of its value to it.
The priests must not profane the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the LORD,
by allowing the people to eat them and so bring upon them guilt requiring payment. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.
The LORD said to Moses,
"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, presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD,
you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf.
Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.
When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or as a voluntary offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable.
Do not offer to the LORD the blind, the injured or the crippled, 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.
You may, however, present as a voluntary offering an ox or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow.
You must not offer to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut. You must not do this in your own land,
and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.
The LORD said to Moses,
When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD.
Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.
When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf.
It must be eaten that same day; leave none of it till morning. I am the LORD.
"Keep my commands and follow them. I am the LORD.
Do not profane my holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who made you holy
and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD."