HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 478
LEVIT IC U S 1 8
pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 The people must
no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering
sacrifices to the goat idols.* This is a permanent
law for them, to be observed from generation to
generation.
8 “Give them this command as well. If any
native Israelite or foreigner living among you
offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 but does
not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to
offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off
from the community.
10 “And if any native Isra elite or foreigner
living among you eats or drinks blood in any
form, I will turn against that person and cut
him off from the community of your people,
11 for the life of the body is in its blood. I have
given you the blood on the altar to purify you,
making you right with the Lord.* It is the
blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes
purification possible. 12 That is why I have said
to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or
drink blood—neither you nor the foreigners living among you.’
13 “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must
drain its blood and cover it with earth. 14 The
life of every creature is in its blood. That is why
I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must
never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood
will be cut off from the community.
15 “And if any native-born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died
naturally or was torn up by wild animals,
they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially
unclean until evening, but then they will be
clean. 16 But if they do not wash their clothes
• Salvation
LE V IT IC U S 1 7 :1 1
The technology of modern medicine
can achieve nearly miraculous results
by separating the components of blood
and storing them for future use, including
the treatment of disease. Doctors can
sometimes completely replace an
accident victim’s blood by transfusion.
But researchers have not yet discovered
a way to keep a body alive without blood.
The life is in the blood. Atonement is
made when one life is spilled out so that
another can be restored. Nowhere is the
grace of God more fiercely illustrated
than in the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood that
we might live.
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and bathe themselves, they will be punished
for their sin.”
Forbidden Sexual Practices
Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the
following instructions to the people of
Israel. I am the Lord your God. 3 So do not act
like the people in Egypt, where you used to live,
or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking
you. You must not imitate their way of life. 4 You
must obey all my regulations and be careful to
obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. 5 If
you obey my decrees and my regulations, you
will find life through them. I am the Lord.
6 “You must never have sexual relations with
a close relative, for I am the Lord.
7 “Do not violate your father by having sexual
relations with your mother. She is your mother;
you must not have sexual relations with her.
8 “Do not have sexual relations with any of
your father’s wives, for this would violate your
father.
9 “Do not have sexual relations with your sister
or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was
born into your household or someone else’s.
10 “Do not have sexual relations with your
granddaughter, whether she is your son’s
daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this
would violate yourself.
11 “Do not have sexual relations with your
stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s
wives, for she is your sister.
12 “Do not have sexual relations with your
father’s sister, for she is your father’s close
relative.
13 “Do not have sexual relations with your
mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close
relative.
14 “Do not violate your uncle, your father’s
brother, by having sexual relations with his
wife, for she is your aunt.
15 “Do not have sexual relations with your
daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you
must not have sexual relations with her.
16 “Do not have sexual relations with your
brother’s wife, for this would violate your
brother.
17 “Do not have sexual relations with both a
woman and her daughter. And do not take* her
granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or
her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this
would be a wicked act.
18 “While your wife is living, do not marry her
sister and have sexual relations with her, for
they would be rivals.
19 “Do not have sexual relations with a woman
during her period of menstrual impurity.
18
17:7 Or goat demons. 17:11 Or to make atonement for you.
18:17 Or do not marry.