1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, saying to them: This is the word, which the Lord has commanded, saying: 3 Any man at all of the house of Israel, if he will have killed an ox, or a sheep, or a goat in the camp or beyond the camp, 4 and not have presented it as an oblation to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, he shall be guilty of blood. It is just as if he had shed blood; so then, he shall perish from the midst of his people. 5 Therefore, the sons of Israel must offer to the priest their victims, which they kill in the field, so that they may be sanctified to the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and so that they may immolate them as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and he shall burn the fat as a sweet odor to the Lord. 7 And they shall no longer immolate their victims to demons, with whom they have committed fornication. It shall be an everlasting ordinance for them and for their posterity. 8 And you shall say to them: The man of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn with you, who offers a holocaust or a victim, 9 and who does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be offered to the Lord, shall pass away from his people. 10 Any man at all of the house of Israel, or of the newcomers who sojourn among them, if he has eaten blood, I will harden my face against his soul, and I will drive him from his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you, so that you may atone with it upon the altar for your souls, and so that the blood may be for an expiation of the soul. 12 For this reason, I have said to the sons of Israel: No soul among you shall eat blood, nor among the newcomers who sojourn with you. 13 Any man at all from the sons of Israel, or from the newcomers who sojourn with you, whether by hunting or bird-catching, if he seizes a wild beast or a bird, which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its blood and cover the earth with it. 14 For the life of all flesh is in the blood. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any flesh at all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whoever has eaten it shall perish. 15 The soul who eats what has died on its own, or what has been caught by a beast, whether he is native born or a newcomer, shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and he shall be contaminated until evening. And by this means he shall be made clean. 16 But if he will not wash his clothes and his body, he shall bear his iniquity.
Leviticus · Catholic Public Domain Version
Leviticus 17 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (13)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 3 Deuteronomy 12:11–15; Deuteronomy 12:26–27; Leviticus 17:12–13; Leviticus 17:15; Leviticus 17:8
- 4 John 10:9; Genesis 17:14; John 10:7; Ezekiel 20:40; John 14:6
- 5 Exodus 24:5; Leviticus 3:1–17; Genesis 21:33; Genesis 22:13; 1 Kings 14:23
- 6 Numbers 18:17; Leviticus 3:2; Leviticus 4:31; Leviticus 3:5; Exodus 29:18
- 7 1 Corinthians 10:20; Exodus 34:15; 2 Chronicles 11:15; Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37
- 8 Leviticus 1:2–3; Malachi 1:11; 2 Samuel 24:25; Judges 6:26; 1 Samuel 7:9
- 9 Leviticus 17:4
- 10 Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 3:17; Deuteronomy 12:16; Deuteronomy 12:23; 1 Samuel 14:33
- 11 Hebrews 9:22; 1 John 1:7; Romans 3:25; Revelation 1:5; Mark 14:24
- 13 Deuteronomy 12:16; Ezekiel 24:7; Leviticus 7:26; Deuteronomy 12:24; Deuteronomy 15:23
- 14 Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 12:23; Leviticus 17:11–12
- 15 Leviticus 22:8; Exodus 22:31; Deuteronomy 14:21; Leviticus 11:25; Ezekiel 44:31
- 16 Leviticus 5:1; John 13:8; Isaiah 53:11; Numbers 19:19–20; Leviticus 7:18
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Since, according to Scripture, "the life of every creature is in the blood," as the blood when thickened changes into flesh, and flesh when corrupted decomposes into earth, so the soul of beasts is naturally an earthy substance.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)