Book 03        Leviticus

THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

This Book is called LEVITICUS, because it treats of the Offices,
Ministries, Rites and Ceremonies of the Priests and Levites. The Hebrews
call it VAICRA, from the word with which it begins.

Leviticus Chapter 1

Of holocausts or burnt offerings.

1:1. And the Lord called Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of
the testimony, saying:

1:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The
man among you that shall offer to the Lord a sacrifice of the cattle,
that is, offering victims of oxen and sheep:

1:3. If his offering be a holocaust, and of the herd, he shall offer a
male without blemish, at the door of the testimony, to make the Lord
favourable to him.

A holocaust... That is, a whole burnt offering (olokauston), so called,
because the whole victim was consumed with fire; and given in such
manner to God as wholly to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and
glory; without having any part of it reserved for the use of man. The
other sacrifices in the Old Testament were either offerings for sin, or
peace offerings: and these latter again were either offered in
thanksgiving for blessings received; or by way of prayer for new favours
or graces. So that sacrifices were then offered to God for four
different ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations
which man has to God: 1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory
due to his divine majesty. 2. By way of thanksgiving for all benefits
received from him. 3. By way of confessing and craving pardon for sins.
4. By way of prayer and petition for grace and relief in all
necessities. In the New Law we have but one sacrifice, viz., that of the
body and blood of Christ: but this one sacrifice of the New Testament
perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priest and people, as
often as it is celebrated, ought to join in offering it up for these
four ends.

1:4. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim: and it shall
be acceptable, and help to its expiation.

1:5. And he shall immolate the calf before the Lord: and the priests the
sons of Aaron shall offer the blood thereof, pouring it round about the
altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle.

1:6. And when they have flayed the victim, they shall cut the joints
into pieces:

1:7. And shall put fire on the altar, having before laid in order a pile
of wood.

1:8. And they shall lay the parts that are cut out in order thereupon:
to wit, the head, and all things that cleave to the liver;

1:9. The entrails and feet being washed with water. And the priest shall
burn them upon the altar for a holocaust, and a sweet savour to the
Lord.

1:10. And if the offering be of the flocks, a holocaust of sheep or of
goats, he shall offer a male without blemish.

1:11. And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar that looketh to
the north, before the Lord: but the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood
thereof upon the altar round about.

1:12. And they shall divide the joints, the head, and all that cleave to
the liver: and shall lay them upon the wood, under which the fire is to
be put.

1:13. But the entrails and the feet they shall wash with water.  And the
priest shall offer it all and burn it all upon the altar for a
holocaust, and most sweet savour to the Lord.

1:14. But if the oblation of a holocaust to the Lord be of birds, of
turtles, or of young pigeons:

1:15. The priest shall offer it at the altar: and twisting back the
neck, and breaking the place of the wound, he shall make the blood run
down upon the brim of the altar.

1:16. But the crop of the throat, and the feathers he shall cast beside
the altar at the east side, in the place where the ashes are wont to be
poured out.

1:17. And he shall break the pinions thereof, and shall not cut, nor
divide it with a knife: and shall burn it upon the altar, putting fire
under the wood. It is a holocaust and oblation of most sweet savour to
the Lord.

Leviticus Chapter 2

Of offerings of flour, and firstfruits.

2:1. When any one shall offer an oblation of sacrifice to the Lord, his
offering shall be of fine flour: and he shall pour oil upon it, and put
frankincense,

2:2. And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests. And one of
them shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and all the
frankincense; and shall put it a memorial upon the altar for a most
sweet savour to the Lord.

2:3. And the remnant of the sacrifice shall be Aaron's, and his sons',
holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

Holy of holies... That is, most holy, as being dedicated to God, and set
aside by his ordinance for the use of his priests.

2:4. But when thou offerest a sacrifice baked in the oven of flour, to
wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers,
anointed with oil:

2:5. If thy oblation be from the fryingpan, of flour tempered with oil,
and without leaven: 2:6. Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and
shalt pour oil upon it.

2:7. And if the sacrifice be from the gridiron, in like manner the flour
shall be tempered with oil.

2:8. And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to the
hands of the priest.

2:9. And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the
sacrifice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord.

2:10. And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron's, and his sons': holy of
holies of the offerings of the Lord.

2:11. Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall be made without
leaven: neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the sacrifice to
the Lord.

Without leaven or honey... No leaven nor honey was to be used in the
sacrifice offered to God; to signify that we are to exclude from the
pure worship of the gospel, all double dealing and affection to carnal
pleasures.

2:12. You shall offer only the firstfruits of them and gifts: but they
shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness.

2:13. Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with
salt: neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God
from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.

Salt... In every sacrifice salt was to be used, which is an emblem of
wisdom and discretion, without which none of our performances are
agreeable to God.

2:14. But if thou offer a gift of the firstfruits of thy corn to the
Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break it
small like meal; and so shalt thou offer thy firstfruits to the Lord:

2:15. Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is the
oblation of the Lord.

2:16. Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of
the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.

Leviticus Chapter 3

Of peace offerings.

3:1. And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offerings, and he will
offer of the herd, whether male or female: he shall offer them without
blemish before the Lord.

Peace offerings... Peace, in the scripture language, signifies
happiness, welfare or prosperity; in a word, all kind of blessings.-Such
sacrifices, therefore, as were offered either on occasion of blessings
received, or to obtain new favours, were called pacific or peace
offerings. In these, some part of the victim was consumed with fire on
the altar of God; other parts were eaten by the priests and by the
persons for whom the sacrifice was offered.

3:2. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which shall
be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony: and the sons
of Aaron the priests shall pour the blood round about upon the altar.

3:3. And they shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings, for an
oblation to the Lord: the fat that covereth the entrails, and all the
fat that is within,

3:4. The two kidneys with the fat wherewith the flanks are covered, and
the caul of the liver with the two little kidneys.

3:5. And they shall burn them upon the altar, for a holocaust, putting
fire under the wood: for an oblation of most sweet savour to the Lord.

3:6. But if his oblation and the sacrifice of peace offering be of the
flock, whether he offer male or female, they shall be without blemish.

3:7. If he offer a lamb before the Lord:

3:8. He shall put his hand upon the head of the victim. And it shall be
slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony: and the sons of
Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

3:9. And they shall offer of the victim of peace offerings, a sacrifice
to the Lord: the fat and the whole rump,

3:10. With the kidneys, and the fat that covereth the belly and all the
vitals and both the little kidneys, with the fat that is about the
flanks, and the caul of the liver with the little kidneys.

3:11. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of the
fire, and of the oblation of the Lord.

3:12. If his offering be a goat, and he offer it to the Lord:

3:13. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and shall immolate it
in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of Aaron
shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

3:14. And they shall take of it for the food of the Lord's fire, the fat
that covereth the belly, and that covereth all the vital parts:

3:15. The two little kidneys with the caul that is upon them which is by
the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys.

3:16. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of the
fire, and of a most sweet savour. All the fat shall be the Lord's.

3:17. By a perpetual law for your generations, and in all your
habitations: neither blood nor fat shall you eat at all.

Fat... It is meant of the fat, which by the prescription of the law was
to be offered on God's altar; not of the fat of meat, such as we
commonly eat.

Leviticus Chapter 4

Of offerings for sins of ignorance.

4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

4:2. Say to the children of Israel: The soul that sinneth through
ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the
Lord, which he commanded not to be done:

Ignorance... To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful; and
for such culpable ignorance, these sacrifices, prescribed in this and
the following chapter, were appointed.

4:3. If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to
offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin a calf without blemish.

4:4. And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the Lord:
and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacrifice it to
the Lord.

4:5. He shall take also of the blood of the calf: and carry it into the
tabernacle of the testimony.

The blood... As the figure of the blood of Christ shed for the remission
of our sins, and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven.

4:6. And having dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle with
it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary.

4:7. And he shall put some of the same blood upon the horns of the altar
of the sweet incense most acceptable to the Lord, which is in the
tabernacle of the testimony. And he shall pour all the rest of the blood
at the foot of the altar of holocaust in the entry of the tabernacle.

4:8. And he shall take off the fat of the calf for the sin offering, as
well that which covereth the entrails, as all the inwards:

4:9. The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them, which is by
the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys:

4:10. As it is taken off from the calf of the sacrifice of peace
offerings. And he shall burn them upon the altar of holocaust.

4:11. But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the
bowels and the dung:

4:12. And the rest of the body, he shall carry forth without the camp
into a clean place where the ashes are wont to be poured out: and he
shall burn them upon a pile of wood. They shall be burnt in the place
where the ashes are poured out.

4:13. And if all the multitude of Israel shall be ignorant, and through
ignorance shall do that which is against the commandment of the Lord,

4:14. And afterwards shall understand their sin: they shall offer for
their sin a calf, and shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle.

4:15. And the ancients of the people shall put their hands upon the head
thereof before the Lord. And the calf being immolated in the sight of
the Lord:

4:16. The priest that is anointed shall carry of the blood into the
tabernacle of the testimony.

4:17. And shall dip his finger in it and sprinkle it seven times before
the veil.

4:18. And he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar that
is before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony. And the rest of
the blood he shall pour at the foot of the altar of holocaust, which is
at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

4:19. And all the fat thereof he shall take off, and shall burn it upon
the altar:

4:20. Doing so with this calf, as he did also with that before. And the
priest praying for them, the Lord will be merciful unto them.

4:21. But the calf itself he shall carry forth without the camp, and
shall burn it as he did the former calf: because it is for the sin of
the multitude.

4:22. If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the
things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth,

4:23. And afterwards shall come to know his sin: he shall offer a buck
goat without blemish, a sacrifice to the Lord.

4:24. And he shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and when he hath
immolated it in the place where the holocaust is wont to be slain before
the Lord, because it is for sin,

4:25. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the victim for
sin, touching therewith the horns of the altar of holocaust, and pouring
out the rest at the foot thereof.

4:26. But the fat he shall burn upon it, as is wont to be done with the
victims of peace offerings. And the priest shall pray for him, and for
his sin: and it shall be forgiven him.

4:27. And if any one of the people of the land shall sin through
ignorance, doing any of those things that by the law of the Lord are
forbidden, and offending,

4:28. And shall come to know his sin: he shall offer a she goat without
blemish.

4:29. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim that is for
sin: and shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust.

4:30. And the priest shall take of the blood with his finger, and shall
touch the horns of the altar of holocaust: and shall pour out the rest
at the foot thereof.

4:31. But taking off all the fat, as is wont to be taken away of the
victims of peace offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar, for a sweet
savour to the Lord: and he shall pray for him, and it shall be forgiven
him.

4:32. But if he offer of the flock a victim for his sin, to wit, an ewe
without blemish:

4:33. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall immolate it
in the place where the victims of holocausts are wont to be slain.

4:34. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger,
and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust: and the rest he
shall pour out at the foot thereof.

4:35. All the fat also he shall take off, as the fat of the ram that is
offered for peace offerings is wont to be taken away: and shall burn it
upon the altar, for a burnt sacrifice of the Lord. And he shall pray for
him and his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

Leviticus Chapter 5

Of other sacrifices for sins.

5:1. If any one sin, and hear the voice of one swearing, and is a
witness either because he himself hath seen, or is privy to it: if he do
not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity.

5:2. Whosoever toucheth any unclean thing, either that which hath been
killed by a beast, or died of itself, or any other creeping thing: and
forgetteth his uncleanness, he is guilty, and hath offended.

5:3. And if he touch any thing of the uncleanness of man, according to
any uncleanness wherewith he is wont to be defiled: and having forgotten
it, come afterwards to know it, he shall be guilty of an offence.

5:4. The person that sweareth, and uttereth with his lips, that he would
do either evil or good, and bindeth the same with an oath, and his word:
and having forgotten it afterwards understandeth his offence,

5:5. Let him do penance for his sin:

5:6. And offer of the flocks an ewe lamb, or a she goat, and the priest
shall pray for him and for his sin.

5:7. But if he be not able to offer a beast, let him offer two turtles,
or two young pigeons to the Lord, one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust,

5:8. And he shall give them to the priest: who shall offer the first for
sin, and twist back the head of it to the little pinions, so that it
stick to the neck, and be not altogether broken off.

