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Restrictions Against the Unclean

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses,² “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD.³ Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.⁴ None of Aaron’s descendants who has a skin disease or a discharge shall eat from the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen,⁵ or whoever touches a crawling creature or a person that makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be—⁶ the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.⁷ When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the sacred offerings, for they are his food.⁸ He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.⁹ The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

¹⁰ No one outside a priest’s family is to eat the sacred offering, nor may a foreigner staying with a priest, or a hired hand, eat of it.¹¹ But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.¹² If the priest’s daughter is married to a man other than a priest, she is not to eat of the sacred contributions.¹³ But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.¹⁴ If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest.¹⁵ The priests must not profane the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the LORD¹⁶ by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

Worthy Offerings

(2 Corinthians 9:1-15)

¹⁷ Then the LORD said to Moses,¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any foreign resident who presents his offering, whether the burnt offering is a freewill gift or payment of a vow to the LORD,¹⁹ must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.²⁰ You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.²¹ When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.²² You are not to present any animal to the LORD that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, festering rash, or scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD.²³ You may present as a freewill offering an ox or sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable to fulfill a vow.²⁴ You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.²⁵ Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”²⁶ Then the LORD said to Moses,²⁷ “When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as an offering to the LORD made by fire.²⁸ But you must not slaughter an ox or sheep on the same day as its young.²⁹ When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, offer it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf.³⁰ It must be eaten that same day. Do not leave any of it until morning. I am the LORD.³¹ You are to keep My commandments and practice them. I am the LORD.³² You must not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the LORD.”