Bible in 90 Days

Purification of Contaminated Houses

³³ The Lord spoke these things to Moses and Aaron:

³⁴ When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I put a contamination of mold^[a] on a house in the land that you possess, ³⁵ the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, “There seems to me to be some sort of contamination in my house.” ³⁶ The priest shall order the house to be cleared before the priest comes to examine the contamination, so that nothing in the house will be declared unclean. After that the priest shall go in to examine the house. ³⁷ If, when he examines the contamination, the contamination on the walls of the house consists of depressions that are bright green or bright red and that appear deeper than the surface of the wall, ³⁸ the priest shall come out of the house to the entrance of the house and quarantine the house for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day the priest shall return to examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ the priest shall order that they rip out the stones with the contamination on them and throw them into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴¹ The house must be scraped all around the inside, and they must dump the mud that is scraped off in an unclean place outside the town. ⁴² They are to take other stones and bring them to replace those stones and other mud to plaster the house.

⁴³ If the contamination breaks out again in the house after the stones have been ripped out and after the house has been scraped and replastered, ⁴⁴ the priest shall go in to examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is a destructive^[b] mold in the house. It is unclean. ⁴⁵ The house shall be demolished and its stones and timber and all its mud are to be brought out to an unclean place outside the town. ⁴⁶ Whoever enters the house at any time during its quarantine will be unclean until sunset. ⁴⁷ Whoever sleeps in the house must wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house must wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ If, however, the priest enters and sees that the contamination has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, the priest shall declare the house clean, because the contamination has been cleansed. ⁴⁹ To purify the house, he shall take two birds, some cedar wood, some scarlet yarn, and some hyssop. ⁵⁰ He shall slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over water from a flowing source. ⁵¹ He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the water from a flowing source and sprinkle it on the house seven times. ⁵² When he has purified the house with the blood of the bird, the water from a flowing source, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn, ⁵³ he shall release the live bird into the open country outside the town. In this way he shall make atonement for the house, so that it will be clean.

⁵⁴ This is the law for every infection of skin disease, for rash, ⁵⁵ for mold on clothing or a house, ⁵⁶ for discoloration and a scab and a shiny patch— ⁵⁷ to give instruction about when it is unclean and when it is clean.

This is the law concerning impure skin disease and contamination.

Purification From Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord told Moses and Aaron to speak to the Israelites and to tell them this:

² Whenever a man has a discharge flowing from his flesh,^[c] that discharge is unclean.

³ This is the law^[d] about how a bodily discharge makes someone unclean: Whether his flesh secretes a discharge or it has a blocked discharge, ⎣he is unclean. As long as his flesh has a discharge or his body blocks a discharge,⎦^[e] this makes him unclean.

⁴ Any bedding that the man with a discharge lies on is unclean, and every object on which he sits becomes unclean. ⁵ Anyone who touches his bedding must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. ⁶ Whoever sits on any object on which the man with a discharge sat must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. ⁷ Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset.

⁸ If the man with a discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset.

⁹ Any saddle on which the man with a discharge rides becomes unclean. ¹⁰ Everyone who touches anything that was under him will become unclean until sunset, and whoever carries these things must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. ¹¹ If the man with a discharge touches anyone without washing his hands, that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. ¹² Any clay pottery that the man with a discharge touches must be broken, and any vessel or utensil made of wood must be rinsed with water.

¹³ When the man with a discharge has been cleansed from his discharge, he shall count off seven days for his process of purification, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in water from a flowing source; then, he will be clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest shall present the offering for them—one bird as a sin offering and the other as a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest shall make atonement for the man in the presence of the Lord, from his discharge.

¹⁶ When a man has an emission of semen,^[f] he must bathe his whole body in water and remain unclean until sunset. ¹⁷ Any garment or leather with an emission of semen on it must be washed in water and remain unclean until sunset.

¹⁸ Also if a man lies down with a woman and has an emission of semen, they must bathe in water and remain unclean until sunset.

¹⁹ When a woman has a discharge of blood from her flesh, her menstrual impurity^[g] will last for seven days. Anyone who touches her will remain unclean until sunset. ²⁰ Everything on which she lies during her monthly period is unclean, and everything on which she sits becomes unclean. ²¹ Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset, ²² and anyone who touches anything on which she sat must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. ²³ If the uncleanness is on the bed or on anything else on which she is sitting when he touches it, he will become unclean until sunset. ²⁴ And if a man lies down with her, and her menstrual impurity comes in contact with him, he will be unclean for seven days. Any bed on which he lies will be unclean.

²⁵ When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days besides during the time of her monthly period, or when she has a discharge that lasts longer than her monthly period, she will be unclean for as many days as her discharge continues, just as she is during her monthly period. ²⁶ During her discharge any bed on which she lies is to be treated just like the bed during her monthly period, and every piece of furniture on which she sits will be unclean, as it would be during the impurity of her monthly period. ²⁷ Anyone who touches them will become unclean. Any such people must wash their clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset.

