From the Greek Septuagint text as was used by First Century Christians

Chapter 1

¹ And Jehovah called Moses again and spoke to him in the Tent of Proofs. He said, ² ‘Talk to the children of Israel and tell them this: Any of you that bring an ox as a gift to the Lord; bring one that will be acceptable to Jehovah. ⁴ Then put your hand on the head of the offering [to show that] it’s something you wish to do in order to be forgiven by [God]. ⁵ Then they must slaughter the calf before Jehovah, and Aaron’s sons (the Priests) must collect the blood and pour it around the Altar at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs.

⁶ ‘The meat of the offering should be butchered and divided into quarters. ⁷ And the sons of Aaron (the Priests) must light a fire on the Altar and pile wood on the fire. ⁸ Then the Priests must put the head and the fat over the fire in the Altar; ⁹ they must wash the [animal’s] entrails and feet in water, and the Priests must put the rest of it on the Altar as a burnt-offering sacrifice and as a sweet odor to Jehovah.

¹⁰ ‘However, if [the person] is offering a sheep as a gift to Jehovah (or a lamb or a kid) for a whole-burnt offering, it must be a perfect male. ¹¹ He must put his hand on its head and they must slaughter it next to the Altar toward the north, before Jehovah. Then the sons of Aaron (the Priests) must pour its blood on and around the Altar. ¹² They must quarter it, and put its head and its fat over the burning wood on the Altar. ¹³ Then they must wash its entrails and feet with water and the Priest must put the rest on the Altar as a burnt-offering sacrifice… as a sweet odor to Jehovah.

¹⁴ ‘But if [the person] is offering a bird as a gift to Jehovah, it must be a dove or a pigeon. ¹⁵ The Priest must bring it to the Altar, wring off its head, and sprinkle its blood at the base of the Altar. ¹⁶ And before placing it on the Altar, he must remove the crop and the feathers, and throw them by the ashes, to the east of the Altar. ¹⁷ He should then break off its wings, but not cut it up. And the Priest must put the burnt-offering sacrifice on the Altar over the burning wood as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah.

Chapter 2

¹ ‘And if a person brings fine flour as a gift to sacrifice to Jehovah, he must pour oil on it and put frankincense on it before offering it as a sacrifice. ² He must carry it to the Priests (the sons of Aaron) and take a handful of the fine flour with the oil and the frankincense, and then a Priest must put it on the Altar as a sacrifice and as a sweet odor to Jehovah. ³ The rest of the sacrifice must be [given to] Aaron and his sons as their holy portion from the sacrifices to Jehovah.

⁴ ‘And if he brings [bread] that has been baked in an oven as a gift to sacrifice to Jehovah, it should be fermentation free and kneaded with oil into fermentation-free cakes. ⁵ And if the gift of fermentation-free fine flour is brought in a pan, ⁶ it must be broken into pieces and then oil must be poured over it as a sacrifice to Jehovah.

⁷ ‘However, if the gift of fine flour with oil that is to be offered as a sacrifice to Jehovah [consists of whole loaves] which were baked in an oven, ⁸ they must be brought to the Priest, ⁹ and the Priest must take it to the Altar and offer a portion of it as a burnt offering and as a sweet odor to Jehovah. ¹⁰ The rest of the sacrifice must be [given to] Aaron and his sons as their holy portion from the burnt offerings of Jehovah.

¹¹ ‘You must not have fermentation in any sacrifices that are brought to Jehovah, and no honey will be brought as a gift to Jehovah. ¹² Such things may be brought to Jehovah as though they were fruit, but they must not be offered on the Altar as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah.

¹³ ‘All gifts of sacrifices must be seasoned with salt. Don’t leave the salt of Jehovah’s Sacred Agreement out of your sacrifices. No matter what type of gift it is, it must be offered to Jehovah your God with salt.

¹⁴ ‘And when you offer the first fruit as a sacrifice to Jehovah (the new grain), it should be ground and roasted, then brought as a sacrifice. ¹⁵ Pour oil and frankincense on it, because it is a sacrifice. ¹⁶ Then the Priest must offer a portion of the grain with oil and all the frankincense as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

Chapter 3

¹ ‘If the gift to Jehovah is to be a peace offering and it is selected from among the cattle, it can be a male or a female, but it must be perfect to bring it before Jehovah. ² The [the person] must put his hands on the head of the gift and slaughter it before Jehovah next to the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. Then the Priests (the sons of Aaron) must pour the blood on and around the Altar of burnt offerings.

³ For peace offerings, [these portions] should be offered as a burnt-sacrifice to Jehovah: the belly and all the fat in and around it, ⁴ the kidneys and the fat on them, [the fat] on the thighs, and the membrane around the liver and kidneys. ⁵ The Priests (the sons of Aaron) must offer them on the Altar of burnt offerings over the burning wood on the Altar as a sweet odor to Jehovah.

⁶ ‘And if the peace-offering gift to Jehovah is a sheep, it may be either a male or a female, but it must be perfect. ⁷ If the gift is a lamb, he must bring it before Jehovah, ⁸ put his hands on the head of his offering, and slaughter it by the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. Then the Priests (the sons of Aaron) must pour its blood on and around the Altar. ⁹ The peace offering is then to be burned to Jehovah. He can take the healthy, fat hind parts and loins with him, but all the fat that is in and around the belly, ¹⁰ the kidneys and the fat around them, the fat around the thighs, and the membrane around the liver and kidneys ¹¹ must be offered on the Altar by the Priest as a sweet odor and burnt offering to Jehovah.

