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Priests and Their Food

¹ Then^[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Tell^[b] Aaron and his sons^[c] that^[d] they must deal respectfully with the Israelites'^[e] 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 Israelites^[f] consecrate to Yahweh with^[g] his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut off^[h] from before me;^[i] I am Yahweh.

⁴ "‘Anyone^[j] from Aaron's offspring, if^[k] he is afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary until^[l] he 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 to^[m] whatever his uncleanness, ⁶ a person who touches such a thing^[n] shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, except^[o] when he washes^[p] his body with water ⁷ and the sun sets,^[q] and he shall be clean; then^[r] afterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it is his food. ⁸ He shall not eat a naturally dead body or^[s] a mangled carcass, so that he becomes unclean^[t] by it; I am Yahweh.

⁹ "‘And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so that^[u] they die through it, because they have profaned it; I am Yahweh who consecrates them.

¹⁰ "‘No stranger shall eat^[v] the votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident with^[w] a priest or^[x] a hired worker eat the votive offering. ¹¹ But^[y] a priest, if with his money he buys a person as his possession,^[z] 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,^[aa] she herself may not eat the votive offering.^{[ab] 13} But^[ac] a priest's daughter, when she becomes a widow or^[ad] divorced 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, but^[ae] no layman may eat it.^{[af] 14} And if a man eats the votive offering unintentionally, then^[ag] he 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'^[ah] 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 Then^[ai] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,^[aj] and say to them, ‘Anyone from the house of Israel or^[ak] from the alien in Israel who presents his offering for any of their vows or^[al] for 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:^[am] a male among the cattle, among the sheep, or^[an] among the goats. ²⁰ You shall not present any animal in which is a physical defect, because it shall not be acceptable^[ao] for you. ²¹ And if anyone brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings for Yahweh to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from^[ap] the cattle or from^[aq] the flock,^[ar] it must be without defect to be acceptable;^[as] 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 for^[at] an ox or sheep that is deformed or^[au] that is stunted, you may present it as a freewill offering, but^[av] for a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴ And you shall not present anything for Yahweh with bruised or^[aw] shattered or^[ax] torn or^[ay] cut-off testicles, and you shall not sacrifice^[az] such in your land. ²⁵ And you shall not present your God's food from any of these by the hand of a foreigner,^[ba] because their deformity is in them; a physical defect is in them; they shall not be accepted for you.'"

²⁶ Then^[bb] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, then^[bc] it 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 young^[bd] on the same day.^{[be] 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 "Thus^[bf] you 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;^[bg] 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."