Priests and Their Food

1 ThenYahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “TellAaron and his sonsthatthey must deal respectfully with the Israelites’votive offerings, and they must not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me; I am Yahweh.

3 “Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, any man from any of your offspring who comes near the votive offerings that the Israelitesconsecrate to Yahweh withhis uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut offfrom before me;I am Yahweh.

4 “ ‘Anyonefrom Aaron’s offspring, ifhe is afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary untilhe is clean; and the one who touches any unclean person or a man from whom an emission of semen goes out,

5 or a man who touches any swarmer that is unclean for him or who touches a person who is unclean for him due towhatever his uncleanness,

6 a person who touches such a thingshall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, exceptwhen he washeshis body with water

7 and the sun sets,and he shall be clean; thenafterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it is his food.

8 He shall not eat a naturally dead body ora mangled carcass, so that he becomes uncleanby it; I am Yahweh.

9 “ ‘And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so thatthey die through it, because they have profaned it; I am Yahweh who consecrates them.

10 “ ‘No stranger shall eatthe votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident witha priest ora hired worker eat the votive offering.

11 Buta priest, if with his money he buys a person as his possession,that one may eat it, and the descendants of his house themselves may eat his food.

12 And a priest’s daughter, when she marries a layman,she herself may not eat the votive offering.

13 Buta priest’s daughter, when she becomes a widow ordivorced or there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father’s house as in her childhood, she may eat from her father’s food, butno layman may eat it.

14 And if a man eats the votive offering unintentionally, thenhe shall add to it a fifth of it, and he shall give the votive offering to the priest.

15 And they shall not profane the Israelites’votive offerings that they present to Yahweh,

16 and so cause them, by their eating their votive offerings, to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’ ”

Acceptable Offerings

17 ThenYahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,and say to them, ‘Anyone from the house of Israel orfrom the alien in Israel who presents his offering for any of their vows orfor any of their freewill offerings that they present to Yahweh as a burnt offering,

19 it must be without defect to be acceptable for you:a male among the cattle, among the sheep, oramong the goats.

20 You shall not present any animal in which is a physical defect, because it shall not be acceptablefor you.

21 And if anyone brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings for Yahweh to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering fromthe cattle or fromthe flock,it must be without defect to be acceptable;there must not be any physical defect in it.

22 The blind or the injured or the maimed or the seeping or one with a skin disorder or one with a skin eruption—these you shall not present to Yahweh, nor shall you give from them an offering made by fire on the altar for Yahweh.

23 As foran ox or sheep that is deformed orthat is stunted, you may present it as a freewill offering, butfor a vow it will not be accepted.

24 And you shall not present anything for Yahweh with bruised orshattered ortorn orcut-off testicles, and you shall not sacrificesuch in your land.

25 And you shall not present your God’s food from any of these by the hand of a foreigner,because their deformity is in them; a physical defect is in them; they shall not be accepted for you.’ ”

26 ThenYahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, thenit shall be under its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day and beyond it is acceptable as an offering made by fire for Yahweh.

28 And you shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its youngon the same day.

29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it to be acceptable for you.

30 It must be eaten on that day; you must not leave over anything from it until morning; I am Yahweh.

31 “Thusyou shall keep my commands, and you shall do them; I am Yahweh.

32 “And you shall not profane my holy name, so that I may be consecrated in the midst of the Israelites;I am Yahweh, who consecrates you,

33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be as God for you; I am Yahweh.”