¹² ‘And if his offering is a goat, he must bring it before Jehovah, ¹³ put his hands on its head, and slaughter it before Jehovah next to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs. Then the Priests (the sons of Aaron) must pour the blood on and around the Altar. ¹⁴ And the parts of the burnt offering [that will be offered] to Jehovah must be the fat in and around the belly, ¹⁵ both kidneys and all the fat on them, [the fat] on the thighs, and the membrane around the liver and kidneys. ¹⁶ Then the Priest must offer it on the Altar as a burnt offering and as a sweet odor to Jehovah.

‘All the fat is Jehovah’s. ¹⁷ This is the rule through the ages of your generations wherever you may live: You must eat no fat and no blood.’

Chapter 4

¹ Then Jehovah told Moses, ² ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them this: If a person sins against Jehovah in any of the Commandments that Jehovah says you must not do… but he does them unintentionally, ³ or if the anointed Priest sins and that causes the people to sin, then he must bring [an offering] for his sin. [He must bring] a perfect calf from his herd to Jehovah, for his sin. ⁴ He must bring the calf before Jehovah at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, put his hand on its head, and they must slaughter it in Jehovah’s presence.

⁵ ‘And when the anointed Priest who has been made perfect receives the calf’s blood, he must carry it into the Tent of Proofs. ⁶ Then the Priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it at the base of the Holy Veil before Jehovah seven times. ⁷ And he must put some of the calf’s blood on the horns of the incense Altar that is before Jehovah (inside the Tent of Proofs) and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar, by the entrance to the Tent of Proofs.

⁸ ‘[Then he must take] all the fat from the calf of the sin offering – the inner fat, the outer fat, ⁹ the kidneys and the fat on them, [the fat on] the thighs, and the membrane around the liver and kidneys – and remove them. ¹⁰ Then the Priest must offer it on the Altar of burnt offerings. ¹¹ As for the calf’s skin, flesh, head, extremities, belly, and dung; ¹² it must all be carried outside the camp into the clean place where they pour the ashes, and it must be totally burned among the wood ashes that are poured out there.

¹³ ‘Now, if the whole gathering of Israel unknowingly commits a sin and it goes unnoticed by them (if they should do something that is forbidden, shouldn’t be done, and is a sin against any of the commandments of Jehovah), ¹⁴ but they later realize what they have done; the gathering should bring a perfect calf from the herd as a sin offering to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs. ¹⁵ Then [all] the elders of the gathering must lay their hands on the calf’s head and slaughter it before Jehovah. ¹⁶ And the anointed Priest must bring the calf’s blood into the Tent of Proofs. ¹⁷ He must then dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the veil of the Holy Place, there before Jehovah.

¹⁸ ‘The Priest must also put some of the blood on the horns of the incense Altar, which is standing before Jehovah, inside the Tent of Proofs. Then he must pour the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar of whole-burnt offerings, which is by the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. ¹⁹ He must cut off all its fat, and offer it on the Altar, ²⁰ dealing with it in the same way as he does the calf of the sin offering. That’s how the Priests will pay for their sins, and then their mistakes will be forgiven. ²¹ Thereafter, they must take the rest of the calf outside the camp and burn it in the same way as the other calf. This is the sin offering for the [entire] gathering.

²² ‘And if one of the leaders should unknowingly break one of the commandments of Jehovah his God (something he shouldn’t have done in sin and error), ²³ and then he realizes that he has sinned, the gift he must offer is a perfect male kid goat. ²⁴ He must put his hand on the head of the kid, and they must slaughter it where they slaughter the whole-burnt offerings before Jehovah, as a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the Priest must put some of the blood of the sin offering on the horns of the Altar of whole-burnt offerings with his finger, and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar. ²⁶ Then he must offer all of its fat on the Altar as the sacrifice of the peace offering. [This is how] the Priest must pay for his sin, so it can be forgiven.

²⁷ ‘And if a person among the people of the land should sin unknowingly against any of the Commandments of Jehovah by doing something that shouldn’t be done, ²⁸ and then he realizes that he has sinned, he must bring a perfect female kid goat for the sin that he has committed. ²⁹ Then he must put his hand on the head of his sin offering and they should slaughter the kid of the sin offering where they slaughter the whole-burnt offerings. ³⁰ And the Priest must take some its blood on his finger and wipe it on the horns of the Altar of whole-burnt offerings. Then he must pour the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar. ³¹ Thereafter, he must remove all the fat and offer it as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The Priest must offer it on the Altar as a sweet odor to Jehovah. [This is how] the Priest must pay for his sin, so it can be forgiven.

³² ‘But if he offers a lamb for his sin offering, it should be a perfect female. ³³ He must put his hand on the head of the sin offering, and they must kill it where they kill the whole-burnt offerings. ³⁴ Then the Priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger and wipe it on the horns of the Altar of whole-burnt offerings, and he must pour the rest of the blood around the base of the Altar. ³⁵ Then he must cut off all its fat, the same as he would for the lamb of the peace-offering sacrifice, and the Priest must put it on the Altar as a whole-burnt offering to Jehovah. [This is how] the Priest must atone for the person’s sin, so it can be forgiven.

