17 And the Lord said to Moses,
2 Tell Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, This is what the Lord has commanded:
3 If any man of the house of Israel kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp or kills it outside the camp
4 And does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to the Lord before the Lord’s tabernacle, [guilt for shedding] [a]blood shall be imputed to that man; he has shed blood and shall be cut off from among his people.
5 This is so that the Israelites, rather than offer their sacrifices [to idols] in the open field [where they slew them], may bring them to the Lord at the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, to offer them as peace offerings to the Lord.
6 And the priest shall dash the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat for a sweet and satisfying fragrance to the Lord.
7 So they shall no more offer their sacrifices to goatlike gods or demons or field spirits after which they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.
8 And you shall say to them, Whoever of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell temporarily among you offers a burnt offering or sacrifice
9 And does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the Lord shall be cut off from among his people.
10 Any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell temporarily among them who eats any kind of blood, against that person I will set My face and I will cut him off from among his people [that he may not be included in the atonement made for them].(A)
11 For the life (the animal soul) is in the blood, and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life [which it represents].(B)
12 Therefore I have said to the Israelites, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who dwells temporarily among you eat blood.
13 And any of the Israelites or of the strangers who sojourn among them who takes in hunting any clean beast or bird shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.
14 As for the life of all flesh, the blood of it represents the life of it; therefore I said to the Israelites, You shall partake of the blood of no kind of flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats of it shall be cut off.
15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or was torn by beasts, whether he is native-born or a temporary resident, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until evening; then shall he be clean.(C)
16 But if he does not wash his clothes or bathe his body, he shall bear his own iniquity [for it shall not be borne by the sacrifice of atonement].
Footnotes
- Leviticus 17:4 This requirement, that an animal to be killed was to be brought as an offering to the Lord, was no privation for the owner, for after offering it on the altar of burnt offering he received most of it back as a gift from God.