²⁸ When she is cleansed from her discharge, she shall count off seven days, and after that she will be clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons for herself and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ³⁰ The priest shall offer one dove as a sin offering and the other as a whole burnt offering. This is how the priest is to make atonement for her in the presence of the Lord, from the impurity of her discharge.

³¹ In this way you shall separate the people of Israel from their impurity, so that they do not die in their impurity because they defiled my dwelling place that is in their midst.

³² This is the law for those who have a discharge: for a man who has an emission of semen by which he becomes unclean, ³³ for a woman who is not well because of her menstrual period, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies down with a woman who is unclean.

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who had died when they approached the presence of the Lord. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he must not enter into the Holy Place at any time he chooses by going inside the veil which is in front of the atonement seat^[h] that is on the ark. This is so that he will not die, for I appear in the cloud over the atonement seat.”

³ This is how Aaron shall enter the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering. ⁴ He is to wear a sacred linen tunic, with linen underwear covering his flesh, with the linen sash as his belt, and with his head wrapped with the linen turban.^[i] These are the sacred garments. He must wash his body with water and then put the garments on. ⁵ From the congregation of the people of Israel he shall also receive two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a whole burnt offering.

⁶ Aaron shall present the bull for his own sin offering, to make atonement for himself and for his household.

⁷ He shall take the two male goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ Aaron is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot marked “for the Lord” and the other lot marked “for the scapegoat.”^{[j] 9} Aaron shall bring forward the goat that received the lot “for the Lord,” to prepare it as a sin offering, ¹⁰ but the goat that received the lot marked “for the scapegoat” is to be kept alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it^[k] in order to send it off into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

¹¹ After Aaron has presented the bull for his sin offering to make atonement for himself and for his household, he shall slaughter the bull for his sin offering. ¹² Then he is to take a full pan of glowing coals from the top of the altar, which is before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and bring them inside the veil. ¹³ He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud from the incense covers the atonement seat that is over the Testimony,^[l] so he will not die. ¹⁴ He is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the surface of the atonement seat on its east side.^[m] He is also to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement seat.

¹⁵ He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering of the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he had done with the blood of the bull. He is to sprinkle it on the atonement seat and in front of the atonement seat. ¹⁶ He shall make atonement for the sanctuary to cleanse it from the uncleanness of the Israelites and from their rebellions and all their sins. This is what he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, which dwells in the midst of Israel’s uncleanness. ¹⁷ When he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary, no other person may be in the Tent of Meeting until he has come out. In this way he shall make atonement for himself and his household, as well as for the entire assembly of Israel.

¹⁸ He shall then come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and smear it all around the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ With his finger he is to sprinkle some of the blood upon it seven times. In this way he is to purify it and set it apart from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

²⁰ When he has finished making atonement to cleanse the sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the guilt of the people of Israel and all their rebellions and all their sins. He is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness in the custody of an appointed man. ²² So the goat will carry all their guilt on itself to a remote, desolate place, and the man will send the goat away into the wilderness.

²³ Then Aaron shall enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the special linen garments that he had put on to enter into the sanctuary, and leave them there. ²⁴ He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his regular garments. Then he shall go out and offer the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people to make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ He shall turn the fat from the sin offering into smoke on the altar.

²⁶ The man who releases the goat designated as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. After that he may re-enter the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood has been brought in to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought outside the camp. Their hide and flesh and manure are to be burned in fire. ²⁸ The man who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. After that he may re-enter the camp.

²⁹ This shall be a permanent regulation for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves, and you shall not do any kind of work, neither the native-born nor the alien who resides among you. ³⁰ For on this day atonement will be made on your behalf to cleanse you. You will become clean from all your sins in the presence of the Lord. ³¹ It shall be a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves. It is a permanent regulation. ³² The priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the linen garments—the sacred garments. ³³ He shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place, and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar. He shall make atonement on behalf of the priests and all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ This shall be a permanent regulation for you to make atonement for the people of Israel from all their sins once a year.

So Aaron did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Use and Misuse of Blood

17 The Lord told Moses ² to speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and to tell them that this is what the Lord has commanded:

³ If anyone from the house of Israel slaughters a head of cattle or a sheep or a goat in the camp or slaughters it outside the camp ⁴ without bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting ⎣to sacrifice it for a burnt offering or fellowship offering to the Lord to be acceptable as a pleasant aroma, and if anyone slaughters it outside the camp and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting⎦^[n] to present it as an offering to the Lord at the Dwelling of the Lord, guilt for blood will be charged to that man. He has shed blood. That man will be cut off from the midst of his people. ⁵ This is so that the Israelites will bring the sacrifices that they have been offering in the open country to the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, to the priest. They will sacrifice them as fellowship offerings to the Lord ⁶ so that the priest may splash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, ⁷ so that they no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, to which they have been prostituting themselves. This shall be a permanent regulation for them throughout their generations.

⁸ Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them offers up a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹ and does not bring it into the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man will be cut off from his people.

¹⁰ If anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have given it to you to make atonement for your lives upon the altar, because it is the blood that makes atonement by means of the life. ¹² Therefore I have said to the Israelites: None of you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood.