5:9. And of its blood he shall sprinkle the side of the altar: and
whatever is left, he shall let it drop at the bottom thereof, because it
is for sin.

5:10. And the other he shall burn for a holocaust, as is wont to be
done. And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, and it shall
be forgiven him.

5:11. And if his hand be not able to offer two turtles, or two young
pigeons, he shall offer for his sin the tenth part of an ephi of flour.
He shall not put oil upon it, nor put any frankincense thereon, because
it is for sin.

5:12. And he shall deliver it to the priest, who shall take a handful
thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar for a memorial of him that
offered it:

5:13. Praying for him and making atonement. But the part that is left,
he himself shall have for a gift.

5:14. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

5:15. If any one shall sin through mistake, transgressing the ceremonies
in those things that are sacrificed to the Lord, he shall offer for his
offence a ram without blemish out of the flocks, that may be bought for
two sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary.

5:16. And he shall make good the damage itself which he hath done, and
shall add the fifth part besides, delivering it to the priest, who shall
pray for him, offering the ram: and it shall be forgiven him.

5:17. If any one sin through ignorance, and do one of those things which
by the law of the Lord are forbidden, and being guilty of sin,
understand his iniquity:

5:18. He shall offer of the flocks a ram without blemish to the priest,
according to the measure and estimation of the sin. And the priest shall
pray for him, because he did it ignorantly: And it shall be forgiven
him,

5:19. Because by mistake he trespassed against the Lord.

Leviticus Chapter 6

Oblation for sins of injustice: ordinances concerning the holocausts and
the perpetual fire: the sacrifices of the priests, and the sin
offerings.

6:1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:2. Whosoever shall sin, and despising the Lord, shall deny to his
neighbour the thing delivered to his keeping, which was committed to his
trust; or shall by force extort any thing, or commit oppression;

6:3. Or shall find a thing lost, and denying it, shall also swear
falsely, or shall do any other of the many things, wherein men are wont
to sin:

6:4. Being convicted of the offence, he shall restore

6:5. All that he would have gotten by fraud, in the principal, and the
fifth part besides, to the owner, whom he wronged.

6:6. Moreover for his sin he shall offer a ram without blemish out of
the flock: and shall give it to the priest, according to the estimation
and measure of the offence.

6:7. And he shall pray for him before the Lord: and he shall have
forgiveness for every thing in doing of which he bath sinned.

6:8. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:9. Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of a holocaust. It
shall be burnt upon the altar, all night until morning: the fire shall
be of the same altar.

6:10. The priest shall be vested with the tunick and the linen breeches;
and he shall take up the ashes of that which the devouring fire hath
burnt: and putting them beside the altar,

6:11. Shall put off his former vestments, and being clothed with others,
shall carry them forth without the camp, and shall cause them to be
consumed to dust in a very clean place.

6:12. And the fire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall
feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning: and laying on the
holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace offerings.

6:13. This is the perpetual fire which shall never go out on the altar.

The perpetual fire... This fire came from heaven, (infra. chap. 9.24,)
and was always kept burning on the altar, as a figure of the heavenly
fire of divine love, which ought to be always burning in the heart of a
Christian.

6:14. This is the law of the sacrifice and libations, which the children
of Aaron shall offer before the Lord, and before the altar.

6:15. The priest shall take a handful of the flour that is tempered with
oil, and all the frankincense that is put upon the flour: and he shall
burn on the altar for a memorial of most sweet odour to the Lord.

6:16. And the part of the flour that is left, Aaron and his sons shall
eat, without leaven: and he shall eat it in the holy place of the court
of the tabernacle.

6:17. And therefore it shall not be leavened, because part thereof is
offered for the burnt sacrifice of the Lord. It shall be most holy, as
that which is offered for sin and for trespass.

6:18. The males only of the race of Aaron shall eat it. It shall be an
ordinance everlasting in your generations concerning the sacrifices of
the Lord: Every one that toucheth them shall be sanctified.

6:19. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:20. This is the oblation of Aaron, and of his sons, which they must
offer to the Lord, in the day of their anointing. They shall offer the
tenth part of an ephi of flour for a perpetual sacrifice, half of it in
the morning, and half of it in the evening.

6:21. It shall be tempered with oil, and shall be fried in a fryingpan.

6:22. And the priest that rightfully succeedeth his father, shall offer
it hot, for a most sweet odour to the Lord: and it shall he wholly burnt
on the altar.

6:23. For every sacrifice of the priest shall be consumed with fire:
neither shall any man eat thereof.

6:24. And the Lord spoke to Moses. saying:

6:25. Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the victim for sin.
In the place where the holocaust is offered, it shall be immolated
before the Lord. It is holy of holies.

6:26. The priest that offereth it, shall eat it in a holy place, in the
court of the tabernacle.

6:27. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified. If
a garment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a
holy place.

6:28. And the earthen vessel, wherein it was sodden, shall be broken:
but if the vessel be of brass, it shall be scoured, and washed with
water.

6:29. Every male of the priestly race shall eat of the flesh thereof,
because it is holy of holies.

6:30. For the victim that is slain for sin, the blood of which is
carried into the tabernacle of the testimony to make atonement in the
sanctuary, shall not be eaten, but shall be burnt with fire.

Leviticus Chapter 7

Of sacrifices for trespasses and thanks offerings. No fat nor blood is
to be eaten.

7:1. This also is the law of the sacrifice for a trespass: it is most
holy.

Trespass... Trespasses, for which these offerings were to be made, were
lesser offences than those for which the sin offerings were appointed.

7:2. Therefore where the holocaust is immolated, the victim also for a
trespass shall be slain: the blood thereof shall be poured round about
the altar.

7:3. They shall offer thereof the rump and the fat that covereth the
entrails:

7:4. The two little kidneys, and the fat which is by the flanks, and the
caul of the liver with the little kidneys.

7:5. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the burnt
sacrifice of the Lord for a trespass.

7:6. Every male of the priestly race, shall eat this flesh in a holy
place, because it is most holy.

7:7. As the sacrifice for sin is offered, so is also that for a
trespass: the same shall be the law of both these sacrifices. It shall
belong to the priest that offereth it.

7:8. The priest that offereth the victim of holocaust, shall have the
skin thereof.

7:9. And every sacrifice of flour that is baked in the oven, and
whatsoever is dressed on the gridiron, or in the fryingpan, shall be the
priest's that offereth it.

7:10. Whether they be tempered with oil, or dry, all the sons of Aaron
shall have one as much as another.

7:11. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that is
offered to the Lord.

7:12. If the oblation be for thanksgiving, they shall offer loaves
without leaven tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with
oil, and fine flour fried, and cakes tempered and mingled with oil.

7:13. Moreover loaves of leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanks,
which is offered for peace offerings:

7:14. Of which one shall be offered to the Lord for firstfruits, and
shall be the priest's that shall pour out the blood of the victim.

7:15. And the flesh of it shall be eaten the same day: neither shall any
of it remain until the morning.

7:16. If any man by vow, or of his own accord offer a sacrifice, it
shall in like manner be eaten the same day. And if any of it remain
until the morrow, it is lawful to eat it.

7:17. But whatsoever shall be found on the third day shall be consumed
with fire.

7:18. If any man eat of the flesh of the victim of peace offerings on
the third day, the oblation shall be of no effect: neither shall it
profit the offerer. Yea rather, whatsoever soul shall defile itself with
such meat, shall be guilty of transgression.

7:19. The flesh that hath touched any unclean thing, shall not be eaten:
but shall be burnt with fire. He that is clean shall eat of it.

7:20. If any one that is defiled shall eat of the flesh of the sacrifice
of peace offerings, which is offered to the Lord, he shall be cut off
from his people.

7:21. And he that hath touched the uncleanness of man, or of beast, or
of any thing that can defile, and shall eat of such kind of flesh: shall
be cut off from his people.

7:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

7:23. Say to the children of Israel: The fat of a sheep, and of an ox,
and of a goat you shall not eat.

7:24. The fat of a carcass that hath died of itself, and of a beast that
was caught by another beast, you shall have for divers uses.

7:25. If any man eat the fat that should be offered for the burnt
sacrifice of the Lord, he shall perish out of his people.

7:26. Moreover you shall not eat the blood of any creature whatsoever,
whether of birds or beasts.

7:27. Every one that eateth blood, shall perish from among the people.

7:28. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

7:29. Speak to the children of Israel, saying: He that offereth a victim
of peace offerings to the Lord, let him offer therewith a sacrifice
also, that is, the libations thereof.

7:30. He shall hold in his hands the fat of the victim, and the breast.
And when he hath offered and consecrated both to the Lord, he shall
deliver them to the priest,

7:31. Who shall burn the fat upon the altar. But the breast shall be
Aaron's and his sons'.

7:32. The right shoulder also of the victim, of peace offerings shall
fall to the priest for firstfruits.

7:33. He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood, and the fat:
he shall have the right shoulder also for his portion.

7:34. For the breast that is elevated and the shoulder that is separated
I have taken of the children of Israel, from off their victims of peace
offerings: and have given them to Aaron the priest, and to his sons, by
a law for ever, from all the people of Israel.

7:35. This is the anointing of Aaron and his sons, in the ceremonies of
the Lord, in the day when Moses offered them, that they might do the
office of priesthood,

7:36. And the things that the Lord commanded to be given them by the
children of Israel, by a perpetual observance in their generations.

7:37. This is the law of holocaust, and of the sacrifice for sin, and
for trespass, and for consecration, and the victims of peace offerings:

7:38. Which the Lord appointed to Moses in mount Sinai, when he
commanded the children of Israel, that they should offer their oblations
to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.

Leviticus Chapter 8

Moses consecrateth Aaron and his sons.

8:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

8:2. Take Aaron with his sons, their vestments, and the oil of unction:
a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread.

8:3. And thou shalt gather together all the congregation to the door of
the tabernacle.

8:4. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded. And all the multitude
being gathered together before the door of the tabernacle:

8:5. He said: This is the word that the Lord hath commanded to be done.

8:6. And immediately, he offered Aaron and his sons. And when he had
washed them,

8:7. He vested the high priest with the strait linen garment, girding
him with the girdle, and putting on him the violet tunick: and over it
he put the ephod.

8:8. And binding it with the girdle, he fitted it to the rational, on
which was Doctrine and Truth.

8:9. He put also the mitre upon his head: and upon the mitre over the
forehead, he put the plate of gold, consecrated with sanctification, as
the Lord had commanded him.

8:10. He took also the oil of unction, with which he anointed the
tabernacle, with all the furniture thereof.

8:11. And when he had sanctified and sprinkled the altar seven times, he
anointed it, and all the vessels thereof: and the laver with the foot
thereof, he sanctified with the oil.

8:12. And he poured it upon Aaron's head: and he anointed and
consecrated him.

8:13. And after he had offered his sons, he vested them with linen
tunicks, and girded them with girdles: and put mitres on them as the
Lord had commanded.

8:14. He offered also the calf for sin: and when Aaron and his sons had
put their hands upon the head thereof,

8:15. He immolated it: and took the blood, and dipping his finger in it,
he touched the horns of the altar round about. Which being expiated, and
sanctified, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom thereof.

8:16. But the fat that was upon the entrails, and the caul of the liver,
and the two little kidneys, with their fat, he burnt upon the altar.

8:17. And the calf with the skin, and the flesh and the dung, he burnt
without the camp, as the Lord had commanded.

8:18. He offered also a ram for holocaust. And when Aaron and his sons
had put their hands upon its head:

8:19. He immolated it, and poured the blood thereof round about the
altar.

8:20. And cutting the ram into pieces, the head thereof, and the joints,
and the fat he burnt in the fire.

8:21. Having first washed the entrails, and the feet, and the whole ram
together he burnt upon the altar: because it was a holocaust of most
sweet odour to the Lord, as he had commanded him.

8:22. He offered also the second ram, in the consecration of priests:
and Aaron, and his sons put their hands upon the head thereof.