Chapter 5

¹ ‘And if a person sins by witnessing, seeing, or knowing of someone who has sworn an oath [of vengeance] against another and doesn’t report it, he is guilty of sin. ² And whoever touches anything that is dirty, such as the filth of animals, or dead things [such as] a dead unclean animal, or [the rotting] body of cattle, ³ or whoever touches any kind of filth from a man that would make him unclean – even if he doesn’t realize it, but comes to know about it later – he has sinned. ⁴ Or if some unrighteous person has decided to use his lips to swear an oath to do evil or good – even if he doesn’t realize it, but comes to know of it [later] – he has sinned by doing this. ⁵ He must admit that he has sinned ⁶ and [pay for] his sin against [Jehovah, by offering] a female lamb from his flock or a goat kid as a sin offering, which the Priest must [offer] in payment for his sin. Then he will be forgiven.

⁷ ‘And if he can’t afford a sheep, he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to Jehovah. One [must serve] as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering. ⁸ He must carry them to the Priest, and the Priest must [sacrifice] the sin offering first. He must pinch off the head at the neck, but not cut up the body. ⁹ Then he must sprinkle the blood of the sin offering on the side of the Altar, and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar, because this is a sin offering. ¹⁰ Then the second [bird] must be a whole burnt offering for the Priest, to atone for the sins that the person has committed.

¹¹ ‘And if he can’t afford a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, then the gift that he should bring for his sin offering must be a quart of fine flour. He shouldn’t put frankincense or oil on it, because it is a sin offering. ¹² He must carry it to the Priest and he must take a handful of it and lay a portion of it on the Altar as a whole-burnt offering to Jehovah, and as a sin offering. ¹³ So, the Priest must offer payment for the way that the person has sinned in these matters, and he will be forgiven. And whatever is left of the flour offering must belong to the Priest.’

¹⁴ And Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁵ ‘The person who is truly unaware and unknowingly sins against any of the holy things of Jehovah must carry something to Jehovah for his error. [It must be] a perfect ram from his flock (or its value in the type of silver coins that are accepted in the Holy Place) [to pay] for his mistake. ¹⁶ He must pay for his sin against any of the holy things, and add a fifth more to it. He must give it to the Priest and the Priest must cover his sin with the ram of his error, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁷ ‘And if any person sins and does something that isn’t right and which is against any of Jehovah’s Commandments – even if he doesn’t realize it – is guilty of a sin. ¹⁸ So he must bring a perfect ram from his flock (or its value in silver) to the Priest for his mistake, and the Priest will [use it] to pay for the sin that he committed in ignorance, and he will be forgiven. ¹⁹ However, he has truly been found guilty of sinning before Jehovah.’

Chapter 6

¹ – ⁶

⁷ And Jehovah told Moses, ⁸ ‘Give Aaron and his sons these instructions… ⁹ This is the law concerning whole-burnt offerings: Whole-burnt offerings are to be left burning on the Altar all night long. The fire of the Altar must be kept burning and not be put out. ¹⁰ Then the Priest must put on the linen tunic and the linen underwear, and carry everything that has been thoroughly burned and consumed by the fire – the whole-burnt offering – from the Altar, and throw [the ashes] nearby. ¹¹ Thereafter, he must take off that robe, put on another robe, and carry the burned [ashes] to a clean place outside the camp.

¹² ‘The fire on the Altar must be kept burning all the time, and never be put out. The Priests must stoke it with wood each morning, so whole-burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings can be piled on it. ¹³ The fire must always be kept burning on the Altar and it must never be extinguished.

¹⁴ ‘This is the law concerning the sacrifices that the sons of Aaron must bring to the Altar before Jehovah: ¹⁵ [The Priest] must scoop a handful of the fine flour of the sacrifice that was offered, along with its oil and all the frankincense, and put it on the Altar as a burnt offering and a sweet-smelling odor for Jehovah to remember. ¹⁶ Then Aaron and his sons can eat all that remains. However, it must be eaten without in the courtyard of the Tent of Proofs… ¹⁷ it must not be baked with fermentation. I am giving a portion of Jehovah’s burnt offering to them. It is very holy, as are the offerings for sin and the offerings for errors. ¹⁸ All the male Priests must eat it. This is to be the rule for burnt offerings to Jehovah throughout your generations and through the ages. For, whoever touches them will be made holy.’

¹⁹ And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁰ ‘This is the gift that Aaron and his sons must offer to Jehovah on the day that you anoint him: A quart of fine flour must be sacrificed, half of it in the morning and the other half in the evening. ²¹ It must be kneaded with oil into rolls [and cooked] in a pan, and then offered [on the Altar] in pieces as a sweet odor to Jehovah. ²² The anointed Priest (one of [Aaron’s] sons who is serving in his place) will offer it, and it must all be burned. This is to be a rule through the ages… ²³ all the sacrifices for the Priests must be totally burned and never be eaten.’

²⁴ Then Jehovah told Moses, ²⁵ ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them, This is the law of the sin offerings: The sin offerings must be slaughtered before Jehovah in the same place as the whole burnt offerings, for they are very holy. ²⁶ The Priest that offers it must also eat it in a holy place in the courtyard of the Tent of Proofs. ²⁷ Everyone who touches its flesh will be holy, and everyone whose clothes have been sprinkled with its blood must be washed in the Holy Place. ²⁸ Then, any of the clay pots that held [the sacrifice] must be broken. And if it was put in a brass pot, it must be scoured and washed in water. ²⁹ Thereafter, all the male Priests must eat it as something that is very holy to Jehovah. ³⁰ However, none of the sin offerings whose blood is carried into the Tent of Proofs to pay for sins in the Holy Place must be eaten. They must be burned with fire.

