The Book of Leviticus: TBP (The Big Picture)

This was an incredibly difficult book to summarize. That’s because I was often bored to tears with the incredible minutiae and, quite frankly, the ridiculousness of it all.

I am once again faced with the eternal nature of God’s Word. In the 18,852 words in this book, what does God want to tell us about us? Or, about Him? What is really really important?

Well, for one thing …. that if you bake a round loaf of bread as your grain offering, then mix olive oil into the batch of dough.  But, if you make a flat loaf, just brush the outside of it with olive oil.  This is eternally important??

This book could just as easily have been called “Butcher-iticus”, since about 25% of it is a treatise on how to butcher animals, and make sacrifices.

That being said, I get a big chuckle from the mental image of a bunch of Bronze Age weenie-tip-snippers waving around the bloody raw breast of an ox, lamb, or goat in something called a Wave Offering. Yeah, that’s eternally funny and worth preserving. Really.

Don’t miss Chapter 26, the “punishments” section. This is what God says he will do to the Israelites if they disobey — “I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.”  I’m starting to think God is a psychopath.

Our resident ignoramus Bible thumper, Edwitness, said yesterday in the “The Sisterhood” thread; —- “The fact is that more than 3500 years ago God was having Israel practice hygiene that science has only recently discovered. For example, Lev.15 gives instruction for what doctors do today when caring for those with a bodily discharge.”

Oh, yes! Do read Leviticus 15!!  Let’s examine that awesome science.

The discharges have to do with male ejaculation and female menstruation. Good stuff!!  I can tell you this, a lot of you guys are going to hell. First of all, when a male ejaculates — whether as a solo act, or with a partner — he is ceremonially unclean for seven days. Now … I, as most boys, had my first ejaculation around 12 years old.  Here’s the thing; I haven’t missed a seven day period since.  This means that I have been unclean, literally, every single day for the past 50 fucken years!! Hold on, it gets worse.  Leviticus says that everything I sit on … or touch … also becomes unclean. Good science there, eh Edwitness?  Hold on, it gets much worse.  Leviticus says that WHOEVER touches what I touched, ALSO becomes ceremonially unclean!  Now, using that formula — I ejaculate, I become unclean, I sit in a chair, the chair becomes unclean, and everybody who sits in that chair becomes unclean — well, I am conservatively estimating that in my lifetime I’ve made 894,576 people unclean!  Wow, I will surely dine with the devil.

Oh, if you have intercourse with your wife while she is menstruating?  You better not tell anyone! Because you and her will have to be cut off from the people. More great science.

So, go ahead and read it. Or, at least scan it. It shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes in the format I present.  And then ask yourself this question;  “How in the hell did this gobbledygook spawn three major religions??”

 

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If you have an honest reasonable answer, I’d love to hear it.  I’ll be back later this evening.

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Disclaimer For Easily Offended Snowflakes:

THIS IS A SUMMARY OF LEVITICUS (reducing the LEVITICUS word count from 18,852 to about 7,400). MY SUMMARY IS NOT GOD’S WORD!  I HAVE RECEIVED NO VISIONS OR AUTHORITY FROM THE ALMIGHTY. THIS WORK IS SOLELY THE PRODUCT OF MY FEEBLE MIND. THIS IS NOT A COMMENTARY ON LEVITICUS. HOWEVER, THERE IS MINIMAL COMMENTARY, AND IT WILL BE IN BRACKETS. USE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. THIS SUMMARY IS NEITHER A REPLACEMENT NOR A SUBSTITUTE FOR SCRIPTURE. TO STUDY LEVITICUS, PICK UP A BIBLE!

========= LEVITICUS: The Big Picture ==========

(Ch. 1)  [Summary: Whoever brings a burnt offering should slaughter a bull, a sheep, a goat or a bird. The priest shall burn it on the altar to the LORD.]

The Lord enjoys a good burnt offering as the aroma is pleasing to Him. These are the general guidelines.

— a male animal without defect

— present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting

— “You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.”

— splash the animal’s blood against the sides of the altar

— skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces

— arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar

— wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and then burn it all

— if it’s a bird …. wring off the head, remove the crop and the feathers, tear it open by the wings, but don’t divide it completely, then burn it

— [from Ch. 3] …. include the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, … including  ^“both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys….. and the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone”

— [from Ch. 6] …. the burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. In fact, the fire must never go out.

— [from Ch. 6] …. the priest must wear linen clothes and linen undergarments

(Ch. 2)  [Summary: A grain offering should be fine flour with oil and incense. The priest shall burn a portion. The rest belongs to Aaron and his sons.]