8:23. And when Moses had immolated it, he took of the blood thereof, and
touched the tip of Aaron's right ear, and the thumb of his right hand,
and in like manner also the great toe of his right foot.

8:24. He offered also the sons of Aaron: and when with the blood of the
ram that was immolated, he had touched the tip of the right ear of every
one of them, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of
their right feet, the rest he poured on the altar round about.

8:25. But the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that covereth the
entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat,
and with the right shoulder, he separated.

8:26. And taking out of the basket of unleavened bread, which was before
the Lord, a loaf without leaven, and a cake tempered with oil and a
wafer, he put them upon the fat, and the right shoulder:

8:27. Delivering all to Aaron, and to his sons. Who having lifted them
up before the Lord,

8:28. He took them again from their hands, and burnt them upon the altar
of holocaust: because it was the oblation of consecration, for a sweet
odour of sacrifice to the Lord.

8:29. And he took of the ram of consecration, the breast for his
portion, elevating it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him.

8:30. And taking the ointment, and the blood that was upon the altar, he
sprinkled Aaron, and his vestments, and his sons, and their vestments
with it.

8:31. And when he had sanctified them in their vestments, he commanded
them, saying: Boil the flesh before the door of the tabernacle, and
there eat it. Eat ye also the loaves of consecration, that are laid in
the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying: Aaron and his sons shall
eat them.

8:32. And whatsoever shall be left of the flesh and the loaves, shall be
consumed with fire.

8:33. And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven
days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be
expired. For in seven days the consecration is finished:

8:34. As at this present it hath been done, that the rite of the
sacrifice might be accomplished.

8:35. Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle observing the
watches of the Lord, lest you die. For so it hath been commanded me.

8:36. And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by the
hand of Moses.

Leviticus Chapter 9

Aaron offereth sacrifice for himself and the people. Fire cometh from
the Lord upon the altar.

9:1. And when the eighth day was come, Moses called Aaron and his sons,
and the ancients of Israel, and said to Aaron:

9:2. Take of the herd a calf for sin, and a ram for a holocaust, both
without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.

9:3. And to the children of Israel thou shalt say: Take ye a he goat for
sin, and a calf, and a lamb, both of a year old, and without blemish for
a holocaust.

9:4. Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings. And immolate them
before the Lord, offering for the sacrifice of every one of them flour
tempered with oil: for to day the Lord will appear to you.

9:5. They brought therefore all things that Moses had commanded before
the door of the tabernacle: where when all the multitude stood,

9:6. Moses said: This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded. Do it,
and his glory will appear to you.

9:7. And he said to Aaron: Approach to the altar, and offer sacrifice
for thy sin. Offer the holocaust, and pray for thyself and for the
people: and when thou hast slain the people's victim, pray for them, as
the Lord hath commanded.

9:8. And forthwith Aaron, approaching to the altar, immolated the calf
for his sin.

9:9. And his sons brought him the blood of it: and he dipped his finger
therein, and touched the horns of the altar, and poured the rest at the
foot thereof.

9:10. And the fat, and the little kidneys, and the caul of the liver,
which are for sin, he burnt upon the altar, as the Lord had commanded
Moses.

9:11. But the flesh and skins thereof he burnt with fire without the
camp.

9:12. He immolated also the victim of holocaust: and his sons brought
him the blood thereof, which he poured round about on the altar.

9:13. And the victim being cut into pieces, they brought to him the head
and all the members: all which he burnt with fire upon the altar.

9:14. Having first washed the entrails and the feet with water.

9:15. Then offering for the sin of the people, he slew the he goat: and
expiating the altar,

9:16. He offered the holocaust.

9:17. Adding in the sacrifice the libations, which are offered withal,
and burning them upon the altar, besides the ceremonies of the morning
holocaust.

9:18. He immolated also the bullock and the ram, and peace offerings of
the people: and his sons brought him the blood, which he poured upon the
altar round about.

9:19. The fat also of the bullock, and the rump of the ram, and the two
little kidneys with their fat, and the caul of the liver,

9:20. They put upon the breasts. And after the fat was burnt upon the
altar,

9:21. Aaron separated their breasts, and the right shoulders, elevating
them before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

9:22. And stretching forth his hands to the people, he blessed them. And
so the victims for sin, and the holocausts, and the peace offerings
being finished, he came down.

9:23. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the testimony, and
afterwards came forth and blessed the people.  And the glory of the Lord
appeared to all the multitude.

9:24. And, behold, a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the
holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude
saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces.

Leviticus Chapter 10

Nadab and Abiu for offering strange fire, are burnt by fire. Priests are
forbidden to drink wine, when they enter into the tabernacle. The law of
eating the holy things.

10:1. And Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron, taking their censers, put
fire therein, and incense on it, offering before the Lord strange fire:
which was not commanded them.

10:2. And fire coming out from the Lord destroyed them: and they died
before the Lord.

10:3. And Moses said to Aaron: This is what the Lord hath spoken. I will
be sanctified in them that approach to me: and I will be glorified in
the sight of all the people. And when Aaron heard this, he held his
peace.

10:4. And Moses called Misael and Elisaphan, the sons of Oziel, the
uncle of Aaron, and said to them: Go and take away your brethren from
before the sanctuary, and carry them without the camp.

10:5. And they went forthwith and took them as they lay, vested with
linen tunicks, and cast them forth, as had been commanded them.

10:6. And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons:
Uncover not your heads, and rend not your garments, lest perhaps you
die, and indignation come upon all the congregation. Let your brethren,
and all the house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has
kindled.

10:7. But you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle: otherwise
you shall perish, for the oil of the holy unction is on you. And they
did all things according to the precept of Moses.

10:8. The Lord also said to Aaron:

10:9. You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk, thou
nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest
you die. Because it is an everlasting precept; through your generations:

10:10. And that you may have knowledge to discern between holy and
unholy, between unclean and clean:

10:11. And may teach the children of Israel all my ordinances which the
Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses.

10:12. And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons
that were left: Take the sacrifice that is remaining of the oblation of
the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is holy
of holies.

10:13. And you shall eat it in a holy place: which is given to thee and
thy sons of the oblations of the Lord, as it hath been commanded me.

10:14. The breast also that is offered, and the shoulder that is
separated, you shall eat in a most clean place, thou and thy sons, and
thy daughters with thee. For they are set aside for thee and thy
children, of the victims of peace offerings of the children of Israel.

10:15. Because they have elevated before the Lord the shoulder and the
breast, and the fat that is burnt on the altar: and they belong to thee
and to thy sons by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded.

10:16. While these things were a doing, when Moses sought for the buck
goat, that had been offered for sin, he found it burnt.  And being angry
with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, he said:

10:17. Why did you not eat in the holy place the sacrifice for sin,
which is most holy, and given to you, that you may bear the iniquity of
the people, and may pray for them in the sight of the Lord.

10:18. Especially, whereas none of the blood thereof hath been carried
within the holy places: and you ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary,
as was commanded me?

10:19. Aaron answered: This day hath been offered the victim for sin,
and the holocaust before the Lord: and to me what thou seest has
happened. How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies,
having a sorrowful heart?

10:20. Which when Moses had heard he was satisfied.

Leviticus Chapter 11

The distinction of clean and unclean animals.

11:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

11:2. Say to the children of Israel: These are the animals which you are
to eat of all the living things of the earth.

Animals which you are to eat, etc... The prohibition of so many kinds of
beasts, birds, and fishes, in the law, was ordered, 1st, to exercise the
people in obedience, and temperance; 2ndly, to restrain them from the
vices of which these animals were symbols; 3rdly, because the things
here forbidden were for the most part unwholesome, and not proper to be
eaten; 4thly, that the people of God, by being obliged to abstain from
things corporally unclean, might be trained up to seek a spiritual
cleanness.

11:3. Whatsoever hath the hoof divided, and cheweth the cud among the
beasts, you shall eat.

Hoof divided, and cheweth the cud... The dividing of the hoof and
chewing of the cud, signify discretion between good and evil, and
meditating on the law of God; and where either of these is wanting a man
is unclean. In like manner fishes were reputed unclean that had not fins
and scales: that is, souls that did not raise themselves up by prayer
and cover themselves with the scales of virtue.

11:4. But whatsoever cheweth indeed the cud, and hath a hoof, but
divideth it not, as the camel, and others: that you shall not eat, but
shall reckon it among the unclean.

11:5. The cherogrillus which cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof,
is unclean.

The cherogrillus... Some suppose it to be the rabbit, others the
hedgehog. St. Jerome intimates that it is another kind of animal common
in Palestine, which lives in the holes of rocks or in the earth. We
choose here, as also in the names of several other creatures that follow
(which are little known in this part of the world,) to keep the Greek or
Latin names.

11:6. The hare also: for that too cheweth the cud, but divideth not the
hoof.

11:7. And the swine, which, though it divideth the hoof, cheweth not the
cud.

11:8. The flesh of these you shall not eat, nor shall you touch their
carcasses, because they are unclean to you.

11:9. These are the things that breed in the waters, and which it is
lawful to eat. All that hath fins, and scales, as well in the sea, as in
the rivers, and the pools, you shall eat.

11:10. But whatsoever hath not fins and scales, of those things that
move and live in the waters, shall be an abomination to you,

11:11. And detestable. Their flesh you shall not eat: and their
carcasses you shall avoid.

11:12. All that have not fins and scales, in the waters, shall be
unclean.

11:13. Of birds these are they which you must not eat, and which are to
be avoided by you: The eagle, and the griffon, and the osprey.

The griffon... Not the monster which the painter represent, which hath
no being upon earth; but a bird of the eagle kind, larger than the
common.

11:14. And the kite, and the vulture, according to their kind.

11:15. And all that is of the raven kind, according to their likeness.

11:16. The ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk according
to its kind.

11:17. The screech owl, and the cormorant, and the ibis.

11:18. And the swan, and the bittern, and the porphyrion.

11:19. The heron, and the charadroin according to its kind, the houp
also, and the bat.

11:20. Of things that fly, whatsoever goeth upon four feet, shall be
abominable to you.

11:21. But whatsoever walketh upon four feet, but hath the legs behind
longer, wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth,

11:22. That you shall eat: as the bruchus in its kind, the attacus, and
ophimachus, and the locust, every, one according to their kind.

11:23. But of flying things whatsoever hath four feet only, shall be an
abomination to you.

11:24. And whosoever shall touch the carcasses of them, shall be
defiled: and shall be unclean until the evening:

11:25. And if it be necessary that he carry any of these things when
they are dead: he shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until the
sun set.

11:26. Every beast that hath a hoof, but divideth it not, nor cheweth
the cud shall be unclean: and he that toucheth it, shall be defiled.

11:27. That which walketh upon hands of all animals which go on all
four, shall be unclean: he that shall touch their carcasses shall be
defiled until evening.

11:28. And he that shall carry such carcasses, shall wash his clothes,
and shall be unclean until evening: because all these things are unclean
to you.

11:29. These also shall be reckoned among unclean things, of all that
move upon the earth. The weasel, and the mouse, and the crocodile, every
one according to their kind:

11:30. The shrew, and the chameleon, and the stellio, and the lizard,
and the mole.

11:31. All these are unclean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be
unclean until the evening.

11:32. And upon what thing soever any of their carcasses shall fall, it
shall be defiled, whether it be a vessel of wood, or a garment, or skins
or haircloths: or any thing in which work is done. They shall be dipped
in water, and shall be unclean until the evening, and so afterwards
shall be clean.

11:33. But an earthen vessel, into which any of these shall fall, shall
be defiled: and therefore is to be broken.

11:34. Any meat which you eat, if water from such a vessel be poured
upon it, shall be unclean; and every liquor that is drunk out of any
such vessel, shall be unclean.

11:35. And upon whatsoever thing any of these dead beasts shall fall, it
shall be unclean. Whether it be oven, or pots with feet, they shall be
destroyed, and shall be unclean.

11:36. But fountains and cisterns, and all gatherings together of waters
shall be clean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be defiled.

11:37. If it fall upon seed corn, it shall not defile it.

11:38. But if any man pour water upon the seed, and afterwards it be
touched by the carcasses, it shall be forthwith defiled.