³¹ – ⁴⁰

Chapter 7

¹ ‘This is the law of the peace-offering sacrifice that [the Priests] are to bring to Jehovah: ² If it is being offered as a sacrifice of praise, they must bring loaves of fine flour that are made with oil, or as fermentation-free cakes that have had oil poured over them, or fine flour that has been kneaded with oil. ³ Then they must offer their gifts with fermentation-free bread as the peace offering of praise. ⁴ And [each person] must bring one gift as a separate offering to Jehovah for the Priest who pours the blood of the peace offering. ⁵ The flesh of the peace-offering sacrifice of praise must be his, and it must be eaten on the day that it is offered… it can’t be left over until the next morning.

⁶ ‘However, if it is brought as a vow that is offered willingly, it can be eaten both on the day that the sacrifice is offered and on the next day. ⁷ But the flesh of the sacrifice can’t be left over until the third day… it must be consumed in a fire. ⁸ And if someone does eat the flesh on the third day, his offering won’t be accepted or taken into account, because it is polluted; and whoever eats it will be found guilty of sin.

⁹ ‘Any flesh that has touched something unclean must not be eaten. It must be consumed in a fire.

‘Only [people] who are clean can eat the flesh [of an offering]. ¹⁰ Any person who eats the flesh of the peace-offering sacrifice to Jehovah and is unclean, must not be allowed to live among His people.

¹¹ ‘And whoever touches anything unclean, whether it is the unclean things of a man, of a four-footed animal, or anything that is disgustingly unclean, then eats the flesh of a peace-offering sacrifice that has been offered to Jehovah, must not be allowed to live among His people.’

¹² Then Jehovah told Moses, ¹³ ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say: You must not eat the fat of bulls, sheep, or goats. ¹⁴ However, you can use the fat of these animals if they have died of natural causes, or if they have been killed by [wild] animals… just don’t eat it. ¹⁵ Whoever eats the fat of animals that they have brought as burnt offerings to Jehovah must not be allowed to live among His people.

¹⁶ ‘You may not eat any blood of birds or animals wherever you may live. ¹⁷ Any person who eats blood must not be allowed to live among His people.’

¹⁸ Then Jehovah told Moses, ¹⁹ ‘You must also tell the children of Israel this: Whoever brings a peace-offering sacrifice as a gift to Jehovah ²⁰ must carry the fat that is on the breast and the liver in his hands. He must bring them and offer them as a gift before Jehovah. ²¹ Then the Priest must offer the fat on the Altar, and the [animal’s] breast must be [given to] Aaron and his sons, ²² as well as a choice piece from the right shoulder of the peace-offering sacrifice.

²³ ‘Whichever son of Aaron that offers the blood and fat of the peace offering must be given the right shoulder as his portion. ²⁴ For I have taken the breast which is waved and the shoulder portion from the children of Israel’s peace-offering sacrifices and given them to Aaron (the Priest) and to his sons. This is the rule through the ages for the children of Israel.’

²⁵ These were [the instructions that were given] about how Aaron and his sons were to be anointed, and [regarding their responsibilities toward] the burnt offerings to Jehovah, back when He brought them up to serve as Priests to Jehovah. ²⁶ It’s what Jehovah commanded on the day He chose them from among the sons of Israel, as a law through all their generations and through the ages.

²⁷ These were the laws of the whole-burnt offerings, of the sacrifices, of the sin offerings, of the offering for mistakes, of the sacrifice of the last lamb, and of the sacrifices as peace offerings. ²⁸ [Jehovah gave these] commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, back when He gave the commandments to the children of Israel on how to offer their gifts to Jehovah, while they were [camping] in the Sinai Desert.

Chapter 8

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, and said, ² ‘Take Aaron and his sons, along with their robes, the anointing oil, a calf for a sin offering, two rams, and a basket of fermentation-free bread, ³ then assemble the whole gathering at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs.

⁴ So Moses did just as Jehovah told him. He assembled the gathering at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, ⁵ and Moses told them, ‘This is what Jehovah has commanded us to do.’ ⁶ Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. ⁷ Next, he put the robe on him, wrapped him with the sash, put on the tunic, and then the Expression of Judgment. ⁸ He wrapped [his tunic] so the Expression of Judgment would fit, then he clasped it tight and put on the Expression of Judgment; and he put the Revelation and the Truth on top of that.

⁹ Next, he put the turban on [Aaron’s] head and mounted the gold plate (this most holy thing) on the front of the turban, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil ¹¹ and sprinkled it on the Altar seven times, to anoint the Altar and make it holy, along with everything on it, including its base and the basin. He made them holy, and he anointed the Tent and all its furniture, and made them holy.