The aroma of burning grain offerings is also pleasing to the Lord. Here are the general guidelines;

— use only the finest flour

— pour olive oil and incense on it

— always season grain offerings with salt

— the grain offering may be baked in an oven either thick or thin loaves, prepared on a griddle if you crumble the flour, or cooked in a pan

— all grain offerings are to be made without yeast or honey,  because those items are not to be burned on the alter ……….. however, grain offerings made with yeast or honey may be offered as an  “offering of firstfruits”

— the priest takes a handful of the flour mixture and burns it as an offering. He gets to keep the rest.

— [from Ch. 6] … the grain offering may only be eaten in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

(Ch. 3)  [Summary: A peace offering should be from the herd or the flock. Slaughter it at the tabernacle. The priest shall burn it on the altar as food.

Everything else in Chapter 3 is pretty much a repeat of previous chapters.]

(Ch. 4)  [Summary: A sin offering is for anyone who sins unintentionally. They should slaughter a bull, a goat or a lamb. The priest will burn it to the LORD to make atonement.]

Rules regarding a sin offering.

— If the anointed priest sins, he must offer a young bull without defect as a sin offering

——- In addition to the normal slaughtering rules;

————- the priest must dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord, in front of the curtain of the sanctuary

————- the priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense

— If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally, then the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the tent of meeting … and follow the rules of slaughtering

— When a leader sins unintentionally, then he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect … and follow the rules of slaughtering

— If any member of the community sins unintentionally, then they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed a female goat without defect … and follow the rules of slaughtering

— If someone brings a lamb as their sin offering, they are to bring a female without defect

— [from Ch. 6] … if the meat is cooked in a clay pot it must be broken afterwards …. but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water.

(Ch. 5)  [Summary: When anyone sins with an oath or becomes unclean they should confess it and bring a sin offering. A guilt offering should be a ram.]

Here are reasons to present a sin offering;

— touching anything ceremonially unclean (carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any unclean creature that moves along the ground)

— touching human uncleanness

— thoughtlessly taking an oath to do anything, whether good or evil

——– as a penalty for these sins, they must offer a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering

——–if you can’t afford a lamb, bring two doves or two young pigeons

——–if you can’t afford two doves or two young pigeons, then bring about three pounds of your finest flour

If anyone is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things, they should bring a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, as a guilt offering.

 (Ch. 6)  [Summary:  When anyone cheats a neighbor they should make restitution and bring a guilt offering. The fire on the altar shall never go out.]

More reasons to present a ram to the Lord as a guilt offering.

— deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen

— cheating their neighbor

— finding lost property and lying  about it

— swearing falsely about any such sin that people may commit

——– such people must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it, and offer a ram

More instructions on burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sin offerings …. most of it already stated in previous chapters.

(Ch. 7)  [Summary: Rules regarding the fellowship offering, which also includes the wave offering.]

Regarding the fellowship offering;

— if it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in …. if you make thin loaves just brush on the olive oil

— all the meat must be eaten the same day it is offered

——– but, if the fellowship offering is the result of a vow or free will, then you can eat the leftover meat the next day …. but, not the third day.

— meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up … anyone who is unclean and eats meat of the fellowship offering, they must be cut off from the people.

— anyone who brings a fellowship offering should bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the Lord as a wave offering.

Do not eat the fat or blood of cattle, sheep, or goats.  Otherwise, you will be cut off.

(Ch. 8)  [Summary:  Aaron and his sons are anointed with oil and blood.]

Moses performs an elaborate ceremony.

He washes Aaron and his sons with water …   puts the tunic on Aaron, …. ties the sash around him …. cloths him with the robe and puts the ephod on him … fastens the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him … places the breastpiece on him and puts the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece … places the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it ….

…. Moses then anoints the tabernacle and everything in it … sprinkling some of the anointing oil on the altar seven times, and also all the utensils …… then pours some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him …. then repeated the same elaborate ritual for Aaron’s sons …..

…. then a bull was slaughtered … and all the slaughtering details again reiterated

…. then two rams were slaughtered … and all the slaughtering details again reiterated

… then there was a burnt offering, a wave offering, and an ordination offering

… then they ate the portions of meat allowable, and they did this for seven days. If they cut the celebration short the Lord would have killed them.

(Ch. 9)  [Summary: The priests begin their ministry. The glory of the Lord appeared and a fire consumed the offerings.]