11:39. If any beast die, of which it is lawful for you to eat, he that
toucheth the carcass thereof, shall be unclean until the evening.

11:40. And he that eateth or carrieth any thing thereof, shall wash his
clothes, and shall be unclean until the evening.

11:41. All that creepeth upon the earth shall be abominable: neither
shall it be taken for meat.

11:42. Whatsoever goeth upon the breast on four feet, or hath many feet,
or traileth on the earth, you shall not eat, because it is abominable.

11:43. Do not defile your souls, nor touch aught thereof, lest you be
unclean,

11:44. For I am the Lord your God. Be holy because I am holy.  Defile
not your souls by any creeping thing, that moveth upon the earth.

11:45. For I am the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that
I might be your God.

11:46. You shall be holy, because I am holy. This is the law of beasts
and fowls, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and
creepeth on the earth:

11:47. That you may know the differences of the clean, and unclean, and
know what you ought to eat, and what to refuse.

Leviticus Chapter 12

The purification of women after childbirth.

12:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: If a
woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean
seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers.

12:3. And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised:

12:4. But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her
purification. She shall touch no holy thing: neither shall she enter
into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification, be fulfilled.

12:5. But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two
weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses. And she shall
remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

12:6. And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son, or
for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or a
turtle for sin: and shall deliver them to the priest.

12:7. Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her: and
so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law
for her that beareth a man child or a maid child.

12:8. And if her hand find not sufficiency, and she is not able to offer
a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a
holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and
so she shall be cleansed.

Leviticus Chapter 13

The law concerning leprosy in men, and in garments.

13:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

13:2. The man in whose skin or flesh shall arise a different colour or a
blister, or as it were something shining, that is the stroke of the
leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any or of his sons.

13:3. And if he see the leprosy in his skin, and the hair turned white
and the place where the leprosy appears lower than the skin and the rest
of the flesh: it is the stroke of the leprosy, and upon his judgment he
shall be separated.

13:4. But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower
than the other flesh, and the hair be of the former colour, the priest
shall shut him up seven days.

13:5. And the seventh day he shall look on him: and if the leprosy be
grown no farther, and hath not spread itself in the skin, he shall shut
him up again other seven days.

13:6. And on the seventh day, he shall look on him. If the leprosy be
somewhat obscure, and not spread in the skin, he shall declare him
clean, because it is but a scab: and the man shall wash his clothes, and
shall be clean.

13:7. But, if the leprosy grow again, after he was seen by the priest
and restored to cleanness, he shall be brought to him:

13:8. And shall be condemned of uncleanness.

13:9. If the stroke of the leprosy be in a man, he shall be brought to
the priest:

13:10. And he shall view him. And when there shall be a white colour in
the skin, and it shall have changed the look of the hair, and the living
flesh itself shall appear:

13:11. It shall be judged an inveterate leprosy, and grown into the
skin. The priest therefore shall declare him unclean: and shall not shut
him up, because he is evidently unclean.

13:12. But if the leprosy spring out running about in the skin, and
cover all the skin from the head to the feet, whatsoever falleth under
the sight of the eyes:

13:13. The priest shall view him, and shall judge that the leprosy which
he has is very clean: because it is all turned into whiteness, and
therefore the man shall be clean.

13:14. But when the live flesh shall appear in him:

13:15. Then by the judgment of the priest he shall be defiled, and shall
be reckoned among the unclean. For live flesh, if it be spotted with
leprosy, is unclean.

13:16. And if again it be turned into whiteness, and cover all the man:

13:17. The priest shall view him, and shall judge him to be clean.

13:18. When also there has been an ulcer in the flesh and the skin, and
it has been healed:

13:19. And in the place of the ulcer, there appeareth a white scar, or
somewhat red, the man shall be brought to the priest.

13:20. And when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the
other flesh, and the hair turned white: he shall declare him unclean,
for the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer.

13:21. But if the hair be of the former colour, and the scar somewhat
obscure, and be not lower than the flesh that is near it: he shall shut
him up seven days.

13:22. And if it spread, he shall judge him to have the leprosy:

13:23. But if it stay in its place, it is but the scar of an ulcer: and
the man shall be clean.

13:24. The flesh also and skin that hath been burnt, and after it is
healed hath a white or a red scar:

13:25. The priest shall view it, and if he see it turned white, and the
place thereof is lower than the other skin: he shall declare him
unclean, because the evil of leprosy is broken out in the scar.

13:26. But if the colour of the hair be not changed, nor the blemish
lower than the other flesh, and the appearance of the leprosy be
somewhat obscure: he shall shut him up seven days,

13:27. And on the seventh day he shall view him. If the leprosy be grown
farther in the skin, he shall declare him unclean.

13:28. But if the whiteness stay in its place, and be not very clear, it
is the sore of a burning: and therefore he shall be cleansed, because it
is only the scar of a burning.

13:29. If the leprosy break out in the head or the beard of a man or
woman, the priest shall see them,

13:30. And if the place be lower than the other flesh, and the hair
yellow, and thinner than usual: he shall declare them unclean, because
it is the leprosy of the head and the beard;

13:31. But if he perceive the place of the spot is equal with the flesh
that is near it, and the hair black: he shall shut him up seven days,

13:32. And on the seventh day he shall look upon it. If the spot be not
grown, and the hair keep its colour, and the place of the blemish be
even with the other flesh:

13:33. The man shall be shaven all but the place of the spot: and he
shall be shut up other seven days.

13:34. If on the seventh day the evil seem to have stayed in its place,
and not lower than the other flesh, he shall cleanse him: and his
clothes being washed he shall be clean.

13:35. But if after his cleansing the spot spread again in the skin:

13:36. He shall seek no more whether the hair be turned yellow, because
he is evidently unclean.

13:37. But if the spot be stayed, and the hair be black, let him know
that the man is healed: and let him confidently pronounce him clean.

13:38. If a whiteness appear in the skin of a man or a woman,

13:39. The priest shall view them. If he find that a darkish whiteness
shineth in the skin, let him know that it is not the leprosy, but a
white blemish, and that the man is clean.

13:40. The man whose hair falleth off from his head, he is bald and
clean:

13:41. And if the hair fall from his forehead, he is bald before and
clean.

13:42. But if in the bald head or in the bald forehead there be risen a
white or reddish colour:

13:43. And the priest perceive this, he shall condemn him undoubtedly of
leprosy which is risen in the bald part.

13:44. Now whosoever shall be defiled with the leprosy, and is separated
by the judgment of the priest:

13:45. Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth
covered with a cloth: and he shall cry out that he is defiled and
unclean.

13:46. All the time that he is a leper and unclean he shall dwell alone
without the camp.

13:47. A woollen or linen garment that shall have the leprosy

13:48. In the warp, and the woof: or skin, or whatsoever is made of a
skin:

13:49. If it be infected with a white or red spot, it shall be accounted
the leprosy, and shall be shewn to the priest.

13:50. And he shall look upon it and shall shut it up seven days.

13:51. And on the seventh day when he looketh on it again, if he find
that it is grown, it is a fixed leprosy. He shall judge the garment
unclean, and every thing wherein it shall be found.

13:52. And therefore it shall be burnt with fire.

13:53. But if he see that it is not grown,

13:54. He shall give orders, and they shall wash that part wherein the
leprosy is: and he shall shut it up other seven days.

13:55. And when he shall see that the former colour is not returned, nor
yet the leprosy spread, he shall judge it unclean: and shall burn it
with fire, for the leprosy has taken hold of the outside of the garment,
or through the whole.

13:56. But if the place of the leprosy be somewhat dark, after the
garment is washed, he shall tear it off, and divide it from that which
is sound.

13:57. And if after this there appear in those places that before were
without spot, a flying and wandering leprosy: it must be burnt with
fire.

13:58. If it cease, he shall wash with water the parts that are pure,
the second time: and they shall be clean.

13:59. This is the law touching the leprosy of any woollen or linen
garment, either in the warp or woof, or any thing of skins: how it ought
to be cleaned, or pronounced unclean.

Leviticus Chapter 14

The rites of sacrifices in cleansing the leprosy. Leprosy in houses.

14:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

14:2. This is the rite of a leper, when he is to be cleansed. He shall
be brought to the priest:

14:3. Who going out of the camp, when he shall find that the leprosy is
cleansed,

14:4. Shall command him that is to be purified, to offer for himself two
living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar wood, and scarlet,
and hyssop.

14:5. And he shall command one of the sparrows to be immolated in an
earthen vessel over living waters.

Living waters... That is, waters taken from a spring, brook, or river.

14:6. But the other that is alive, he shall dip, with the cedar wood,
and the scarlet and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that is
immolated:

14:7. Wherewith he shall sprinkle him that is to be cleansed seven
times, that he may be rightly purified. And he shall let go the living
sparrow, that it may fly into the field.

14:8. And when the man hath washed his clothes, he shall shave all the
hair of his body, and shall be washed with water: and being purified he
shall enter into the camp, yet so that he tarry without his own tent
seven days.

14:9. And on the seventh day he shall shave the hair of his head, and
his beard and his eyebrows, and the hair of all his body.  And having
washed again his clothes, and his body,

14:10. On the eighth day, he shall take two lambs without blemish, and
an ewe of a year old without blemish, and three tenths of flour tempered
with oil for a sacrifice, and a sextary of oil apart.

A sextary... Heb. log: a measure of liquids, which was the twelfth part
of a hin; and held about as much as six eggs.

14:11. And when the priest that purifieth the man, hath presented him,
and all these things before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of
the testimony:

14:12. He shall take a lamb, and offer it for a trespass offering with
the sextary of oil. And having offered all before the Lord,

14:13. He shall immolate the lamb, where the victim for sin is wont to
be immolated, and the holocaust, that is, in the holy place. For as that
which is for sin, so also the victim for a trespass offering pertaineth
to the priest: it is holy of holies.

14:14. And the priest taking of the blood of the victim that was
immolated for trespass, shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of
him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand and the great
toe of his right foot.

Taking of the blood, etc... These ceremonies used in the cleansing of a
leper, were mysterious and very significative. The sprinkling seven
times with the blood of the little bird, the washing himself and his
clothes, the shaving his hair and his beard, signify the means which are
to be used in the reconciliation of a sinner, and the steps by which he
is to return to God, viz., by the repeated application of the blood of
Christ: the washing his conscience with the waters of compunction: and
retrenching all vanities and superfluities, by employing all that is
over and above what is necessary in alms deeds. The sin offering, and
the holocaust or burnt offering, which he was to offer at his cleansing,
signify the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart, and that of
adoration in spirit and truth, with gratitude and thankfulness, for the
forgiveness of sins, with which we are ever to appear before the
Almighty. The touching the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and
the great toe of the right foot, first with the blood of the victim, and
then with the remainder of the oil, which had been sprinkled seven times
before the Lord, signify the application of the blood of Christ, and the
unction of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Ghost; to the sinner's right
ear, that he may duly hearken to and obey the law of God; and to his
right hand and foot, that the works of his hands, and all the steps or
affections of his soul, signified by the feet, may be rightly directed
to God.

14:15. And he shall pour of the sextary of oil into his own left hand,

14:16. And shall dip his right finger in it, and sprinkle it before the
Lord seven times.

14:17. And the rest of the oil in his left hand, he shall pour upon the
tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his
right hand and the great toe of his right foot, and upon the blood that
was shed for trespass:

14:18. And upon his head.

14:19. And he shall pray for him before the Lord, and shall offer the
sacrifice for sin. Then shall he immolate the holocaust.

14:20. And put it on the altar with the libations thereof: and the man
shall be rightly cleansed.

14:21. But if he be poor, and his hand cannot find the things aforesaid:
he shall take a lamb for an offering for trespass, that the priest may
pray for him, and a tenth part of flour tempered with oil for a
sacrifice, and a sextary of oil:

14:22. And two turtles or two young pigeons, of which one may be for
sin, and the other for a holocaust.

14:23. And he shall offer them on the eighth day of his purification to
the priest, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the
Lord.

14:24. And the priest receiving the lamb for trespass, and the sextary
of oil, shall elevate them together.

14:25. And the lamb being immolated, he shall put of the blood thereof
upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the
thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot.