¹³ If any of the Israelites or any alien who resides among them successfully hunts wild game and takes an animal or a bird that may be eaten, he must pour out its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴ For the life of all flesh is its blood. It is its life. Therefore I have said to the Israelites: You shall not eat the blood from any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it will be cut off.

¹⁵ If any person, whether native or alien, eats anything that has died naturally or has been torn by wild animals, he shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe his body, he shall bear his guilt.

Defilement of the Land by Sexual Immorality

18 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them this.”

Encouragement to Obedience

I am the Lord your God.

³ You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. Do not walk in^[o] their religious practices. ⁴ Follow my ordinances and keep my regulations by walking in them. I am the Lord your God. ⁵ Keep my regulations and my ordinances. Anyone who does them will have life through them. I am the Lord.

Laws Against Incestuous Relationships

⁶ No one shall approach his own flesh and blood^[p] to uncover their nakedness.^[q] I am the Lord.

⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness that is reserved for your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

⁸ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife. It is nakedness that is reserved for your father.

⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your half-sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born in the household or outside it.

¹⁰ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter. That would be like uncovering your own nakedness.

¹¹ The nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, the adopted child^[r] of your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹² You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She has the same flesh as your father.

¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, because she is the same flesh as your mother.

¹⁴ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother by approaching his wife. She is your aunt.

¹⁵ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.

¹⁶ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. Her nakedness is reserved for your brother.

¹⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter. You shall not take^[s] her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and so uncover nakedness that belongs to her. They are her flesh. It is a depraved act.

¹⁸ You shall not take a woman and then take her sister as a rival by uncovering her sister’s nakedness during that first wife’s lifetime.

Additional Sexual Laws

¹⁹ And you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during the period when she is unclean.

²⁰ You shall not give the wife of your fellow citizen your deposit of semen for seed,^[t] so that you become unclean with her.

²¹ You shall not dedicate any of your seed to Molek,^[u] thereby defiling the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²² You shall not lie down with^[v] a male as you do with a woman. It is an abomination.

²³ And you shall not give your emission to any animal, so that you become unclean by it. No woman shall stand in front of an animal to let it mate with her. It is an unnatural perversion.

²⁴ You must not make yourselves unclean in any of these ways, for in all these ways the nations that I am casting out before you have made themselves unclean. ²⁵ In this way the land became unclean, so I have come to deal with its guilt, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.

²⁶ But you yourselves must keep my regulations and ordinances. You must not practice any of these abominations. This applies both to the native and to the alien who resides among you. ²⁷ Because the people of the land who were there before you practiced all these abominations, the land became unclean. ²⁸ So do not let the land vomit you out for making it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was there before you. ²⁹ If anyone does any of these abominations, the lives of those who practice them will be cut off from the midst of their people. ³⁰ Keep my instructions. Do not perform any of the abominable^[w] practices which were done before you arrived, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.

The Holiness of the Community

19 The Lord told Moses ² to speak to the whole community of the Israelites and tell them these things:

You shall be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

³ Each of you must respect your mother and father and keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.

⁴ You shall not^[x] turn to gods that really are not gods.^[y] You must not make for yourselves gods cast out of metal.^[z] I am the Lord your God.

⁵ When you offer a sacrifice that is a fellowship offering to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you will be accepted. ⁶ It is to be eaten on the day that you offer it or on the next day, but whatever is left over on the third day is to be burned in fire. ⁷ If it is eaten at all on the third day, it will be regarded as rotten meat. It is not acceptable. ⁸ Whoever eats it will bear his guilt, because he has desecrated^[aa] what is holy to the Lord. Any such person will be cut off from his people.

⁹ When you reap the harvest from your land, you are not to finish reaping all the way to the edge of the field. Do not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not strip your vineyard clean, and do not pick up the fallen grapes from your vineyard, but leave them for the poor and the alien who live with you. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ You shall not steal. You shall not swindle. You shall not lie to one another. ¹² You shall not swear falsely by my name so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

¹³ You shall not exploit your neighbor. You shall not rob him. You shall not keep the wages of a day laborer with you overnight until morning.

¹⁴ You shall not curse a deaf person, nor shall you put an obstacle in front of a blind person, but you must fear your God. I am the Lord.

¹⁵ You shall not act unjustly in court cases. Do not show favoritism to a poor person, and do not show undue honor to an important person. You must judge your fellow citizens with justice.

¹⁶ You shall not go around spreading slander among your people. You shall not testify falsely against your neighbor in a capital case.^[ab] I am the Lord.

¹⁷ You shall not hate a fellow Israelite^[ac] in your heart. You must openly rebuke your fellow citizen so that you do not become responsible for his sin. ¹⁸ You must not take revenge. You must not bear a grudge against the members of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

¹⁹ You shall keep my regulations. You must not cause two different kinds of livestock to mate together. You must not sow your field with two kinds of seed. You must not wear any clothing made with two kinds of material.