On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. He commanded them to take a bull calf for their sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, He told the Israelites to take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without defect—for a burnt offering … and an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the Lord … and also a grain offering mixed with olive oil.

After all the slaughtering and sprinkling blood on everything in sight, Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. The people then shouted for joy and fell face down.

(Ch. 10)  [Summary: Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire, so fire came from the Lord and killed them. No booze for Aaron.]

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense. This was an “unauthorized fire”.  So, the Lord killed them.

The Lord said to Aaron,  “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.”

Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, didn’t eat the sin offering in the right area, the sanctuary, and this ticks off Moses. But, Aaron comes up with a good excuse, and Moses is satisfied.

(Ch. 11)  [Summary:  Laws about clean and unclean foods.]

Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones that may be eaten;

— any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud

— regarding the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, the Israelites may eat any that have fins and scales.

— you can eat insects which have jointed legs for hopping on the ground; these include any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper

Do NOT eat these animals

— the camel, the hyrax, “the rabbit, though it chews the cud” [Note: rabbits do not chew the cud. Oops!],, the pig.

— Do not eat these animals that move along the ground

——– the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon

Do NOT eat these birds

——– the eagle,the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven,  the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,  the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,  the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

— Do not eat any flying insects that walk on all fours

— Do not eat animals that walk on their paws

— Do not eat any creature that moves on its belly

If you touch the dead carcass of an unclean animal, then you will be unclean until evening. When an unclean animal dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening. But, if it falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. If it lands on your oven, you must destroy the oven.

(Ch. 12)  [Summary: Purification after childbirth. Snip the tip.]

If a woman gives birth to a son, she will be ceremonially unclean for 7 days, and is totally purified after 33 days.

If a woman gives birth to a daughter, she will be ceremonially unclean for 14 days, and is totally purified after 66 days.

After she is totally purified she is to bring to the priest a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.

Boys are to be circumcised after 8 days.

(Ch. 13)  [Summary:  Regulations about skin diseases and molds.]

This chapter is about anyone who “has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin” such as “… a rash … a boil … a burn … a sore on their head or chin … white spots on the skin … and a bald forehead ..”  A priest is to make the determination whether it is just a “scar” or a “defiling skin disease”. The general formula for all skin blemishes goes like this;

— if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease

— if “the shiny spot on the skin” is not more than skin deep, and “the hair in it has not turned white”, then the person is isolated for seven days

— after seven days, if the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, then the person is isolated for another seven days.

— if after seven days, the sore has faded and has not spread, the priest shall pronounce them clean; — “it is only a rash”.  They must wash their clothes, and will be pronounced clean.

— however, if the rash spreads, they will be pronounced “unclean”.

Other guidelines;

— whenever there is “white swelling” on the skin AND the hair “turns white” AND there is “raw flesh”, then that person is unclean.

— however, if the disease breaks out “all over their skin …. from head to foot”, then that person is clean because “it has all turned white” … that is, as long as raw flesh does not appear. Once raw flesh appears, a person is unclean.  However, if the raw flesh “turns white”, the priest will pronounce them clean.

— if a person has “white spots” on their skin they are clean … as long as the spots are “dull white”

— baldness does not make one unclean … however, if there is a “reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead”, then he has a defiling disease.

Anyone with a defiling disease must; 1) wear torn clothes, 2) not comb their hair, 3) live alone outside the camp, 4) cover the lower part of their face  and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

Regulations about molds,

A “defiling mold” is “greenish or reddish”. Any fabric with this discoloration must be isolated for seven days. If, after seven days, it has spread, then the priest will declare it “unclean”, and the clothes must be burned. Otherwise, the article must be washed and isolated another seven days. If the mold spreads, or if the mold does not change appearance, then it is unclean, and the fabric must be burned.

(Ch. 14)  [Summary:  Ceremonial cleansing from skin diseases and mold.]

This ritual is to be performed after the priest pronounces a person as clean;

— the priest orders up two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop

— one of the birds is killed over fresh water in a clay pot

— the live bird is dipped together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed

— the priest sprinkles the person seven times, then pronounces them clean, then releases the live bird

— on the seventh day the person must shave off ALL their hair; “their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair.” [Note; I assume this means genital hair also.] Then they have to take a bath.