14:26. But he shall pour part of the oil into his own left hand,

14:27. And dipping the finger of his right hand in it, he shall sprinkle
it seven times before the Lord.

14:28. And he shall touch the tip of the right ear of him that is
cleansed, and the thumb of his right hand and the great toe of his right
foot, in the place of the blood that was shed for trespass.

14:29. And the other part of the oil that is in his left hand, he shall
pour upon the head of the purified person, that he may appease the Lord
for him.

14:30. And he shall offer a turtle, or young pigeon:

14:31. One for trespass, and the other for a holocaust, with their
libations.

14:32. This is the sacrifice of a leper, that is not able to have all
things that appertain to his cleansing.

14:33. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

14:34. When you shall come into the land of Chanaan, which I will give
you for a possession, if there be the plague or leprosy in a house:

14:35. He whose house it is, shall go and tell the priest, saying: It
seemeth to me, that there is the plague of leprosy in my house,

14:36. And he shall command, that they carry forth all things out of the
house, before he go into it, and see whether it have the leprosy, let
all things become unclean that are in the house. And afterwards he shall
go in to view the leprosy of the house.

14:37. And if he see in the walls thereof as it were little dints,
disfigured with paleness or redness, and lower than all he rest:

14:38. He shall go out of the door of the house, and forthwith shut it
up seven days,

14:39. And returning on the seventh day, he shall look upon it. If he
find that the leprosy is spread,

14:40. He shall command, that the stones wherein the leprosy is, be
taken out, and cast without the city into an unclean place:

14:41. And that the house be scraped on the inside round about, and the
dust of the scrapings be scattered without the city into an unclean
place:

14:42. And that other stones be laid in the place of them that were
taken away, and the house be plastered with other mortar.

14:43. But if after the stones be taken out, and the dust scraped off,
and it be plastered with other earth.

14:44. The priest going in perceive that the leprosy is returned, and
the walls full of spots, it is a lasting leprosy, and the house is
unclean.

14:45. And they shall destroy it forthwith, and shall cast the stones
and timber thereof, and all the dust without the town into an unclean
place.

14:46. He that entereth into the house when it is shut, shall be unclean
until evening,

14:47. And he that sleepeth in it, and eateth any thing, shall wash his
clothes.

14:48. But if the priest going in perceive that the leprosy is not
spread in the house, after it was plastered again, he shall purify it,
it being cured.

14:49. And for the purification thereof he shall take two sparrows, and
cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

14:50. And having immolated one sparrow in an earthen vessel, over
living waters,

14:51. He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet,
and the living sparrow, and shall dip all in the blood of the sparrow
that is immolated, and in the living water: and he shall sprinkle the
house seven times.

14:52. And shall purify it as well with the blood of the sparrow, as
with the living water, and with the living sparrow, and with the cedar
wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet.

14:53. And when he hath let go the sparrow to fly freely away into the
field, he shall pray for the house: and it shall be rightly cleansed.

14:54. This is the law of every kind of leprosy and stroke.

14:55. Of the leprosy of garments and houses,

14:56. Of a scar and of blisters breaking out of a shining spot, and
when the colours are diversely changed:

14:57. That it may be known when a thing is clean or unclean.

Leviticus Chapter 15

Other legal uncleannesses.

15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

15:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The man that
hath an issue of seed, shall be unclean.

Issue of seed shall be unclean... These legal uncleannesses were
instituted in order to give the people a horror of carnal impurities.

15:3. And then shall he be judged subject to this evil, when a filthy
humour, at every moment, cleaveth to his flesh, and gathereth there.

15:4. Every bed on which he sleepeth, shall be unclean, and every place
on which he sitteth.

15:5. If any man touch his bed, he shall wash his clothes and being
washed with water, he shall be unclean until the evening.

15:6. If a man sit where that man hath sitten, he also shall wash his
clothes: and being washed with water, shall be unclean until the
evening.

15:7. He that toucheth his flesh, shall wash his clothes: and being
himself washed with water shall be unclean until the evening.

15:8. If such a man cast his spittle upon him that is clean, he shall
wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall be unclean until
the evening.

15:9. The saddle on which he hath sitten shall be unclean.

15:10. And whatsoever has been under him that hath the issue of seed,
shall be unclean until the evening. He that carrieth any of these
things, shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, he shall be
unclean until the evening.

15:11. Every person whom such a one shall touch, not having washed his
hands before, shall wash his clothes: and being washed with water, shall
be unclean until the evening.

15:12. If he touch a vessel of earth, it shall be broken: but if a
vessel of wood, it shall be washed with water.

15:13. If he who suffereth this disease be healed, he shall number seven
days after his cleansing: and having washed his clothes, and all his
body in living water, he shall be clean.

15:14. And on the eighth day he shall take two turtles, or two young
pigeons, and he shall come before the Lord, to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony, and shall give them to the priest.

15:15. Who shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust: and
he shall pray for him before the Lord, that he may be cleansed of the
issue of his seed.

15:16. The man from whom the seed of copulation goeth out, shall wash
all his body with water: and he shall be unclean until the evening.

15:17. The garment or skin that he weareth, he shall wash with water:
and it shall be unclean until the evening.

15:18. The woman, with whom he copulateth, shall be washed with water:
and shall be unclean until the evening.

15:19. The woman, who at the return of the month, hath her issue of
blood, shall be separated seven days.

15:20. Every one that toucheth her, shall be unclean until the evening.

15:21. And every thing that she sleepeth on, or that she sitteth on in
the days of her separation, shall be defiled.

15:22. He that toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes: and being
himself washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening.

15:23. Whosoever shall touch any vessel on which she sitteth, shall wash
his clothes: and himself being washed with water, shall be defiled until
the evening.

15:24. If a man copulateth with her in the time of her flowers, he shall
be unclean seven days: and every bed on which he shall sleep, shall be
defiled.

15:25. The woman that hath still issue of blood many days out of her
ordinary time, or that ceaseth not to flow after the monthly courses, as
long as she is subject to this disease, shall be unclean, in the same
manner as if she were in her flowers.

15:26. Every bed on which she sleepeth, and every vessel on which she
sitteth, shall be defiled.

15:27. Whosoever toucheth them shall wash his clothes: and himself being
washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening.

15:28. If the blood stop and cease to run, she shall count seven days of
her purification:

15:29. And on the eighth day she shall offer for herself to the priest,
two turtles, or two young pigeons, at the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony:

15:30. And he shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust,
and he shall pray for her before the Lord, and for the issue of her
uncleanness.

15:31. You shall teach therefore the children of Israel to take heed of
uncleanness, that they may not die in their filth, when they shall have
defiled my tabernacle that is among them.

15:32. This is the law of him that hath the issue of seed, and that is
defiled by copulation.

15:33. And of the woman that is separated in her monthly times, or that
hath a continual issue of blood, and of the man that sleepeth with her.

Leviticus Chapter 16

When and how the high priest must enter into the sanctuary. The feast of
expiation.

16:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of
Aaron when they were slain upon their offering strange fire:

16:2. And he commanded him, saying: Speak to Aaron thy brother, that he
enter not at all into the sanctuary, which is within the veil before the
propitiatory, with which the ark is covered, lest he die, (for I will
appear in a cloud over the oracle),

Enter not... No one but the high priest, and he but once a year, could
enter into the sanctuary; to signify that no one could enter into the
sanctuary of heaven, till Christ our high priest opened it by his
passion. Heb. 10.8.

16:3. Unless he first do these things. He shall offer a calf for sin,
and a ram for a holocaust.

16:4. He shall be vested with a linen tunick: he shall cover his
nakedness with linen breeches: he shall be girded with a linen girdle,
and he shall put a linen mitre upon his head. For these are holy
vestments: all which he shall put on, after he is washed.

16:5. And he shall receive from the whole multitude of the children of
Israel two buck goats for sin, and one ram for a holocaust.

16:6. And when he hath offered the cattle and prayed for himself and for
his own house:

16:7. He shall make the two buck goats to stand before the Lord in the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

16:8. And casting lots upon them both, one to be offered to the Lord,
and the other to be the emissary goat:

16:9. That whose lot fell to be offered to the Lord, he shall offer for
sin.

16:10. But that whose lot was to be the emissary goat, he shall present
before the Lord, that he may pour prayers upon him, and let him go into
the wilderness.

16:11. After these things are duly celebrated, he shall offer the calf:
and praying for himself and for his own house, he shall immolate it.

16:12. And taking the censer, which he hath filled with the burning
coals of the altar, and taking up with his hands the compounded perfume
for incense, he shall go in within the veil into the holy place:

16:13. That when the perfumes are put upon the fire, the cloud and
vapour thereof may cover the oracle, which is over the testimony, and he
may not die.

16:14. He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle with
his finger seven times towards the propitiatory to the east.

16:15. And when he hath killed the buck goat for the sin of the people,
he shall carry in the blood thereof within the veil, as he was commanded
to do with the blood of the calf, that he may sprinkle it over against
the oracle:

16:16. And may expiate the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the
children of Israel, and from their transgressions, and all their sins.
According to this rite shall he do to the tabernacle of the testimony,
which is fixed among them in the midst of the filth of their habitation.

16:17. Let no man be in the tabernacle when the high priest goeth into
the sanctuary, to pray for himself and his house, and for the whole
congregation of Israel, until he come out.

16:18. And when he is come out to the altar that is before the Lord, let
him pray for himself: and taking the blood of the calf, and of the buck
goat, let him pour it upon the horns thereof round about.

16:19. And sprinkling with his finger seven times, let him expiate, and
sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

16:20. After he hath cleaned the sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the
altar, then let him offer the living goat.

16:21. And putting both hands upon his head, let him confess all the
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their offences and sins.
And praying that they may light on its head, he shall turn him out by a
man ready for it, into the desert.

16:22. And when the goat hath carried all their iniquities into an
uninhabited land, and shall be let go into the desert:

16:23. Aaron shall return into the tabernacle of the testimony, and
putting off the vestments, which he had on him before when he entered
into the sanctuary, and leaving them there,

16:24. He shall wash his flesh in the holy place, and shall put on his
own garments. And after that he is come out and hath offered his own
holocaust, and that of the people, he shall pray both for himself, and
for the people.

16:25. And the fat that is offered for sins, he shall burn on the altar.

16:26. But he that hath let go the emissary goat, shall wash his
clothes, and his body with water, and so shall enter into the camp.

16:27. But the calf and the buck goat, that were sacrificed for sin, and
whose blood was carried into the sanctuary, to accomplish the atonement,
they shall carry forth without the camp, and shall burn with fire: their
skins and their flesh, and their dung.

16:28. And whosoever burneth them shall wash his clothes, and flesh with
water: and so shall enter into the camp.

16:29. And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance. The seventh
month, the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and
shall do no work, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger
that sojourneth among you.

16:30. Upon this day shall be the expiation for you, and the cleansing
from all your sins. You shall be cleansed before the Lord.

16:31. For it is a sabbath of rest: and you shall afflict your souls by
a perpetual religion.

16:32. And the priest that is anointed, and whose hands are consecrated
to do the office of the priesthood in his father's stead, shall make
atonement. And he shall be vested with the linen robe and the holy
vestments.

16:33. And he shall expiate the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the
testimony and the altar: the priest also and all the people.

16:34. And this shall be an ordinance for ever, that you pray for the
children of Israel, and for all their sins once a year. He did therefore
as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Leviticus Chapter 17

No sacrifices to be offered but at the door of the tabernacle: a
prohibition of blood.

17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17:2. Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel,
saying to them: This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded, saying:

17:3. Any man whosoever of the house of Israel, if he kill an ox, or a
sheep, or a goat in the camp, or without the camp,

If he kill, etc... That is, in order to sacrifice. The law of God
forbids sacrifices to be offered in any other place but at the
tabernacle or temple of the Lord; to signify that no sacrifice would be
acceptable to God, out of his true temple, the one holy, catholic,
apostolic church.

17:4. And offer it not at the door of the tabernacle an oblation to the
Lord, shall be guilty of blood. As if he had shed blood, so shall he
perish from the midst of his people.