¹² Then Moses poured anointing oil on Aaron’s head to anoint him and make him holy. ¹³ And Moses brought up Aaron’s sons, put on their robes and wrapped on their sashes, then he put on their turbans, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

¹⁴ Next, Moses brought over the calf for the sin offering. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin-offering calf, ¹⁵ and Moses slaughtered it. Then he took some of the blood and put it around the horns of the Altar with his finger, to purify it. Then he poured the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar, to make it holy, so that it could be used to pay for sins. ¹⁶ And Moses took all the inner fat, plus the liver and kidneys and the fat around them, and he offered it on the Altar. ¹⁷ Then he burned the rest of the calf (its skin, flesh, and dung) in a fire outside the camp, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

¹⁸ Next, Moses brought over the ram for the whole-burnt offering. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head, and Moses slaughtered the ram, and he poured the blood around the Altar. ¹⁹ Then he divided the ram by each of its limbs, and Moses offered up the head, the limbs, and the fat, after washing the feet and belly with water. ²⁰ So Moses offered the whole ram on the Altar as a burnt offering, and it was burned as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

²¹ Then Moses brought over the second ram, the last ram, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head, and he slaughtered it. ²² And Moses took its blood and put some on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²³ Then Moses brought in Aaron’s sons and put the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet; and Moses poured the rest of the blood around the Altar.

²⁴ Then he took the fat, the rump, the belly fat, the liver and kidneys and the fat that’s on them, as well as its right shoulder; ²⁵ and from the basket of consecration that was before Jehovah, he took one fermentation-free loaf, one loaf made with oil, and one cake (along with the fat and the right shoulder), ²⁶ and put them all in the hands of Aaron and his sons, who waved them before Jehovah. ²⁷ Then Moses took it from their hands and put it on the Altar as the whole-burnt offering of the last lamb, and it was burned as an offering to Jehovah, providing a sweet-smelling odor to Him. ²⁸ Then Moses took the last lamb’s breast and set it aside before Jehovah, and this was given to Moses as his portion, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

²⁹ Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the Altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and their garments. ³⁰ So he made Aaron and his garments, and his sons and their garments, holy.

³¹ Then Moses told Aaron and his sons, ‘Now, boil the flesh in the Holy Place inside the Tent of Proofs, and eat it there along with the loaves in the last basket, just as Jehovah told me when He said, Aaron and his sons must eat this. ³² Then you must burn whatever is left of the flesh and loaves in a fire. ³³ Thereafter, you must stay inside the entrance to the Tent of Proofs until the end of seven days. For in seven days He will perfect you, ³⁴ in the same way as He did on the day that Jehovah commanded me to do this to pay for your sins. ³⁵ So, you must remain inside the entrance to the Tent of Proofs for seven days and nights. You must obey this rule of Jehovah so you won’t die… for that is what Jehovah God commanded me.’

³⁶ So, Aaron and his sons followed the instructions that Jehovah gave as commandments to Moses.

Chapter 9

¹ It was on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons out before Israel’s elders. ² And Moses said to Aaron, ‘Now, select a perfect young calf from the herd as a sin offering, and a ram to be a whole-burnt offering, then offer them before Jehovah. ³ And tell the elders of Israel: Take one goat kid to be a sin offering, and take a young calf and a perfect yearling lamb as whole-burnt offerings, ⁴ and a calf and a ram as peace offerings to Jehovah, along with fine flour that is mixed with oil, because Jehovah is going to appear among you today.’

⁵ So, just as Moses commanded, they brought [the animals] to the Tent of Proofs, and the entire gathering came and stood before Jehovah. ⁶ Then Moses said, ‘This is what Jehovah told us to do… and then the glory of Jehovah will appear among you.’

⁷ And Moses told Aaron, ‘Come to the Altar. Offer your sin offering and your whole-burnt offering to pay for the sins of you and your family… then offer gifts for the people, to pay for their sins, just as Jehovah commanded.’

⁸ So Aaron went to the Altar and slaughtered the calf as his sin offering. ⁹ Then Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in it and put some on the horns of the Altar; and thereafter, he poured the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar. ¹⁰ Next, he offered the fat, the kidneys, and the liver on the Altar as a sin offering, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses. ¹¹ Then the flesh and hide were burned in a fire outside the camp.

¹² Next, he slaughtered the whole-burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, which he poured all around the Altar. ¹³ Then they brought the whole-burnt offering (which they had cut in pieces), and he laid the head on the Altar. ¹⁴ Then he washed the belly and feet with water, and put them on the Altar.

¹⁵ After that, he brought up the gifts for the people. He took the goat, which was the people’s sin offering, and then he slaughtered it and washed it as before. ¹⁶ Next, he brought the whole-burnt offering, and offered it in the proper way; ¹⁷ he carried the sacrifice in his hands and laid it on the Altar, next to the whole-burnt offering that had been offered up in the morning.

¹⁸ Then he slaughtered the calf and the ram as peace-offering sacrifices for the people, and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, which he poured all around the Altar. ¹⁹ Then he put the calf’s fat, as well as the hindquarters of the ram, the fat on its belly, its kidneys and the fat on them, the membrane around the liver, ²⁰ as well as the fat on the breasts, and offered it on the Altar. ²¹ Then Aaron set aside the breast and right shoulder as a choicest offering before Jehovah, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

²² Then, after he offered the sin offering, the whole-burnt offerings, and the peace offerings, Aaron raised his arms over the people and blest them; and he came back down. ²³ Then both Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Proofs. And when they came out, they blest all the people.

It was then that Jehovah’s glory appeared to all the people… ²⁴ fire came from Jehovah that consumed the offerings on the Altar (both the whole-burnt offerings and their fat); and when all the people saw this, they were stunned and fell to their faces.

Chapter 10

¹ Then two of Aaron’s sons (Nadab and AbiUd) took their censers, put incense and fire in them, and offered it before Jehovah in a way that is quite different from what they had been commanded. ² And at that, fire came from Jehovah and consumed them, so they died there before Jehovah.