²⁰ If a man lies down with a woman and has an emission of semen, if she is a female slave who has already been designated for another man, but she has not yet been fully ransomed or received her freedom, a hearing shall be held concerning financial compensation, but they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. ²¹ But he must bring his restitution offering to the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting—a ram for restitution. ²² The priest shall perform atonement on his behalf before the Lord with the ram for the restitution offering for his sin that he has committed, so that he may be forgiven for his sin that he has committed.

²³ Also when you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, you must cut off its budding fruit as if it were a foreskin. For three years you shall regard the tree and its fruit as uncircumcised. Its fruit shall not be eaten.^{[ad] 24} In the fourth year, all its fruit shall be set aside as a holy offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ You may eat its fruit in the fifth year, so that its yield may be increased for you. I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ You shall not eat meat with the blood in it.

You shall not interpret omens, nor shall you perform divination.

²⁷ You shall not round off the hair on the side of your heads, nor shall you disfigure the edge of your beard. ²⁸ You shall not make a gash in your flesh for the dead, nor shall you put tattoos on yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

²⁹ You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not be subjected to prostitution and filled with depravity.

³⁰ You must keep my Sabbaths, and you must revere my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

³¹ You must not turn to mediums or to spiritists^[ae] and so become unclean through them. I am the Lord your God.

³² You must rise in the presence of gray hair and show respect in the presence of an elder, so that you fear your God. I am the Lord.

³³ When an alien resides with you in your land, you must not mistreat him. ³⁴ You shall treat the alien who resides with you as a fellow citizen. You shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ You shall not use dishonest measurements of weight or volume. ³⁶ Instead you must use an honest scale, honest weights, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure.^[af]

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt; ³⁷ therefore, you shall keep all my requirements and my ordinances and carry them out. I am the Lord.

Penalties for Defiling the Land

20 Then the Lord told Moses ² to say this to the Israelites:

Any Israelite or any of the aliens who reside in Israel who give any of their children^[ag] to Molek must certainly be put to death. The people of the land shall stone that person to death. ³ I myself will set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people, because when he gave some of his children to Molek, he made my sanctuary unclean and defiled my holy name. ⁴ Furthermore, if the people of the land deliberately shut their eyes when that man gives any of his children to Molek, and they do not put him to death, ⁵ I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan. I will cut off from among their people both that man and all those who join with him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

⁶ If any person turns to mediums or to spiritists^[ah] and prostitutes himself to them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people.

⁷ You shall set yourselves apart, and you shall be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall keep my regulations, and you shall put them into practice. I am the Lord, who has set you apart.

⁹ Indeed, if anybody curses his father and his mother, he must certainly be put to death. Since he has cursed his father and his mother, his blood is upon him.

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with the wife of another man, if he commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor,^[ai] both the adulterer and the adulteress must certainly be put to death.

¹¹ If a man lies down with his father’s wife, he has uncovered nakedness that is reserved for his father. Both of them certainly must be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹² If a man lies down with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed an unnatural perversion. Their blood is upon them.

¹³ If a man lies down with a male as one lies down with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They must certainly be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹⁴ If a man takes^[aj] a woman and her mother, it is a depraved act. Both he and they shall be burned in fire, so that there may be no depravity among you.

¹⁵ If a man gives his emission to an animal, he must certainly be put to death, and you must kill the animal.

¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal to let it mate with her, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They must certainly be put to death. Their blood is on them.

¹⁷ If a man takes^[ak] his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, and he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful act. They will be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He will bear his guilt.

¹⁸ If a man lies down with a woman during her period and uncovers her nakedness, he uncovers her flow, and she uncovers her flow of blood. Both of them will be cut off from the midst of their people.

¹⁹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for that would be uncovering one’s own flesh. They will bear their guilt.

²⁰ If a man lies down with the wife of his father’s brother, he uncovers the nakedness that is reserved for his father’s brother. They shall bear their sin. They will die childless.

²¹ If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is a polluted act. He has uncovered nakedness that is reserved for his brother. They will remain childless.

²² You shall keep all my regulations and all my ordinances and put them into practice, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. ²³ You shall not walk according to the religious practices of the nation which I am casting out before you, for I was disgusted with them because they did all these things, ²⁴ so I said to you, “You will take possession of their land. I myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I, the Lord, am your God, who has distinguished you from the other peoples. ²⁵ You shall therefore distinguish the clean animal from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable with an animal or a bird or anything that crawls on the ground that I have distinguished by declaring what is unclean for you. ²⁶ You will be holy to me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have distinguished you from the other peoples so that you belong to me.”

²⁷ A man or a woman who is a medium or deals with the spirits of the dead must certainly be put to death. They must be stoned to death. Their blood is on them.

Protecting the Holiness of the Priests

21 The Lord told Moses to speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them this:

No one shall make himself unclean for a dead person among his people, ² except for his closest relatives. He may do it for his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, or his brother, ³ and also for his virgin sister, who is close to him because she does not have a husband—for her he may make himself unclean. ⁴ But he shall not make himself unclean for his relatives by marriage and so defile himself.

⁵ The priests shall not cut a bald patch on to their heads or cut off the edges of their beards or gash their bodies. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not defile the name of their God. Because they present offerings made by fire,^[al] the food of their God, they are to be set apart as holy.