17:5. Therefore the children of Israel shall bring to the priest their
victims, which they kill in the field, that they may be sanctified to
the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: and they
may sacrifice them for peace offerings to the Lord.

17:6. And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at
the door of the tabernacle of the testimony: and shall burn the fat for
a sweet odour to the Lord.

17:7. And they shall no more sacrifice their victims to devils, with
whom they have committed fornication. It shall be an ordinance for ever
to them and to their posterity.

17:8. And thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and of
the strangers who sojourn among you, that offereth a holocaust or a
victim,

17:9. And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, that it may be offered to the Lord, shall perish from among
his people.

17:10. If any man whosoever of the house of Israel, and of the strangers
that sojourn among them, eat blood, I will set my face against his soul,
and will cut him off from among his people.

Eat blood... To eat blood was forbidden in the law; partly, because God
reserved it to himself, to be offered in sacrifices on the altar, as to
the Lord of life and death; and as a figure of the blood of Christ; and
partly, to give men a horror of shedding blood. Gen. 9.4, 5, 6.

17:11. Because the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given
it to you, that you may make atonement with it upon the altar for your
souls, and the blood may be for an expiation of the soul.

17:12. Therefore I have said to the children of Israel: No soul of you,
nor of the strangers that sojourn among you, shall eat blood.

17:13. Any man whosoever of the children of Israel, and of the strangers
that sojourn among you, if by hunting or fowling, he take a wild beast
or a bird, which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood, and cover
it with earth.

17:14. For the life of all flesh is in the blood. Therefore I said to
the children of Israel: you shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all,
because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whosoever eateth it,
shall be cut off.

17:15. The soul that eateth that which died of itself, or has been
caught by a beast, whether he be one of your own country or a stranger,
shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and shall be defiled
until the evening: and in this manner he shall be made clean.

17:16. But if he do not wash his clothes, and his body, he shall bear
his iniquity.

Leviticus Chapter 18

Marriage is prohibited in certain degrees of kindred: Anda all unnatural
lusts.

18:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: I am
the Lord your God.

18:3. You shall not do according to the custom of the land of Egypt, in
which you dwelt: neither shall you act according to the manner of the
country of Chanaan, into which I will bring you.  Nor shall you walk in
their ordinances.

18:4. You shall do my judgments, and shall observe my precepts, and
shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God.

18:5. Keep my laws and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in
them, I am the Lord.

18:6. No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to
uncover her nakedness. I am the Lord.

18:7. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, or the
nakedness of thy mother: she is thy mother, thou shalt not uncover her
nakedness.

18:8. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife: for it
is the nakedness of thy father.

18:9. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy sister by father or by
mother: whether born at home or abroad.

18:10. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy son's daughter, or
thy daughter's daughter: because it is thy own nakedness.

18:11. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife's
daughter, whom she bore to thy father: and who is thy sister.

18:12. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister:
because she is the flesh of thy father.

18:13. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister:
because she is thy mother's flesh.

18:14. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother:
neither shalt thou approach to his wife, who is joined to thee by
affinity.

18:15. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law:
because she is thy son's wife, neither shalt thou discover her shame.

18:16. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife:
because it is the nakedness of thy brother.

18:17. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy wife and her
daughter. Thou shalt not take her son's daughter or her daughter's
daughter, to discover her shame: because they are her flesh, and such
copulation is incest.

18:18. Thou shalt not take thy wife's sister for a harlot, to rival her:
neither shalt thou discover her nakedness, while she is yet living.

18:19. Thou shalt not approach to a woman having her flowers: neither
shalt thou uncover her nakedness.

18:20. Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbour's wife: nor be defiled with
mingling of seed.

18:21. Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the idol
Moloch, nor defile the name of thy God. I am the Lord.

18:22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: because it is
an abomination.

18:23. Thou shalt not copulate with any beast: neither shalt thou be
defiled with it. A woman shall not lie down to a beast, nor copulate
with it: because it is a heinous crime.

Because it is a heinous crime... In Hebrew, this word heinous crime is
expressed by the word confusion, signifying the shamefulness and
baseness of this abominable sin.

18:24. Defile not yourselves with any of these things with which all the
nations have been defiled, which I will cast out before you,

18:25. And with which the land is defiled: the abominations of which I
will visit, that it may vomit out its inhabitants.

18:26. Keep ye my ordinances and my judgments: and do not any of these
abominations. Neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that
sojourneth among you.

18:27. For all these detestable things the inhabitants of the land have
done, that were before you, and have defiled it.

18:28. Beware then, lest in like manner, it vomit you also out, if you
do the like things: as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

18:29. Every soul that shall commit any of these abominations, shall
perish from the midst of his people.

18:30. Keep my commandments. Do not the things which they have done,
that have been before you: and be not defiled therein. I am the Lord
your God.

Leviticus Chapter 19

Divers ordinances, partly moral, partly ceremonial or judicial.

19:1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

19:2. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel. And thou
shalt say to them: Be ye holy, because I the Lord your God am holy.

19:3. Let every one fear his father, and his mother. Keep my sabbaths. I
am the Lord your God.

19:4. Turn ye not to idols: nor make to yourselves molten gods. I am the
Lord your God.

19:5. If ye offer in sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, that he may
be favourable:

19:6. You shall eat it on the same day it was offered, and the next day.
And whatsoever shall be left until the third day, you shall burn with
fire.

19:7. If after two days any man eat thereof, he shall be profane and
guilty of impiety:

19:8. And shall bear his iniquity, because he hath defiled the holy
thing of the Lord. And that soul shall perish from among his people.

19:9. When thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut down
all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground: nor shalt thou
gather the ears that remain.

19:10. Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down
in thy vineyard: but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to
take. I am the Lord your God.

19:11. You shall not steal. You shall not lie: neither shall any man
deceive his neighbour.

19:12. Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of
thy God. I am the Lord.

19:13. Thou shalt not calumniate thy neighbour, nor oppress him by
violence. The wages of him that hath been hired by thee shall not abide
with thee until the morning.

19:14. Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling block
before the blind: but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am the
Lord.

19:15. Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly.
Respect not the person of the poor: nor honour the countenance of the
mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice.

19:16. Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people.
Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour.  I am the Lord.

19:17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: But reprove him
openly, lest thou incur sin through him.

19:18. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens.
Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.

19:19. Keep ye my laws. Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender with
beasts of any other kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with different
seeds. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts.

Different seeds, etc... This law tends to recommend simplicity and plain
dealing in all things, and to teach the people not to join any false
worship or heresy with the worship of the true God.

19:20. If a man carnally lie with a woman that is a bondservant and
marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free: they
both shall be scourged: and they shall not be put to death, because she
was not a free woman.

19:21. And for his trespass he shall offer a ram to the Lord, at the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

19:22. And the priest shall pray for him: and for his sin before the
Lord: and he shall have mercy on him, and the sin shall be forgiven.

19:23. When you shall be come into the land, and shall have planted in
it fruit trees, you shall take away the firstfruits of them. The fruit
that comes forth shall be unclean to you: neither shall you eat of them.

Firstfruits... Proeputia, literally, their foreskins; it alludes to
circumcision, and signifies that for the first three years the trees
were to be as uncircumcised, and their fruit unclean: till in the fourth
year their increase was sanctified and given to the Lord, that is, to
the priests.

19:24. But in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be sanctified, to
the praise of the Lord.

19:25. And in the fifth year you shall eat the fruits thereof, gathering
the increase thereof. I am the Lord your God.

19:26. You shall not eat with blood. You shall not divine nor observe
dreams.

19:27. Nor shall you cut your hair roundwise: nor shave your beard.

19:28. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh, for the dead:
neither shall you make in yourselves any figures or marks. I am the
Lord.

19:29. Make not thy daughter a common strumpet, lest the land be
defiled, and filled with wickedness.

19:30. Keep ye my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

19:31. Go not aside after wizards: neither ask any thing of soothsayers,
to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

19:32. Rise up before the hoary head, and honour the person of the aged
man: and fear the Lord thy God. I am the Lord.

19:33. If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not
upbraid hin:

19:34. But let him be among you as one of the same country. And you
shall love him as yourselves: for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

19:35. Do not any unjust thing in judgment, in rule, in weight, or in
measure.

19:36. Let the balance be just and the weights equal, the bushel just,
and the sextary equal. I am the Lord your God, that brought you out of
the land of Egypt.

19:37. Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments: and do them.  I am
the Lord.

Leviticus Chapter 20

Divers crimes to be punished with death.

20:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

20:2. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: If any man of the
children Israel, or of the strangers that dwell in Israel, give of his
seed to the idol Moloch, dying let him die. The people of the land shall
stone him.

20:3. And I will set my face against him: and I will cut him off from
the midst of his people, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch,
and hath defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my holy name.

20:4. And if the people of the land neglecting, and as it were little
regarding my commandment, let alone the man that hath given of his seed
to Moloch, and will not kill him:

20:5. I will set my face against that man, and his kindred, and will cut
off both him and all that consented with him, to commit fornication with
Moloch, out of the midst of their people.

20:6. The soul that shall go aside after magicians, and soothsayers, and
shall commit fornication with them: I will set my face against that
soul, and destroy it out of the midst of its people.

20:7. Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy: because I am the Lord your
God.

20:8. Keep my precepts, and do them. I am the Lord that sanctify you.

20:9. He that curseth his father, or mother, dying let him die. He hath
cursed his father, and mother: let his blood be upon him.

20:10. If any man commit adultery with the wife of another, and defile
his neighbour's wife: let them be put to death, both the adulterer and
the adulteress.

20:11. If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness of
his father, let them both be put to death: their blood be upon them.

20:12. If any man lie with his daughter in law: let both die, because
they have done a heinous crime. Their blood be upon them.

20:13. If any one lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an
abomination: let them be put to death. Their blood be upon them.

20:14. If any man after marrying the daughter, marry her mother, he hath
done a heinous crime. He shall be burnt alive with them: neither shall
so great an abomination remain in the midst of you.

20:15. He that shall copulate with any beast or cattle, dying let him
die: the beast also ye shall kill.

The beast also ye shall kill... The killing of the beast was for the
greater horror of the crime, and to prevent the remembrance of such
abaomination.

20:16. The woman that shall lie under any beast, shall be killed
together with the same. Their blood be upon them.

20:17. If any man take his sister, the daughter of his father, or the
daughter of his mother, and see her nakedness, and she behold her
brother's shame: they have committed a crime.  They shall be slain, in
the sight of their people, because they have discovered one another's
nakedness. And they shall bear their iniquity.

20:18. If any man lie with a woman in her flowers, and uncover her
nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood: both shall be
destroyed out of the midst of their people.

20:19. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy aunt by thy mother,
and of thy aunt by thy father. He that doth this, hath uncovered the
shame of his own flesh: both shall bear their iniquity.

20:20. If any man lie with the wife of his uncle by the father, or of
his uncle by the mother, and uncover the shame of his near akin, both
shall bear their sin. They shall die without children.

20:21. He that marrieth his brother's wife, doth an unlawful thing: he
hath uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be without children.

20:22. Keep my laws and my judgments, and do them: lest the land into
which you are to enter to dwell therein, vomit you also out.

20:23. Walk not after the laws of the nations, which I will cast out
before you. For they have done all these things: and therefore I
abhorred them.

20:24. But to you I say: Possess their land which I will give you for an
inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God,
who have separated you from other people.

20:25. Therefore do you also separate the clean beast from the unclean,
and the clean fowl from the unclean. Defile not your souls with beasts,
or birds, or any things that move on the earth, and which I have shewn
you to be unclean:

20:26. You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy: and I have
separated you from other people, that you should be mine.

20:27. A man, or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divining
spirit, dying let them die. They shall stone them. Their blood be upon
them.

Leviticus Chapter 21

Ordinances relating to the priests.

21:1. The Lord said also to Moses: Speak to the priests the sons of
Aaron, and thou shalt say for them: Let not a priest incur an
uncleanness at the death of his citizens.

An uncleanness... Viz., such as was contracted in laying out the dead
body, or touching it; or in going into the house, or assisting at the
funeral, etc.