— on the eight day the person is to bring two male lambs, one ewe lamb, and flour for a grain offering  [the final 20 verses give details on how to slaughter the animals and how to present the offerings]

Ritual for cleansing from defiling molds’

— the priest orders the house to be emptied

— the priest looks for greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall

— if he finds them, he locks up the house for seven days

— on the seventh day, if the mold has spread on the walls, he orders the contaminated stones be thrown into an unclean place outside the town. All the inside walls of the house are to be scraped. Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

^— if the mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, then the priest declares the house is unclean. The entire structure must be torn down; its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

— but, if the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, the priest  shall pronounce the house clean. The purifying ritual is basically the same as the skin ritual;

——– two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. One bird is killed over fresh water in a clay pot. Then. take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. Then release the live bird in the open fields outside the town.

(Ch. 15)  [Men and their ejaculations. Women and their periods.]

Discharges and ejaculations make a man unclean.

— the bed where the discharge took place will be unclean

— “anything” the man sits on will be unclean

— if the man with a discharge “spits on anyone who is clean”, then that person is also unclean

— everything the man sits on when riding will be unclean

— a clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water

— when a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both are unclean

— the solution is to wash yourself, your clothes, what you touched … and then you will be unclean only until the evening.  However, he is still ceremonially unclean.  On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance to the tent of meeting and give them to the priest to be offered as a sin offering. Then he will be physically and ceremonially clean.

A woman’s monthly period.

She is unclean for seven days …. or, however long her period lasts. Everything else is the same as male ejaculation; what she touches is unclean, anyone who touches what she touches is unclean, etc. etc., and she too has bring a couple doves to be killed on the eight day.

(Ch. 16)  [The Day of Atonement]

Aaron can’t just go whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark. If he does, he will die. He can only go there one day a year.

The Day of Atonement occurs on the tenth day of the seventh month. The Day of Atonement is made for Israel in order that the Lord can clean them from all their sins.

— Aaron must bathe himself and wear his sacred linens in a certain way

—  Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household

— Aaron is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats; one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.  

——- Aaron brings the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifices it as a sin offering.

——- Regarding the live goat, Aaron is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. Then the goat is sent into the wilderness. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place. It is called a scapegoat.

(Ch. 17)  [Don’t eat blood.]

The Israelites were sacrificing animals in the open field, nut they were not bringing the sacrifices to the Lord. Instead, they were offering it to “goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves”. Anyone who doesn’t bring the sacrifice to the priests will be “guilty of bloodshed”, and cut off from the people.

You may not eat blood, ever, under any circumstances.

“I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.’”

(Ch. 18)  [Don’t have sex with relatives or animals. Don’t be a homosexual. These things are detestable.]

Don’t do what they do in Egypt or Canaan.  Don’t have sex with the following;

— any close relative

— your mother or father

— your father’s wife

— your sister

— your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter

— the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father

— your father’s sister

— your mother’s sister

— your father’s brother’s wife

— your daughter-in-law

— your brother’s wife

— do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter

— do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.

— do not have sex with a woman during her period

— your neighbor’s wife

— do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable

— do not have sexual relations with an animal

— don’t sacrifice your children to Molek

(Ch. 19)  [Many more laws.]

Respect your mother and father.

Observe the Sabbaths.

Don’t turn to idols or make metal gods.

Eat your sacrifices on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up.

Do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.

Do not deceive one another.

Do not swear falsely by the Lord’s name and so profane the name of your God.

Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind.

Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.

Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.

Do not mate different kinds of animals.

Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.

Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.

A man may sleep with a female slave promised to another man as long as she has not been ransomed or given her freedom. However, the man must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord.

When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden for three years.  In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. In the fifth year you may eat its fruit.

Do not practice divination or seek omens.

Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.

Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute.

Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists.

Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly.

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity.

(Ch. 20)  [Punishments for various sins.]

Sins carrying the death penalty, usually by stoning;

— sacrificing children to Molek

— anyone who curses their father or mother

— a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, both shall be put to death

— a man who has sexual relations with his father’s wife

— a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death

— “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

— If a man marries both a woman and her mother all must be burned in the fire

— If a man or woman  has sexual relations with an animal, they are to be put to death, and you must kill the animal.

Non death penalty sins. They are cut off from the people.

— if a man marries his sister

— anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists

— if a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period,

— if a man has sexual relations with his aunt, both will die childless

(Ch. 21)  [Rules for priests.]

A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die.

Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.

They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God.

They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands.

If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.

The high priest —  the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments — must not let his hair become unkempt^[ or tear his clothes. He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.

The woman he marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution

No priest who has any defect may come near: or who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or “damaged testicles”. A priest with defects desecrates the sanctuary

 (Ch. 22)  [More rules for priests.  Unacceptable sacrifices.]

A priest who is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off.

