Holiness and the Priests

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ^aNo one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 ^bThey shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and ^cnot profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, ^dthe bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 ^eThey shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman ^fdivorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^gI, the Lord, who sanctify you, ^ham holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ⁱshe shall be burned with fire.

10 ^j“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^kshall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not ^lgo in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 ^mHe shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he ⁿprofane the sanctuary of his God, for the ^oconsecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.¹ 14 A widow, ^por a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin² of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for ^gI am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may ^qapproach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man ^rblind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face ^sor a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a ^rdefect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or ^tcrushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to ^uoffer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of ^vthe most holy and of the ^wholy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not ^xprofane my sanctuaries,^{3 y}for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they ^zabstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they ^adedicate to me, so that they do not ^bprofane my holy name: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while ^che has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4 None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a ^ddischarge may eat of the holy things ^euntil he is clean. ^fWhoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or ^ga man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and ^hwhoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ⁱa person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has ^jbathed his body in water. 7 When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because ^kthey are his food. 8 ^lHe shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, ^mlest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: ⁿI am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 ^o“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, 11 but if a priest buys a slave⁴ as his property for money, the slave⁵ may eat of it, and ^panyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and ^qreturns to her father’s house, ^ras in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14 ^sAnd if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add ^tthe fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 They ^ushall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, 16 and so cause them ^mto bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: ⁿfor I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Acceptable Offerings

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, ^vWhen any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a ^wmale without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 ^xYou shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone ^yoffers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord ^zto fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals ^ablind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or ^ban itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food ^coffering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part ^dtoo long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as ^ethe bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a ^fblemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 ^g“When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. 28 But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep ^hand her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a ⁱsacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; ^jyou shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

31 ^k“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 ^lAnd you shall not profane my holy name, that ^mI may be sanctified among the people of Israel. ⁿI am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt ^oto be your God: I am the Lord.”

Feasts of the Lord

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^pThese are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall ^qproclaim as ^rholy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

3 ^s“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

The Passover

4 ^p“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the ^tholy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 ^uIn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,⁶ is the Lord’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 ^vOn the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^wWhen you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of ^xthe firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall ^ywave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you ^ywave the sheaf, you shall offer a ^zmale lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 ^aAnd the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah⁷ of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, ^band the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.⁸ 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain ^cparched or ^cfresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

15 ^d“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the ^ywave offering. 16 You shall count ^efifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of ^fnew grain to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as ^gfirstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19 And you shall offer one ^hmale goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of ⁱpeace offerings. 20 And the priest shall ^ywave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. ^jThey shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

22 “And ^kwhen you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

The Feast of Trumpets

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In ^lthe seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, ^ma memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now ⁿon the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves⁹ and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whoever is not afflicted¹⁰ on that very day ^oshall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ^pOn the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths¹¹ to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. ^qOn the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a ^rsolemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

37 ^s“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 ^tbesides the Lord’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have ^ugathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And ^vyou shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and ^wyou shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 ^xYou shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 ^yYou shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that ^zyour generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

44 Thus Moses ^adeclared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, ^uone who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in ^vthe true tent¹ that the Lord ^wset up, not man. 3 For ^xevery high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus ^yit is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve ^za copy and ^ashadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ^b“See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ² has obtained a ministry that is ^cas much more excellent than the old as ^dthe covenant ^ehe mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 ^fFor if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

8 For he finds fault with them when he says:³

13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And ^lwhat is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.