³ At that, Moses told Aaron: ‘Jehovah told us, I must be made holy by those approach Me, and I must be glorified before the whole congregation!’

Well, Aaron was badly shaken by this.

⁴ Then Moses called MisaDae and EliSaphan ([two of] the sons of Aaron’s uncle OziEl) and said to them, ‘Come here and take your brothers away from [their position] before the Holy Place [and carry their bodies] outside the camp!’

⁵ So they came and took them (while they were still wearing their [Priestly] outfits) outside the camp, just as Moses said. ⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, EliEzer, IthaMar, and his remaining sons: ‘Don’t uncover your heads or tear your clothes, unless you want to die and bring [God’s] anger down on the entire congregation! For then your brothers and the entire house of Israel would mourn this burning, which came from Jehovah. ⁷ Nor should you leave the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, or you will die; because Jehovah’s anointing oil is upon you.’ And they did just as Moses told them.

⁸ Then Jehovah spoke to Aaron, and said, ⁹ ‘You and your sons must not drink any wine or liquor before you enter the Tent of Proofs or before you approach the Altar, so you don’t die. This is [to be] a law through the ages [for all your] generations. ¹⁰ Because, [you must be able to] recognize the difference between what is sacred and what is profane, and between what is clean and what is unclean! ¹¹ And [you must] teach the children of Israel all the laws that [Jehovah gave] them through Moses.’

¹² Then Moses told Aaron, EliEzer, IthaMar, and Aaron’s surviving sons: ‘Now, take the remaining sacrifices among the burnt offerings for Jehovah and eat [them with] fermentation-free bread close to the Altar, because that is a very holy [place]. ¹³ Eating the burnt offerings to Jehovah in the Holy Place will be the law for you and your sons, because this is what I have commanded… ¹⁴ that you, your sons, and your families must eat the breast that has been set aside [for you] and the choicest shoulder in the Holy Place. This is the rule for you and your sons concerning the peace-offering sacrifices [that are offered by] the children of Israel. ¹⁵ They must bring the choicest shoulder and [they must] separate the breast from the burnt offerings of fat, as a separate division before Jehovah. This is to be the rule for you, your sons, and your daughters through the ages, just as Jehovah commanded Moses.’

¹⁶ Well, when Moses started looking for the goat of the sin offering, [he found that] it had already been burned in the fire. So Moses became very angry with EliEzer, IthaMar, and Aaron’s remaining sons, and said, ¹⁷ ‘Why didn’t you eat the sin offering here in the Holy Place? It is a very holy [thing that Jehovah] has given you to eat before Him, so you can remove and pay for the sins of the entire gathering. ¹⁸ Why, its blood wasn’t even brought into the Holy Place… and Jehovah commanded you to eat [the sacrifice] here before Him!’

¹⁹ So Aaron asked Moses: ‘If they bring their sin offerings and whole-burnt offerings to Jehovah today, and we eat the sin offerings that are brought today (despite what we have done), would that be pleasing to Jehovah?’

²⁰ And when Moses heard this, he was pleased.

Chapter 11

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them, ² ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say, These are the animals that you may eat among all the animals on the earth: ³ You may eat any animal with a split hoof or that has a split between its two claws and chews the cud. ⁴ However, you may not eat those that just chew the cud or those that just have split hoofs or a split between the claws, [such as] the camel, because it chews the cud, but it doesn’t have a split hoof. So, this is something that is unclean to you. ⁵ [This includes] the rabbit, because it chews the cud, but it doesn’t have a split foot, so it is unclean to you; ⁶ as is the hare, because it neither chews the cud nor has it a split foot, so it is unclean to you. ⁷ [This is also true of] pigs, because they have split hoofs and claws on each hoof, but they don’t chew the cud, so they are unclean to you. ⁸ You must not eat their flesh or touch their dead bodies, because they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘These are the things that you can eat [which live] in the water: You may eat anything that has fins and scales [that lives in] the water, whether in the seas or in the streams. ¹⁰ However, anything that lives in the water but doesn’t have fins or scales, whether in the seas or in the streams – anything that lives in the water or comes out of the water – is disgusting, and you are to consider it disgusting. ¹¹ You must not eat their flesh and you must hate their dead bodies. ¹² So, you should consider anything that lives in the water and doesn’t have fins or scales disgusting.

¹³ ‘These are the things that you should hate among the flying creatures… they must not be eaten, but are to be considered disgusting: eagles, ospreys, sea eagles, ¹⁴ vultures, kites, and the like; ¹⁵ also, ostriches, owls, seagulls, and the like; ¹⁶ also, ravens and the like; hawks and the like; ¹⁷ also, night ravens, cormorants, storks, ¹⁸ ibis, pelicans, swans, ¹⁹ herons, sandpipers, and the like; hoopoes, and bats.

²⁰ ‘Also, all [flying] four-footed creatures that crawl are [to be considered] disgusting by you. ²¹ However, you can eat crawling winged creatures that move on four feet but have legs above their feet and jump around on the ground. ²² These include migratory locusts and the like, tree locusts and the like, crickets and the like, and grasshoppers and the like. ²³ However, any [other thing] that crawls and flies is to be considered disgusting by you; ²⁴ and if you touch their dead bodies you are dirty and will remain unclean until the evening. ²⁵ Anyone who touches their dead bodies must wash his clothes and then be [considered] unclean until the evening.