⁷ They shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or is defiled. Neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for each priest is holy to his God. ⁸ So you shall treat him as holy. Since he presents the food of your God, he shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sets you apart as holy, am holy.

⁹ When the daughter of a man who is a priest defiles herself through prostitution, she is defiling her father. She shall be burned in fire.

¹⁰ The high priest, who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the holy garments, shall not dishevel his hair nor tear his garments. ¹¹ He shall not enter any place where there is a dead person. He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother. ¹² He shall not leave the sanctuary, so that he will not defile the sanctuary of his God, for the mark of consecration with the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

¹³ The high priest shall marry a woman who is a virgin. ¹⁴ A widow or a divorcée or a woman defiled because of prostitution—these he shall not marry. Instead, he shall take a virgin from his own people as a wife, ¹⁵ so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord, who sets him apart as holy.

Disqualification From Priestly Service

¹⁶ The Lord told Moses ¹⁷ to tell Aaron this:

Any man from your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may not approach to present the food of his God. ¹⁸ Indeed, any man who has a defect shall not approach—a man who is blind or lame, or who has a limb that is too short or too long, ¹⁹ or a man who has a crippled foot or a crippled hand, ²⁰ or who is deformed or abnormally small, or who has a growth in his eye, or a festering boil, or some other disfiguring skin condition,^[am] or a damaged testicle. ²¹ Any man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall not draw near to present the gifts of the Lord. He has a defect, so he shall not draw near to present the food of his God.

²² But he may eat the food of his God from the most holy things and from the holy things. ²³ Nevertheless, he shall not go in front of the veil and shall not approach the altar because he has a defect, so that he does not defile my holy things, for I am the Lord, who sets them apart as holy.

²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

Eating Holy Food

22 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful with the holy things of the people of Israel, which they consecrate to me, so that they may not defile my holy name. I am the Lord. ³ Tell them these things.”

In future generations, if any man among all your descendants, while he is in a state of uncleanness, approaches the holy things, which the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person is to be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

⁴ Any man of Aaron’s descendants who has an impure skin disease or a bodily discharge shall not eat any of the holy things until he is clean.

Any man who touches anything made unclean by a dead person, or any man from whom an emission of semen goes out, ⁵ or any man who touches any swarming creature that makes him unclean, or who touches any human being who makes him unclean, whatever his uncleanness might be— ⁶ that person who touches any of these things will be unclean until sunset and shall not eat any of the holy things unless he has washed his body with water. ⁷ When the sun has gone down, he will be clean. After that he may eat from the holy things, for it is his food. ⁸ But he shall not eat anything that has died naturally or been torn by wild animals, and so become unclean by it. I am the Lord.

⁹ Aaron’s descendants shall therefore keep watch for me, so that they do not become responsible for sin on account of uncleanness and die for it because they have defiled something holy. I am the Lord, who sets them apart as holy.

¹⁰ No person who is not a member of a priest’s family may eat anything holy. No guest or employee of a priest may eat anything holy. ¹¹ But if a priest purchases anyone with his money, that person may eat from it, and those who are born into his household may eat from his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter has a husband who is not a priest, she may not eat any of the holy things that have been donated as an elevated offering. ¹³ But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and she has no children and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food. No person who is not a member of a priest’s family may eat of it.

¹⁴ If anyone eats a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add one fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest.

¹⁵ The priests shall not defile the holy things that the Israelites donate as an elevated offering to the Lord ¹⁶ by letting other people eat them and so make that person incur the penalty of a restitution offering for the holy things, because I am the Lord, who sets them apart as holy.

Acceptable Offerings for the Israelites

¹⁷ The Lord told Moses ¹⁸ to speak to Aaron and his sons and the whole people of Israel and tell them this:

Whenever anyone of the house of Israel or any of the aliens residing in Israel presents their offerings—whether it is any kind of offering to fulfill a vow or any kind of voluntary^[an] offering, which may be presented to the Lord as a burnt offering— ¹⁹ in order for the offering to be accepted it must be a male without blemish, from the cattle or the sheep or the goats. ²⁰ You shall not present any animal with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

²¹ If anyone presents a sacrifice as a fellowship offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, it must be without blemish for it to be accepted on your behalf. There must not be any defect in it. ²² Any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, with a growth in the eye, a festering boil, or sores—these you shall not present to the Lord. You shall not put any of these on the altar as an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²³ You may, however, make a voluntary offering with a head of cattle or with a sheep or goat that has a long or short leg, but it will not be accepted as an offering to fulfill a vow. ²⁴ You shall not present to the Lord any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn out or cut off. You shall not do this in your land. ²⁵ You shall not present any of these animals from a foreigner as the food of your God. Because they are flawed, with a defect in them, they will not be accepted on your behalf.

²⁶ Then the Lord told Moses this:

²⁷ When a calf or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as an offering that is a gift made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ But you shall not slaughter a cow or a ewe with her young on the same day.

²⁹ When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you will be accepted. ³⁰ It must be eaten on the same day. You shall not leave any of it over until the morning. I am the Lord.