21:2. But only for his kin, such as are near in blood: that is to say,
for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his
daughter, for his brother also:

21:3. And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband.

21:4. But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing
that may make him unclean.

21:5. Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make
incisions in their flesh.

21:6. They shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name.
For they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their
God: and therefore they shall be holy.

21:7. They shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one
that has been put away from her husband: because they are consecrated to
their God,

21:8. And offer the loaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy
because I also am holy: the Lord, who sanctify them.

21:9. If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom and dishonour the
name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire.

21:10. The high priest, that is to say, the priest who is the greatest
among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of unction hath been poured;
and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood; and who hath
been vested with the holy vestments. He shall not uncover his head: he
shall not rend his garments.

21:11. Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his
father, or his mother, shall he be defiled.

21:12. Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the
sanctuary of the Lord: because the oil of the holy unction of his God is
upon him. I am the Lord.

21:13. He shall take a virgin unto his wife.

21:14. But a widow or one that is divorced, or defied, or a harlot, he
shall not take: but a maid of his own people.

21:15. He shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common
people of this nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify him.

21:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

21:17. Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families,
hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.

21:18. Neither shall he approach to minister to him: If he be blind; if
he be lame; if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose;

21:19. If his foot, or if his hand be broken;

21:20. If he be crookbacked; or blear eyed; or have a pearl in his eye,
or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture.

21:21. Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish: he
shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to his
God.

21:22. He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves that are offered in the
sanctuary.

21:23. Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the
altar: because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary. I
am the Lord who sanctify them.

21:24. Moses, therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all
Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.

Leviticus Chapter 22

Who may eat the holy things: and what things may be offered.

22:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying:

22:2. Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware of those things
that are consecrated of the children of Israel: and defile not the name
of the things sanctified to me, which they offer. I am the Lord.

22:3. Say to them and to their posterity: Every man of your race, that
approacheth to those things that are consecrated, and which the children
of Israel have offered to the Lord, in whom there is uncleanness, shall
perish before the Lord. I am the Lord.

Approacheth, etc... This is to give us to understand, with what purity
of soul we are to approach to the blessed sacrament of which these meats
that had been offered in sacrifice were a figure.

22:4. The man of the seed of Aaron, that is a leper, or that suffereth a
running of the seed, shall not eat of those things that are sanctified
to me, until he be healed. He that toucheth any thing unclean by
occasion of the dead: and he whose seed goeth from him as in generation:

22:5. And he that toucheth a creeping thing, or any unclean thing, the
touching of which is defiling:

22:6. Shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat those things
that are sanctified. But when he hath washed his flesh with water,

22:7. And the sun is down, then being purified, he shall eat of the
sanctified things, because it is his meat.

22:8. That which dieth of itself, and that which was taken by a beast,
they shall not eat, nor be defiled therewith. I am the Lord.

22:9. Let them keep my precepts, that they may not fall into sin, and
die in the sanctuary, when they shall have defiled it. I am the Lord who
sanctify them.

22:10. No stranger shall eat of the sanctified things: a sojourner of
the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of them.

22:11. But he whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his servant,
born in his house, these shall eat of them.

22:12. If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people, she
shall not eat of those things that are sanctified nor of the
firstfruits.

22:13. But if she be a widow, or divorced, and having no children return
to her father's house, she shall eat of her father's meats, as she was
wont to do when she was a maid. No stranger hath leave to eat of them.

22:14. He that eateth of the sanctified things through ignorance, shall
add the fifth part with that which he ate, and shall give it to the
priest into the sanctuary.

22:15. And they shall not profane the sanctified things of the children
of Israel, which they offer to the Lord:

22:16. Lest perhaps they bear the iniquity of their trespass, when they
shall have eaten the sanctified things. I am the Lord who sanctify them.

22:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

22:18. Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of
Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and
of the strangers who dwell with you, that offereth his oblation, either
paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whatsoever it be which
he presenteth for a holocaust of the Lord,

22:19. To be offered by you: it shall be a male without blemish of the
beeves, or of the sheep, or of the goats.

22:20. If it have a blemish you shall not offer it: neither shall it be
acceptable.

22:21. The man that offereth a victim of peace offerings to the Lord,
either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whether of beeves
or of sheep, shall offer it without blemish, that it may be acceptable.
There shall be no blemish in it.

22:22. If it be blind, or broken, or have a scar or blisters, or a scab,
or a dry scurf: you shall not offer them to the Lord, nor burn any thing
of them upon the Lord's altar.

22:23. An ox or a sheep, that hath the ear and the tail cut off, thou
mayst offer voluntarily: but a vow may not be paid with them.

22:24. you shall not offer to the Lord any beast that hath the testicles
bruised, or crushed, or cut and taken away: neither shall you do any
such things in your land.

22:25. you shall not offer bread to your God, from the hand of a
stranger, nor any other thing that he would give: because they are all
corrupted, and defiled. You shall not receive them.

22:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

22:27. When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, they
shall be seven days under the udder of their dam: but the eighth day,
and thenceforth, they may be offered to the Lord.

22:28. Whether it be a cow, or a sheep, they shall not be sacrificed the
same day with their young ones.

22:29. If you immolate a victim for thanksgiving to the Lord, that he
may be favourable,

22:30. You shall eat it the same day. There shall not any of it remain
until the morning of the next day. I am the Lord.

22:31. Keep my commandments, and do them. I am the Lord.

22:32. Profane not my holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst
of the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctify you:

22:33. And who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be
your God. I am the Lord.

Leviticus Chapter 23

Holy days to be kept.

23:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: These
are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.

23:3. Six days shall ye do work: the seventh day, because it is the rest
of the sabbath, shall be called holy. You shall do no work on that day:
it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your habitations.

23:4. These also are the holy days of the Lord, which you must celebrate
in their seasons.

23:5. The first month, the fourteenth day of the month at evening, is
the phase of the Lord.

23:6. And the fifteenth day of the same month is the solemnity of the
unleavened bread of the Lord. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.

23:7. The first day shall be most solemn unto you, and holy: you shall
do no servile work therein.

23:8. But you shall offer sacrifice in fire to the Lord seven days.  And
the seventh day shall be more solemn, and more holy: and you shall do no
servile work therein.

23:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:10. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When
you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, and shall
reap your corn, you shall bring sheaves of ears, the firstfruits of your
harvest to the priest.

23:11. Who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, the next day after
the sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shall sanctify it.

23:12. And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb without
blemish of the first year shall be killed for a holocaust of the Lord.

23:13. And the libations shall be offered with it: two tenths of flour
tempered with oil, for a burnt offering of the Lord, and a most sweet
odour. Libations also of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

23:14. You shall not eat either bread, or parched corn, or frumenty or
the harvest, until the day that you shall offer thereof to your God. It
is a precept for ever throughout your generations, and all your
dwellings.

23:15. You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath,
wherein you offered the sheaf of firstfruits, seven full weeks.

23:16. Even unto the morrow after the seventh week be expired, that is
to say, fifty days: and so you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord.

23:17. Out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the firstfruits, of two
tenths of flour leavened, which you shall bake for the firstfruits of
the Lord.

23:18. And you shall offer with the loaves seven lambs without blemish
of the first year, and one calf from the herd, and they shall be for a
holocaust with their two rams: and they shall be for a holocaust with
their libations for a most sweet odour to the Lord.

23:19. You shall offer also a buck goat for sin, and two lambs of the
first year for sacrifices of peace offerings.

23:20. And when the priest hath lifted them up with the loaves of the
firstfruits before the Lord, they shall fall to his use.

23:21. And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy.  You
shall do no servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance
in all your dwellings and generations.

23:22. And when you reap the corn of your land, you shall not cut it to
the very ground: neither shall you gather the ears that remain. But you
shall leave them for the poor and for the strangers. I am the Lord your
God.

23:23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:24. Say to the children of Israel: The seventh month, on the first
day of the month, you shall keep a sabbath, a memorial, with the sound
of trumpets, and it shall be called holy.

23:25. You shall do no servile work therein, and you shall offer a
holocaust to the Lord.

23:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:27. Upon the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of
atonement. It shall be most solemn, and shall be called holy: and you
shall await your souls on that day, and shall offer a holocaust to the
Lord.

23:28. You shall do no servile work in the time of this day: because it
is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may be merciful unto
you.

23:29. Every soul that is not afflicted on this day, shall perish from
among his people.

23:30. And every soul that shall do any work, the same will I destroy
from among his people.

23:31. You shall do no work therefore on that day: it shall be an
everlasting ordinance unto you in all your generations, and dwellings.

23:32. It is a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls
beginning on the ninth day of the month. From evening until evening you
shall celebrate your sabbaths.

23:33. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:34. Say to the children of Israel: From the fifteenth day of this
same seventh month, shall be kept the feast of tabernacles, seven days
to the Lord.

23:35. The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you
shall do no servile work therein. And seven days you shall offer
holocausts to the Lord.

23:36. The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy: and you
shall offer holocausts to the Lord. For it is the day of assembly and
congregation. You shall do no servile work therein.

23:37. These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall call most solemn
and most holy, and shall offer on them oblations to the Lord: holocausts
and libations according to the rite of every day.

23:38. Besides the sabbaths of the Lord, and your gifts, and those
things that you offer by vow, or which you shall give to the Lord
voluntarily.

23:39. So from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you shall
have gathered in all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the
feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day and the eighth shall be a
sabbath: that is a day of rest.

23:40. And you shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the
fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.

23:41. And you shall keep the solemnity thereof seven days in the year.
It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations. In the seventh
month shall you celebrate this feast.

23:42. And you shall dwell in bowers seven days. Every one that is of
the race of Israel, shall dwell in tabernacles:

23:43. That your posterity may know, that I made the children of Israel
to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I
am the Lord your God.

23:44. And Moses spoke concerning the feasts of the Lord to the children
of Israel.

Leviticus Chapter 24

The oil for the lamps. The loaves of proposition. The punishment of
blasphemy.

24:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

24:2. Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee the
finest and clearest oil of olives, to furnish the lamps continually,

24:3. Without the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the
covenant. And Aaron shall set them from evening until morning before the
Lord, by a perpetual service and rite in your generations.

24:4. They shall be set upon the most pure candlestick before the Lord
continually.

24:5. Thou shalt take also fine flour, and shalt bake twelve loaves
thereof, two tenths shall be in every loaf.

24:6. And thou shalt set them six and six, one against another, upon the
most clean table before the Lord.

24:7. And thou shalt put upon them the clearest frankincense, that the
bread may be for a memorial of the oblation of the Lord.

24:8. Every sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord: being
received of the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

24:9. And they shall be Aaron's and his sons', that they may eat them in
the holy place: because it is most holy of the sacrifices of the Lord by
a perpetual right.

24:10. And behold there went out the son of a woman of Israel, whom she
had of an Egyptian, among the children of Israel: and fell at words in
the camp with a man of Israel.

24:11. And when he had blasphemed the name, and had cursed it, he was
brought to Moses. (Now his mother was called Salumith, the daughter of
Dabri, of the tribe of Dan.)

24:12. And they put him into prison, till they might know what the Lord
would command.

24:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses,

24:14. Saying: Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp: and let them
that heard him, put their hands upon his head: and let all the people
stone him.

24:15. And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel: The man that
curseth his God, shall bear his sin:

24:16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die.
All the multitude shall stone him, whether he be a native or a stranger.
He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die.

24:17. He that striketh and killeth a man: dying let him die.

24:18. He that killeth a beast, shall make it good that is to say, shall
give beast for beast.

24:19. He that giveth a blemish to any of his neighbours: as he hath
done, so shall it be done to him:

24:20. Breach for breach, eye for ere, tooth for tooth, shall he
restore. What blemish he gave, the like shall he be compelled to suffer.

24:21. He that striketh a beast, shall render another. He that striketh
a man shall be punished.

24:22. Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a stranger,
or a native that offends: because I am the Lord your God.

24:23. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel. And they brought forth
him that had blasphemed, without the camp: and they stoned him. And the
children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Leviticus Chapter 25

The law of the seventh and of the fiftieth year of jubilee.

25:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying:

25:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When
you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, observe the
rest of the sabbath of the Lord.

