The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

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- Chapter 17 -

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, saying to them: This is the word, which the Lord has commanded, saying:(a)

Any man at all of the house of Israel, if he will have killed an ox, or a sheep, or a goat in the camp or beyond the camp,(b)

and not have presented it as an oblation to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, he shall be guilty of blood. It is just as if he had shed blood; so then, he shall perish from the midst of his people.

Therefore, the sons of Israel must offer to the priest their victims, which they kill in the field, so that they may be sanctified to the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and so that they may immolate them as peace offerings to the Lord.

And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and he shall burn the fat as a sweet odor to the Lord.

And they shall no longer immolate their victims to demons, with whom they have committed fornication. It shall be an everlasting ordinance for them and for their posterity.

And you shall say to them: The man of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn with you, who offers a holocaust or a victim,

and who does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be offered to the Lord, shall pass away from his people.

Laws against Eating Blood

Any man at all of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn among them, if he has eaten blood, I will harden my face against his soul, and I will drive him from his people.(c)

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you, so that you may atone with it upon the altar for your souls, and so that the blood may be for an expiation of the soul.

For this reason, I have said to the sons of Israel: No soul among you shall eat blood, nor among the newcomers who sojourn with you.

Any man at all from the sons of Israel, or from the newcomers who sojourn with you, whether by hunting or bird-catching, if he seizes a wild beast or a bird, which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood and cover the earth with it.

For the life of all flesh is in the blood. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whoever has eaten it shall perish.

The soul who eats what has died on its own, or what has been caught by a beast, whether he is native born or a newcomer, shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and he shall be contaminated until evening. And by this means he shall be made clean.

But if he will not wash his clothes and his body, he shall bear his iniquity.

Footnotes

(a)17:2 So, the reason that quotation marks are not used for the ‘speak to’ sections of Leviticus is seen in verses 17:1-2. There would be quotes within quotes within quotes; this would be too confusing. The quotations are not needed because the context makes it clear who is speaking to whom.(Conte)

(b)17:3 If he kill, etc:That is, in order to sacrifice. The law of God forbids sacrifices to be offered in any other place but at the tabernacle or temple of the Lord; to signify that no sacrifice would be acceptable to God, out of his true temple, the one holy, catholic, apostolic church.(Challoner)

(c)17:10 Eat blood:To eat blood was forbidden in the law; partly, because God reserved it to himself, to be offered in sacrifices on the altar, as to the Lord of life and death; and as a figure of the blood of Christ; and partly, to give men a horror of shedding blood. Gen. 9:4, 5, 6.(Challoner)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the LORD has commanded:

Whatever man there is of the house of Israel who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,

and hasn’t brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to the LORD before the LORD’s tabernacle: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood. That man shall be cut off from among his people.

This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.

The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the LORD’s altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to the LORD.

They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’

“You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,

and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws against Eating Blood

“‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.

Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, “No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood.”

“‘Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust.

For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”

“‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean.

But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’”