³¹ So you shall keep my commandments by doing them. I am the Lord. ³² Therefore you shall not defile my holy name, so that I may be honored as holy among the Israelites. I am the Lord, who sets you apart as holy, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.

The Calendar of Holy Times

23 The Lord told Moses ² to speak to the Israelites and to tell them this:

These are the appointed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. These are my appointed times:

The Sabbath

³ On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It shall be a sabbath to the Lord in all the places you live.

⁴ These are the appointed times of the Lord, the holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

The Festival of Passover

⁵ The first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover, ⁶ and the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. ⁷ On the first day a holy convocation is to be proclaimed for you. You shall not do any work in your regular occupation. ⁸ You shall present an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be proclaimed as a holy convocation. You shall not do any work for your regular occupation.

The Festival of Firstfruits

⁹ The Lord told Moses ¹⁰ to speak to the people of Israel and tell them this:

When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, and when you bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest ¹¹ so that he may wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you will be accepted, the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day that you wave the sheaf, you shall offer as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb without blemish, one year old. ¹³ The grain offering accompanying it is to be four quarts^[ao] of fine wheat flour mixed with oil, a gift to the Lord, a pleasing aroma. The drink offering accompanying it shall be a quart^[ap] of wine. ¹⁴ You shall not eat any of this year’s bread or roasted grain or fresh ears until this very day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a permanent regulation throughout your generations in all the places you live.

The Festival of Weeks or Pentecost

¹⁵ Then from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you bring the sheaf to be waved, you shall count off seven weeks for yourselves. They must be complete weeks. ¹⁶ You shall count fifty days, until you reach the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ From the places where you live you shall bring two loaves of bread as a wave offering. They shall be made of four quarts of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast, as first ripe produce for the Lord.

¹⁸ Then with the bread you shall present seven lambs without blemish, each of them one year old, one young bull from the herd, and two rams—they shall be a whole burnt offering for the Lord, together with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ You shall also present the sin offering with one male goat and the fellowship offering with two one-year-old male lambs. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them, together with the bread from the first ripe produce, as a wave offering before the Lord, in addition to the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.

²¹ On this very same day you shall make a proclamation. A holy convocation will be proclaimed for you. You shall do no work in your regular occupation. This is a permanent regulation in all the places you live throughout your generations.

²² When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the edges of your field or gather the dropped stalks from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the resident alien. I am the Lord your God.

The Festival of the Ram’s Horn^[aq]

²³ The Lord told Moses ²⁴ to speak to the people of Israel:

In the seventh month, on the first of the month, you shall have a complete rest, a memorial celebration with loud blasts of the ram’s horn, proclaimed as a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall not do any work in your regular occupation, and you shall present a gift made by fire to the Lord.

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses:

²⁷ It is the tenth day of this seventh month that is the Day of Atonement. It shall be proclaimed as a holy convocation for you. You shall humble yourselves,^[ar] and you shall present an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ You shall not do any work on this special day,^[as] because it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ Indeed, anyone who does not humble himself on this special day will be cut off from his people. ³⁰ Anyone who does any work on this very special day, I will exterminate from the midst of his people. ³¹ You shall do no work. This is a permanent regulation throughout your generations in all your places where you live. ³² It is a sabbath of complete rest for you. You shall humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month at evening. From that evening until the next evening, you shall observe a sabbath rest.

The Festival of Shelters

³³ The Lord told Moses ³⁴ to tell the people of Israel this:

Beginning on the fifteenth day of this seventh month, celebrate the Festival of Shelters^[at] for seven days for the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day proclaim a holy convocation. You shall not do any work for your regular occupation. ³⁶ For seven days you shall bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day proclaim a holy convocation for yourselves, and you shall present an offering made by fire to the Lord. This is a closing ceremony. You shall not do any work for your regular occupation.

³⁷ These are the appointed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations for the presentation of offerings made by fire to the Lord—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings as commanded for each day. ³⁸ Offer these in addition to the Sabbath offerings of the Lord, in addition to your personal wave offerings, in addition to all your offerings to fulfill a vow, and in addition to all your voluntary^[au] offerings that you give to the Lord.

³⁹ Beginning exactly on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, when you go to celebrate the festival of the Lord for seven days as a pilgrim, there shall be a complete sabbath rest on the first day and a complete sabbath rest on the eighth day. ⁴⁰ On the first day you shall select for yourselves fruit from splendid trees, branches of palm trees, boughs from leafy trees, and willows from by the stream—and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ Celebrate the festival for the Lord as a pilgrim for seven days each year. This is a permanent regulation throughout your generations. In the seventh month you shall celebrate the festival as a pilgrim. ⁴² You shall live in temporary shelters for seven days—every native-born person in Israel shall live in shelters— ⁴³ so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

⁴⁴ That is what Moses said about the appointed times of the Lord to the people of Israel.

The Holy Oil

24 The Lord spoke to Moses:

² Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil from beaten^[av] olives for the Light so the lamps will be kept burning continually.^{[aw] 3} Aaron shall set the Light before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is in front of the Testimony, every night from the evening to the morning. It is a permanent regulation throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall set the lamps regularly on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord.

