Leviticus 17

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, saying,

³ “‘Whatever man there is of the house of Israel who kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ⁴ and hasn’t brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before the tabernacle of Yahweh: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people; ⁵ to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.

⁶ “‘The priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ⁷ They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’

⁸ “You shall say to them, ‘Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh, that man shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰ “‘Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. ¹² Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, “No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood.”

¹³ “‘Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust. ¹⁴ For the life of all flesh is its blood. Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, “You shall eat the blood of no kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”

¹⁵ “‘Every soul who eats that which dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’”