LeviticusChapter 17

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¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²"Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites. Tell them this is what the LORD has commanded: ³'Suppose someone from the people of Israel kills an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside it, ⁴and he does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the LORD in front of his tabernacle. Then that man will be guilty of shedding blood. He has shed blood, and he must be cut off from his people. ⁵So the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering out in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They must offer them to the LORD as peace offerings. ⁶Then the priest will splash the blood on the LORD's altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He will burn the fat as a smell that pleases the LORD. ⁷They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons. They have chased after them like a prostitute. This will be a law for them that lasts for all the generations to come.' ⁸Tell them that if someone from the people of Israel, or a foreigner living among them, offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people. ¹⁰If anyone from the people of Israel, or a foreigner living among them, eats any blood, I will turn my face against that person. I will cut him off from his people. ¹¹For the life of a body is in the blood. I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls on the altar. For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. ¹²That is why I say to the Israelites, 'None of you may eat blood. No foreigner living among you may eat blood either.' ¹³An Israelite, or a foreigner living among them, may hunt a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten. He must drain out its blood and cover it with dirt. ¹⁴For the life of every creature is its blood. So I have told the Israelites, 'You must not eat the blood of any living thing. For the life of every creature is its blood. Anyone who eats it must be cut off.' ¹⁵A person may eat an animal that was found dead or was torn apart by wild animals. Whether he was born in Israel or is a foreigner, he must wash his clothes and bathe in water. He will be unclean until evening. Then he will be clean. ¹⁶But he may fail to wash his clothes and bathe himself. Then he will carry the guilt for his sin."