The Holy Bread

⁵ You shall take fine flour and bake twelve round loaves from it. Each loaf shall be made with four quarts of flour. ⁶ You shall put them in two stacks, six to each stack, on the pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ Upon the stacks you shall place clear frankincense as a memorial portion for the bread. It is a gift of food^[ax] to the Lord. ⁸ On every Sabbath day he shall arrange it before the Lord regularly. It is a permanent covenant on behalf of the Israelites. ⁹ The bread shall belong to Aaron and his sons, who shall eat it in a holy place, for it belongs to him as a most holy thing from the gifts of food to the Lord, a perpetual allotment.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Name

¹⁰ A man who was the son of an Israelite woman and of an Egyptian man came along with the Israelites. This son of the Israelite woman fought with another Israelite in the camp. ¹¹ The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name^[ay] and cursed, so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, belonging to the tribe of Dan.) ¹² They put him in custody to wait for a decision from the mouth of the Lord.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁴ “Take the man who cursed outside the camp, and all those who heard it shall lay their hands on his head, and the whole community shall stone him. ¹⁵ Then speak to the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he shall bear his sin, ¹⁶ but if anyone blasphemes the name of the Lord, he must certainly be put to death; the whole community must stone him. Whether he is an alien or a citizen, when he has blasphemed the Name, he must be put to death.”

¹⁷ “If anyone hits someone and kills him, he must certainly be put to death. ¹⁸ But one who strikes and kills an animal must make restitution for it, a life for a life. ¹⁹ If anyone injures his fellow citizen, he shall have the same thing done to him as he has done: ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he injured that other person, the same is to be done to him. ²¹ One who strikes an animal so that it dies shall make restitution for it, but one who strikes a human being and kills him shall be put to death. ²² You shall have the same standard of justice for the alien who lives with you and for the citizen, for I am the Lord your God.”

²³ After Moses had spoken this to the Israelites, the man who had cursed was taken outside the camp and stoned to death. The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Sabbatical Years

25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say this to them.”

When you enter the land that I am giving to you, the land shall observe a sabbath rest for the Lord. ³ For six years you may sow your field, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. ⁴ But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord. You shall not sow your field, and you shall not prune your vineyard. ⁵ You shall not reap the produce that grows by itself from your harvest or gather the grapes from your unpruned vine. It shall be a year of complete rest for the land. ⁶ The sabbath of the land will, however, provide food for you—for you, for your male slaves and for your female slaves, for your hired workers and for your servants who are living with you temporarily as aliens working for you, ⁷ for your livestock and for the wild animals which are in your land. You may eat all its produce.^[az]

The Jubilee

⁸ You shall count off seven weeks of years. Count off seven years seven times, so that the duration of the seven weeks of years is forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall sound loud blasts on the ram’s horn. In the seventh month on the tenth day, on the Day of Atonement, you are to have a ram’s horn sounded throughout your land, ¹⁰ so that you may set aside the fiftieth year as holy and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you, so that each of you may return to his family property and each of you may return to his clan. ¹¹ The fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you. You shall not sow the field, and you shall not reap the grain that grows by itself, and you shall not gather fruit from its unpruned vines. ¹² Because it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy for you. You may eat its produce from the field. ¹³ In this year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his family property.

¹⁴ When you sell some land to your countryman, or when you buy land from your countryman, you must not cheat your brother Israelite. ¹⁵ When you buy from your countryman, set the price according to the number of years since the last Jubilee. When he sells it to you, he shall set the price according to the number of years of produce left till the next Jubilee. ¹⁶ When there are many years left, you shall increase the purchase price. When there are few years left, you shall decrease its purchase price, because what the owner is actually selling to you is the amount of produce. ¹⁷ So each of you must not cheat your countryman, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ You shall carry out my regulations, and you shall observe my ordinances. You shall carry them out, so that you may live on the land securely. ¹⁹ The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live securely on it. ²⁰ If you ask, “What will we eat during the seventh year, since we may not sow and we may not gather our produce?” ²¹ I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield enough produce for three years. ²² When you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the sixth year’s crop. You will eat the sixth year’s crop until the ninth year, when its produce comes in.

²³ But the land must not be sold without a right to recover it, for the land really belongs to me. You are actually resident aliens under my authority. ²⁴ Therefore, throughout all the land that you possess, you shall grant the right of redemption for the land. ²⁵ When your brother Israelite becomes so impoverished that he has to sell some of the land that he holds, his closest relative shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. ²⁶ When the man who has no close relative prospers and acquires enough for the price to redeem his land, ²⁷ he may calculate the years since he sold it, refund the difference to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his family property. ²⁸ But if he does not acquire a sufficient amount to recover the land for himself, what he has sold shall remain under the control of the one who bought it until the year of Jubilee. It shall become free in the Jubilee, so that the seller may return to his family property.