²⁶ ‘Any dead bodies of animals that have split hooves and claws but don’t chew the cud will be unclean to you, and everyone who touches them will be unclean until evening. ²⁷ Also, any wild animals that walk on four paws are unclean to you, and anyone that touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ²⁸ If they touch the dead bodies, they must wash their clothes and be [considered] unclean until the evening. All of these are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These crawling [animals are also] unclean to you among the slithering creatures: weasels, mice, crocodiles, ³⁰ ferrets, chameleons, geckos, newts, and sand lizards. ³¹ Among all the crawling animals on the earth, these are unclean to you, and anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening.

³² ‘And if one of the dead bodies of these unclean [things] should fall on a wooden container, or on clothing, or on leather, or on a sack, or on anything that is used for work, [the item] should be dipped in water and be unclean until evening… then it will be clean. ³³ Also, if one of these [animals] should fall into a clay pot or bowl, whatever is inside it will be unclean, and it must be broken. ³⁴ Any edible food that the water was poured on, or any beverage that was in such a vessel, will be unclean. ³⁵ Everything that their dead bodies fall on will be unclean. Ovens and tables must be broken down, because they are unclean, and they are unclean for you. ³⁶ Springs, pools, and moving water will be clean, but anyone who touches dead bodies will be unclean.

³⁷ ‘If one of these dead bodies should fall on seeds that have been planted, the [seeds] are clean. ³⁸ However, if water has been poured on the seeds and then one of their dead bodies fall on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘If one of the cattle that the Law allows you to eat should die; whoever touches the body will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰ Whoever eats such a body must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And whoever carries their bodies must wash their clothes, take a bath, and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ ‘All slithering animals that crawl on the ground should be [considered] disgusting by you and never be eaten. ⁴² Any slithering creature that crawls along the ground on its belly must not be eaten; you should consider it disgusting. ⁴³ You shouldn’t dirty your lives with any slithering creature that crawls on the earth. If you don’t allow them to pollute you, they won’t make you unclean. ⁴⁴ For I am Jehovah your God, and you will be made holy and you will stay holy, because I, Jehovah your God, am holy. So, you must not dirty your lives with any of the slithering, crawling things of the earth. ⁴⁵ For I am Jehovah who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. So you must be holy, because I Jehovah am holy.’

⁴⁶ These are the laws concerning animals, birds, all creatures that live and move in the water, and all creatures that crawl on the ground, ⁴⁷ [so you might understand] the difference between what is clean and unclean, and between those that give birth alive that can be eaten, and those that shouldn’t be eaten.

Chapter 12

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘You must speak to the children of Israel and tell them: Whenever a woman gets pregnant and gives birth to a male child, she must be [considered] unclean for seven days, just as she is [considered] unclean during her monthly [menstrual] periods. ³ Then on the eighth day, she will circumcise [her son’s] foreskin flesh. ⁴ And for [the following] thirty-three days she must continue as in [a state] of an unclean blood [flow], so she should touch nothing holy and [she] must not enter the Holy Place until the full period of her purification is fulfilled. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a female child, she must be considered unclean for fourteen days, then for the following sixty-six days she will remain [as in a state] of an unclean blood flow.

⁶ ‘When her period of purification for [giving birth to] a son or daughter is completed, she must bring a perfect yearling lamb to the Priest at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs as a whole-burnt offering, and bring a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering. ⁷ Then he must present it before Jehovah and offer it to pay for her sins and her flow of blood. This law applies to her, whether she gives birth to a male or a female. ⁸ However, if she can’t afford a lamb, then she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons; one [to be sacrificed] as a whole-burnt offering, and the other as a sin offering. The Priest will use these to pay for her sins and to purify her.’

Chapter 13

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said, ² ‘If anyone should [develop] a bright clear spot on his skin which looks like the plague of leprosy, he must be brought to Aaron (the Priest) or to one of his sons (the Priests), ³ and the Priest should examine the spot. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot is under the skin, it is leprosy, so the Priest who looked at it must pronounce him unclean. ⁴ But if the spot on the skin is clear and white, and it doesn’t appear to be deep below the skin, and the hair hasn’t turned white (but is dark), then the Priest must quarantine him for seven days.

⁵ ‘On the seventh day, the Priest should then look to see if the spot is still there. [If it is] and if the spot hasn’t spread, the Priest should quarantine him for seven more days. ⁶ Then on the seventh day, the Priest should examine him a second time to see if the spot has started to darken. If it has, and if it isn’t spreading on his skin, the Priest will pronounce him clean, for it is just a mark. Then the person must wash his clothes and [he will] be [considered] clean.

⁷ ‘However, if the bright spot changes and spreads in the skin after the Priest has looked at him and called him clean, then he must return to the Priest again, ⁸ and the Priest must reexamine him. And if he finds that the mark has spread inside the skin, the Priest must pronounce him unclean, for it is leprosy.

⁹ ‘If a man [thinks he] has the plague of leprosy, he must go to the Priest ¹⁰ and the Priest should examine him. And if [he finds] a white spot under the skin where all the hair has turned white, and there are signs of good flesh in the sore, ¹¹ this is leprosy that has matured in the skin. Then the Priest must pronounce him unclean and quarantine him, because he is unclean.

