1 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites that this is what the Lord commands: 3 Any Israelite who kills a bull, a lamb, or a goat, whether inside the camp or outside of it, 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord there, that person shall be held guilty of illegal killing. They have shed blood and must be expelled from their people. 5 This is why the Israelites have to bring to the Lord the sacrifices they currently offer out in the fields. They must bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 The priest will sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat to be accepted by the Lord. 7 They must not continue to offer their sacrifices to the goat devils with whom they have acted like prostitutes. This is a regulation for all time and for all future generations. 8 Warn them that any Israelite or any foreigner living among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 without bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be expelled from their people. 10 I will disown any Israelite or any foreigner living among them who eats any blood and I will expel them from their people. 11 Life is in the body's blood. I have given it to you so that by putting it on the altar your lives can be made right, for it is the lifeblood that makes people's lives right. 12 That's why I'm warning the Israelites: None of you is allowed to eat blood, and no foreigner living among you is allowed to eat blood. 13 Any Israelite or foreigner living among them who hunts and kills a wild animal or a bird which are allowed be eaten must drain the blood from its body and cover it with earth, 14 for life is in the body's blood. That's why I have warned the Israelites: You are not allowed to eat the blood of anything living, for life is in the body's blood. Anyone who eats it must be expelled. 15 Anyone, Israelite or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or killed by wild animals must wash their clothes and wash with water, and they will be unclean until the evening. Then they will be clean. 16 But if they don't wash their clothes and wash themselves with water, then they bear responsibility for their guilt.”
Leviticus · Free Bible Version
Leviticus 17 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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)