²⁹ When a man sells a house where he lives in a walled town, his right of redemption shall last until a full year after its sale. The time to redeem it lasts for a year. ³⁰ But if it is not redeemed before the completion of a full year, the house which is in a town which has a wall will belong to its buyer and his descendants. It cannot be reclaimed. It will not be released in the Jubilee. ³¹ But the houses in the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified as part of the farmland. They have the right of redemption and shall become free in the Jubilee.

³² All the towns of the Levites and the houses in the towns which are their property have a permanent right of redemption. ³³ Whatever a Levite is permitted to redeem (such as a house which he sold that had been his property in a city) will become free in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites.^{[ba] 34} But the pastures and fields around the Levites’ towns may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

³⁵ When your fellow Israelite^[bb] becomes so impoverished that he cannot support himself,^[bc] help him as you would help a resident alien or a temporary resident. Let him retain his right to work for a livelihood among you.^{[bd] 36} You shall not take advance interest or accrued interest from him, but you shall fear your God and let your brother retain his livelihood with you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money for advance interest or your food for accrued interest. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who freed you from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

³⁹ When your fellow Israelite becomes so indebted to you that he is sold to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave. ⁴⁰ He shall remain with you as a hired laborer or a temporary resident. He shall work for you until the year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then he and his children with him will become free from your authority. He shall return to his family home and to his ancestral landholding, ⁴² for the Israelites are my servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold in a slave sale. ⁴³ You shall not rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.

⁴⁴ You may buy a male slave or a female slave for yourself from the nations around you. ⁴⁵ You may also buy some of the children of those who reside as aliens among you and some of their extended families who are born in your land, so that they become your property. ⁴⁶ You may leave them to your children as inherited property. You may make them work as slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, each of you must not rule over your brother harshly.

⁴⁷ If a resident alien living among you prospers, and if your brother Israelite becomes so indebted to him that he is sold to that alien living among you or to that alien’s family, ⁴⁸ the Israelite who has been sold shall have the right to be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹ or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or anyone from his immediate family^[be] or extended family may redeem him, or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ Together with his buyer, he shall calculate the elapsed time from the year that he was sold until the year of Jubilee, and the price to redeem him shall be based on that number of years. It shall be calculated as if he were a hired laborer. ⁵¹ If there are still many years left, he shall pay the price of redemption proportionally to the years that have passed. ⁵² If only a few years remain until the year of Jubilee, he shall calculate the redemption in this way: He shall pay the price of his redemption on the basis of his years of work, ⁵³ as if he were a worker hired year by year. You shall see to it that the owner does not rule over him harshly. ⁵⁴ If he has not been redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children with him shall become free in the year of Jubilee, ⁵⁵ because the Israelites are servants who really belong to me. They are my servants whom I freed from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Promises and Warnings

26 You shall not make gods that are really not gods for yourselves, and you shall not set up an image or a sacred memorial stone for yourselves, and you shall not set up a carved stone relief in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. ² You shall observe my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

³ If you walk according to my regulations and keep my commandments and carry them out, ⁴ I will give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees in the farmland will yield their fruit. ⁵ Threshing will last until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will last until the time for sowing. You will eat your food until you are full, and you will live securely in your land.

⁶ I will give peace in the land so that you may lie down without anyone frightening you. I will eliminate ferocious animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword. ⁸ Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

⁹ I will look on you with favor, and I will make you fruitful and will multiply you, and I will keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ You will eat grain from previous harvests, grain long stored, until you remove the old grain to make room for the new. ¹¹ I will place my Dwelling in your midst, and I will not at all detest you. ¹² I will walk about in your midst, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who freed you from the land of Egypt so that you would not be slaves to them. I broke the bars of your yoke so that I could make you walk upright.

¹⁴ But if you will not listen to me and do not obey all these commandments, ¹⁵ if you reject my regulations and you detest my ordinances so much that you do not obey all my commandments, so that you break my covenant, ¹⁶ I in turn will do this to you: I will inflict upon you panic, wasting disease, and fever, which will cause your eyes to fail and your vitality to slip away. You will sow your seed but get no return, for your enemies will eat it. ¹⁷ I will set my face against you. You will be beaten by your enemies, and those who hate you will rule over you. You will flee, even though nobody is pursuing you.

¹⁸ If, despite these things, you will not listen to me, I will go on to discipline you seven times for your sins. ¹⁹ I will break your proud strength and make your sky like iron and your land as hard as bronze, ²⁰ so that your strength will be exhausted without accomplishing anything. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees on the land will not yield their fruit.

²¹ If you still remain hostile to me and you are not willing to listen to me, I will multiply the plague against you seven times more according to your sins. ²² I will send against you the wild animals so that they will deprive you of your children and cut off your livestock. They will make you so few that your roads will be deserted.

²³ If in spite of all these things you still refuse to be disciplined by me, and you remain hostile to me, ²⁴ I will also remain hostile to you. I will strike you seven times more for your sins. ²⁵ I will bring a sword on you to avenge the covenant. If you withdraw into your towns, I will send an epidemic among you, so that you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ²⁶ When I break your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven. They will have to ration^[bf] your bread, and though you eat, you will not be satisfied.