Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 199
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unclean for any reason. The man who is defiled in any of these ways will
remain unclean until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offerings
until he has bathed himself in water. When the sun goes down, he will be
ceremonially clean again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this
is his food. He may not eat an animal that has died a natural death or has
been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile him. I am the Lord.
“The priests must follow my instructions carefully. Otherwise they will
be punished for their sin and will die for violating my instructions. I am
the Lord who makes them holy.
“No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings. Even
guests and hired workers in a priest’s home are not allowed to eat them.
However, if the priest buys a slave for himself, the slave may eat from the
sacred offerings. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his
food. If a priest’s daughter marries someone outside the priestly family,
she may no longer eat the sacred offerings. But if she becomes a widow
or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live
in her father’s home as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food again.
Otherwise, no one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings.
“Any such person who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must
pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an additional 20 percent. The
priests must not let the Israelites defile the sacred offerings brought to
the Lord by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. This would bring
guilt upon them and require them to pay compensation. I am the Lord
who makes them holy.”
And the Lord said to Moses, “Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the
foreigners living among you.
“If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to
fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you will be accepted only if your
offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male
goat. Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not
accept it on your behalf.
“If you present a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock,
whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a
perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind. You must not offer an
animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or that has a wart, a skin sore, or
scabs. Such animals must never be offered on the altar as special gifts to
the Lord. If a bull or lamb has a leg that is too long or too short, it may be
offered as a voluntary offering, but it may not be offered to fulfill a vow. If
an animal has damaged testicles or is castrated, you may not offer it to the