25:3. Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune
thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof.

25:4. But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of
the resting of the Lord. Thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy
vineyard.

25:5. What the ground shall bring forth of itself, thou shalt not reap:
neither shalt thou gather the grapes or the firstfruits as a vintage.
For it is a year of rest to the land.

25:6. But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy
manservant, to thy maidservant and thy hireling, and to the strangers
that sojourn with thee.

25:7. All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy
cattle.

25:8. Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years: that is to
say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years.

25:9. And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the tenth
day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land.

25:10. And thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim
remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of
jubilee. Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall
go back to his former family:

Remission... That is, a general release and discharge from debts and
bondage, and a reinstating of every man in his former possessions.

25:11. Because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year. You shall not
sow, nor reap the things that grow in the field of their own accord,
neither shall you gather the firstfruits of the vines,

25:12. Because of the sanctification of the jubilee. But as they grow
you shall presently eat them.

25:13. In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their possessions.

25:14. When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy of
him: grieve not thy brother. But thou shalt buy of him according to the
number of years from the jubilee.

25:15. And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the
fruits.

25:16. The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the price
increase: and the less time is counted, so much the less shall the
purchase cost. For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits.

25:17. Do not afflict your countrymen: but let every one fear his God.
Because I am the Lord your God.

25:18. Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them: that you
may dwell in the land without any fear.

25:19. And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat
your fill, fearing no man's invasion.

25:20. But if you say: What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow
not, nor gather our fruits?

25:21. I will give you my blessing the sixth year: and it shall yield
the fruits of three years.

25:22. And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old
fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old
store.

25:23. The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and
you are strangers and sojourners with me.

25:24. For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under
the condition of redemption.

25:25. If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession, and
his kinsman will: he may redeem what he had sold.

25:26. But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to
redeem it:

25:27. The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he
sold it. And the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall
receive his possession again.

25:28. But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the buyer
shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in that
year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient
possessor.

25:29. He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have
the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired.

25:30. If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer
shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed,
not even in the jubilee.

25:31. But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be
sold according to the same law as the fields. If it be not redeemed
before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner.

25:32. The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be
redeemed.

25:33. If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to
the owners: because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for
their possessions among the children of Israel.

25:34. But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual
possession.

25:35. If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou
receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee:

25:36. Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest. Fear thy God,
that thy brother may live with thee.

25:37. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury: nor exact of him
any increase of fruits.

25:38. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your God.

25:39. If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee: thou
shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants.

25:40. But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work
with thee until the year of the jubilee.

25:41. And afterwards he shall go out with his children: and shall
return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers.

25:42. For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of
Egypt: let them not be sold as bondmen.

25:43. Afflict him not by might: but fear thy God.

25:44. Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are
round about you:

25:45. And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of
them in your land. These you shall have for servants:

25:46. And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity,
and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the
children of Israel by might.

25:47. If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you,
and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his
race:

25:48. After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his brethren
shall redeem him:

25:49. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, or his kinsman, by blood,
or by affinity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself:

25:50. Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the
year of the jubilee: and counting the money that he was sold for,
according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired
servant.

25:51. If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according
to them shall he also repay the price.

25:52. If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the
number of the years: and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of
the years.

25:53. His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall not
afflict him violently in thy sight.

25:54. And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the
jubilee he shall go out with his children.

25:55. For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth
out of the land of Egypt.

Leviticus Chapter 26

God's promises to them that keep his commandments. And the many
punishments with which he threatens transgressors.

26:1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not make to yourselves any idol
or graven thing: neither shall you erect pillars, nor set up a
remarkable stone in your land, to adore it. For I am the Lord your God.

26:2. Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

26:3. If you walk in my precepts, and keep my commandments, and do them,
I will give you rain in due seasons.

26:4. And the ground shall bring forth its increase: and the trees shall
be filled with fruit.

26:5. The threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and
the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your
bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear.

26:6. I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall
be none to make you afraid. I will take away evil beasts: and the sword
shall not pass through your quarters.

26:7. You shall pursue your enemies: and they shall fall before you.

26:8. Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others: and a hundred of you
ten thousand. Your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

26:9. I will look on you, and make you increase: you shall be
multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you.

26:10. You shall eat the oldest of the old store: and, new coming on,
you shall cast away the old.

26:11. I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you: and my soul shall
not cast you off.

26:12. I will walk among you, and will be your God: and you shall be my
people.

26:13. I am the Lord your God: who have brought you out of the land of
the Egyptians, that you should not serve them: and who have broken the
chains of your necks, that you might go upright.

26:14. But if you will not hear me, nor do all my commandments:

26:15. If you despise my laws, and contemn my judgments so as not to do
those things which are appointed by me, and to make void my covenant:

26:16. I also will do these things to you. I will quickly visit you with
poverty, and burning heat, which shall waste your eyes, and consume your
lives. You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be devoured by your
enemies.

26:17. I will set my face against you, and you shall fall down before
your enemies: and shall be made subject to them that hate you. You shall
flee when no man pursueth you.

26:18. But if you will not yet for all this obey me: I will chastise you
seven times more for your sins.

26:19. And I will break the pride of your stubbornness: and I will make
to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass.

26:20. Your labour shall be spent in vain: the ground shall not bring
forth her increase: nor the trees yield their fruit.

26:21. If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will
bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins.

26:22. And I will send in upon you the beasts of the field, to destroy
you and your cattle, and make you few in number: and that your highways
may be desolate.

26:23. And if even so you will not amend, but will walk contrary to me:

26:24. I also will walk contrary to you, and will strike you seven times
for your sins.

26:25. And I will bring in upon you the sword that shall avenge my
covenant. And when you shall flee into the cities, I will send the
pestilence in the midst of you. And you shall be delivered into the
hands of your enemies,

26:26. After I shall have broken the staff of your bread: so that ten
women shall bake your bread in one oven, and give it out by weight: and
you shall eat, and shall not be filled,

26:27. But if you will not for all this hearken to me, but will walk
against me,

26:28. I will also go against you with opposite fury: and I will
chastise you with seven plagues for your sins,

26:29. So that you shall eat the flesh of your sons and of your
daughters.

26:30. I will destroy your high places, and break your idols. You shall
fall among the ruins of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

26:31. Insomuch that I will bring your cities to be a wilderness: and I
will make your sanctuaries desolate: and will receive no more your sweet
odours.

26:32. And I will destroy your land: and your enemies shall be
astonished at it, when they shall be the inhabitants thereof.

26:33. And I will scatter you among the Gentiles: and I will draw out
the sword after you. And your land shall be desert, and your cities
destroyed.

26:34. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths all the days of her
desolation. When you shall be

26:35. In the enemy's land, she shall keep a sabbath, and rest in the
sabbaths of her desolation: because she did not rest in your sabbaths,
when you dwelt therein.

26:36. And as to them that shall remain of you I will send fear in their
hearts in the countries of their enemies. The sound of a flying leaf
shall terrify them: and they shall flee as it were from the sword. They
shall fall, when no man pursueth them.

26:37. And they shall every one fall upon their brethren as fleeing from
wars: none of you shall dare to resist your enemies.

26:38. You shall perish among the Gentiles: and an enemy's land shall
consume you.

26:39. And if of them also some remain, they shall pine away in their
iniquities, in the land of their enemies: and they shall be afflicted
for the sins of their fathers, and their own.

26:40. Until they confess their iniquities, and the iniquities of their
ancestors, whereby they have transgressed against me, and walked
contrary unto me.

26:41. Therefore I also will walk against them, and bring them into
their enemies' land until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed.  Then
shall they pray for their sins.

26:42. And I will remember my covenant, that I made with Jacob, and
Isaac, and Abraham. I will remember also the land:

26:43. Which when she shall be left by them, shall enjoy her sabbaths,
being desolate for them. But they shall pray for their sins, because
they rejected my judgments, and despised my laws.

26:44. And yet for all that when they were in the land of their enemies,
I did not cast them off altogether. Neither did I so despise them that
they should be quite consumed: and I should make void my covenant with
them. For I am the Lord their God.

26:45. And I will remember my former covenant, when I brought them out
of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Gentiles, to be their God. I
am the Lord. These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws, which the
Lord gave between him and the children of Israel, in mount Sinai, by the
hand of Moses.

Leviticus Chapter 27

Of vows and tithes.

27:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

27:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The
man that shall have made a vow, and promised his soul to God, shall give
the price according to estimation.

27:3. If it be a man from twenty years old unto sixty years old, he
shall give fifty sicles of silver, after the weight of the sanctuary:

27:4. If a woman, thirty.

27:5. But from the fifth year until the twentieth, a man shall give
twenty sicles: a woman ten.

27:6. From one month until the fifth year, for a male shall be given
five sicles: for a female three.

27:7. A man that is sixty years old or upward, shall give fifteen
sicles: a woman ten.

27:8. If he be poor, and not able to pay the estimation, he shall stand
before the priest: and as much as he shall value him at, and see him
able to pay, so much shall he give.

27:9. But a beast that may be sacrificed to the Lord, if any one shall
vow, shall be holy,

27:10. And cannot be changed: that is to say, neither a better for a
worse, nor a worse for a better. And if he shall change it: both that
which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be
consecrated to the Lord.

27:11. An unclean beast, which cannot be sacrificed to the Lord, if any
man shall vow, shall be brought before the priest:

27:12. Who judging whether it be good or bad, shall set the price.

27:13. Which, if he that offereth it will give, he shall add above the
estimation the fifth part.

27:14. If a man shall vow his house, and sanctify it to the Lord, the
priest shall consider it, whether it be good or bad: and it shall be
sold according to the price, which he shall appoint.

27:15. But if he that vowed, will redeem it, he shall give the fifth
part of the estimation over and above: and shall have the house.

27:16. And if he vow the field of his possession, and consecrate it to
the Lord, the price shall be rated according to the measure of the seed.
If the ground be sown with thirty bushels of barley, let it be sold for
fifty sicles of silver.

27:17. If he vow his field immediately from the year of jubilee that is
beginning: as much as it may be worth, at so much it shall be rated.

27:18. But if some time after, the priest shall reckon the money
according to the number of years that remain until the jubilee, and the
price shall be abated.

27:19. And if he that had vowed, will redeem his field, he shall add the
fifth part of the money of the estimation, and shall possess it.

27:20. And if he will not redeem it, but it be sold to any other man, he
that vowed it, may not redeem it any more.

27:21. For when the day of jubilee cometh, it shall be sanctified to the
Lord, and as a possession consecrated, pertaineth to the right of the
priest.

27:22. If a field that was bought, and not of a man's ancestors'
possession, be sanctified to the Lord:

27:23. The priest shall reckon the price according to the number of
years, unto the jubilee. And he that had vowed, shall give that to the
Lord.

27:24. But in the jubilee, it shall return to the former owner, who had
sold it, and had it in the lot of his possession.

27:25. All estimation shall be made according to the sicle of the
sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

27:26. The firstborn, which belong to the Lord, no man may sanctify and
vow: whether it be bullock, or sheep, they are the Lord's.

27:27. And if it be an unclean beast, he that offereth it shall redeem
it, according to thy estimation, and shall add the fifth part of the
price. If he will not redeem it, it shall be sold to another for how
much soever it was estimated by thee.

27:28. Any thing that is devoted to the Lord, whether it be man, or
beast, or field, shall not be sold: neither may it be redeemed.
Whatsoever is once consecrated shall be holy of holies to the Lord.

27:29. And any consecration that is offered by man, shall not be
redeemed, but dying shall die.

27:30. All tithes of the land, whether of corn, or of the fruits of
trees, are the Lord's, and are sanctified to him.

27:31. And if any man will redeem his tithes, he shall add the fifth
part of them.

27:32. Of all the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and goats, that pass under
the shepherd's rod, every tenth that cometh shall be sanctified to the
Lord.

27:33. It shall not be chosen neither good nor bad, neither shall it be
changed for another. If any man change it: both that which was changed,
and that for which it was changed, shall be sanctified to the Lord, and
shall not be redeemed.

27:34. These are the precepts which the Lord commanded Moses for the
children of Israel in mount Sinai.