A priest with a defiling skin disease^, or a bodily discharge, may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed.

He becomes unclean if he touches a corpse or anyone who has an emission of semen, or if he touches any unclean crawling thing. He is to bathe himself and will be clean in the evening. Then he can chow down.

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 money, or if slaves are born in his household, they 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 a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food.

Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it.

Unacceptable Sacrifices.

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 offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut.

You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox^, or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow.

Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day. 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.

(Ch. 23)  [Dates For Appointed Festivals.]

The Sabbath

You work six days. The seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

The Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.

Offering the Firstfruits

When the Israelites enter the land the Lord gives them and when they reap its harvest, they are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain harvested. The priest will wave the sheaf before the Lord. On the same day you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a year old lamb a year without defect, and also a grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil, as well as a drink offering of about a quart of wine. You may not eat any bread or grain until you bring your offering to God.

The Festival of Weeks

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord … plus seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect,  … plus one young bull and two rams. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering  These burnt offerings will produce an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

The Festival of Trumpets

On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts, and present a food offering to the Lord.

The Day of Atonement

The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord.  Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. God will destroy from among the people anyone who does any work on that day.

The Festival of Tabernacles

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord.  On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord for seven days. Live in temporary shelters for seven days so your descendants will know that the Lord had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when He brought them out of Egypt.

(Ch. 24)  [God commands the death of a blasphemer, and others]

The lamps outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, are to be tended continually from evening till morning.  Every Sabbath twelve loaves of bread are to be set out before the Lord.

The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Lord with a curse; so they brought him to Moses until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them. And the Lord said; “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.”

The Lord also said; — “Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.”

 (Ch. 25)  [The Sabbath Year. The Tear of Jubilee.]

 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. But, whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee

Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants every fiftieth year. It is a year of jubilee. Do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. Eat only what is taken directly from the fields. Everyone is to return to their own property.

If an Israelite becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative may come and redeem what they have sold, If there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.

Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee. The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess.

You must not lend fellow Israelites money at interest or sell them food at a profit.

Fellow Israelites must not be bought or sold as slaves. “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.”

If someone cannot be redeemed with money, then they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee.

(Ch. 26)  [Rewards for Obedience. Punishments for Disobedience.]

Rewards

— God will send rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.

— the Israelites will eat all the food they want and live in safety in the land. They will still be eating last year’s harvest when they will have to move it out to make room for the new.

— there will be peace in the land, and they will lie down and no one will make them afraid

— God will remove wild beasts from the land

— the Israelites will pursue their enemies, and they will fall by the sword. Five will chase a hundred, and a hundred will chase ten thousand

— God will make the Israelites fruitful and increase their numbers

— God will walk among them and be their God

— God will keep His covenant with them. He will not abhor them.

Punishments

If the Israelites do not carry out all these commands then God said; “I will do this to you:”

—  God will bring on them sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy their sight and sap their strength.

— they will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

— they will be defeated by their enemies; those who hate them will rule over them, and they will flee even when no one is pursuing them

Then God said, —  “If after all this you will not listen to me,”;

—- I will punish you for your sins seven times over.

— I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.

^—  I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.

^—  I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant.

— When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands.

^— When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

“If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me then in my anger I will be …’

— hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.

— “You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters”

— I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you

— I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings

— I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins

— As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight.

— They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies. You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away.

However, the good news is that if the Israelites will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, then God will remember His covenant with Jacob and Isaac and Abraham,  … and He will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely. For their sake God will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom He brought out of Egypt because He is the Lord.

 (Ch. 27)  [The Price Of Redeeming Things]

If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord, then this is their value;

 

— a male between the ages of 20 and 60 …… 50 shekels of silver

— for a female the same ages ……………… 30 shekels

— a male between the ages of 5 and 20 ……. 20 shekels

— for a female the same ages ………….…… 10 shekels

— a male between one month and 5 years …… 5 shekels

— for a female the same ages ……………..… 3 shekels

— for a male older than 60 ………….………. 15 shekels

— for a female older than 60 ……………..…. 10 shekels

Then again, if anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, then the priest will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

If what someone vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, such an animal becomes holy. The priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.

If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. If the owner wished to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.

If anyone dedicates to the Lord part of their family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for 300 pounds of barley seed.  If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs. If, however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed.  When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become priestly property.

If anyone dedicates to the Lord a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land, in the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, the one whose land it was.

No one may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord.

No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; they are to be put to death.

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. Every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.

“These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.”