¹² ‘But if the leprosy becomes very visible and it covers all the person’s skin wherever the Priest looks, from his head to his feet, ¹³ and this is what the Priest finds, {Look!} the Priest must pronounce him clean of the plague, because, once everything has turned white, he is clean. ¹⁴ But if new flesh starts to appear again, he must be pronounced unclean. ¹⁵ For if the Priest finds sound flesh, this sound flesh proves that he is unclean and that he has [active] leprosy. ¹⁶ Then if the sound flesh changes back to white again, he must return to the Priest ¹⁷ and the Priest must examine him. If he sees that the plague has all turned white, then the Priest will pronounce him clean, for he is clean.

¹⁸ ‘And if [someone] should develop a sore in his skin that heals, ¹⁹ then it turns white, or lighter, or very red, it should be examined by the Priest. ²⁰ And if, when the Priest looks at it, he finds that it is growing under the skin and that the hair has turned white, the Priest must pronounce him unclean, because leprosy has broken out in the sore. ²¹ But if the Priest finds that there is no white hair, and that it isn’t growing under the skin, but that it has a dark color, then the Priest must quarantine him for seven days. ²² Then if he finds that it is spreading over the skin, the Priest must pronounce him unclean, for a plague of leprosy has broken out in the sore. ²³ However, if the bright spot stays the same and doesn’t spread, it is just a scar, and the Priest must pronounce him clean.

²⁴ ‘But if the skin becomes inflamed and bright red, then appears to heal, but develops splotches that are bright, clear, and white, mixed with red or very white, ²⁵ the Priest should examine him. If he finds the hair turning white and that the bright color is under the skin, leprosy has broken out. ²⁶ But if he sees that there isn’t any white hair in the inflammation and it isn’t growing under the skin, but is dark, then the Priest must quarantine him for seven days.

²⁷ ‘Then on the seventh day, the Priest should examine him to see if the spot has spread in the skin. [If it has], the Priest will pronounce him unclean because of the plague of leprosy that has broken out in the sore. ²⁸ But if the bright spot doesn’t move and doesn’t spread in the skin, but gets darker, it’s [just] the inflammation of a scar and the Priest will pronounce him clean.

²⁹ ‘And if a man or woman [thinks they have] developed the plague of leprosy on the head or in the beard, ³⁰ the Priest must examine it. If he finds that it is growing under the skin and that the hair has turned thin and yellow, then the Priest will pronounce the person unclean, for the skin is dead and it is leprosy of the head or of the beard. ³¹ However, if the Priest finds dead skin, but he sees nothing growing under the skin and there is no yellowish hair, the Priest must quarantine the person for seven days. ³² Then on the seventh day, the Priest must examine the person again. And if the dead skin hasn’t spread, and there is no yellowish hair on it, and there doesn’t appear to be a hollow spot under the skin, ³³ the skin must be shaved everywhere except where the dead skin is, and the person should be quarantined a second time, for seven more days. ³⁴ Then on the seventh day, the Priest must look to see if the dead skin has spread to the area that was shaved. [If it hasn’t], and if there doesn’t appear to be a hollow spot under the skin, the Priest will pronounce him clean, and he must wash his clothes and be clean.

³⁵ ‘However, if the dead skin does spread after he has been purified, ³⁶ then the Priest must examine it and affirm that the dead skin has spread, and even if he finds no yellow hair, the person is unclean. ³⁷ But if the dead skin doesn’t spread and dark hair grows from it, the dead skin has healed and he is clean, so the Priest must pronounce him clean.

³⁸ ‘Now, if a man or woman develops bright white spots on his/her skin, ³⁹ the Priest should look at it. And, if he just finds bright white spots on the skin, it is psoriasis and he/she is clean. ⁴⁰ And [the same is true] when someone starts losing his hair; he is just balding and he is clean. ⁴¹ If he loses hair in the front, he has forehead baldness and is clean. ⁴² But if there should develop white or red blotches in the baldness on [the top of] his head or on his forehead, it is leprosy. ⁴³ The Priest must examine him, and if he finds white spots or an inflammation in the bald places on top or in the front that look like leprosy, ⁴⁴ he is [to be considered] a leper. The Priest must absolutely pronounce him unclean, because of the plague on his head.

⁴⁵ ‘Those who are lepers must wear unbelted clothing; they must cover their heads and their mouths, and they are to call out, Unclean! ⁴⁶ They are always to be unclean, as long as they have the plague on them. They are to separate themselves and travel outside the camp.

⁴⁷ ‘And if leprosy is found in any wool or linen clothing, ⁴⁸ or in anything that has been woven with wool or linen thread, or in any leather or things that have been made with skin; ⁴⁹ or if you find a greenish or reddish coloring in the skin or in the clothing, or in the weaving, or in anything made of skin, it is a plague of leprosy, and you must show it to the Priest. ⁵⁰ Then the Priest must examine it and quarantine it for seven days.

⁵¹ ‘Then on the seventh day, the Priest must examine it again, and if he finds that the plague has spread in the clothing, weaving, leather, or in whatever may be made from skin, it is confirmed as leprosy and it is unclean. ⁵² Then the clothing, or the wool or linen weaving, or the thing made of skin in which there is the confirmed plague of leprosy must be burned in a fire.

⁵³ ‘However, if the Priest sees that the plague hasn’t spread in the clothing, weaving, or things made of skin, ⁵⁴ he must instruct someone to wash the thing that held the plague, and the Priest will quarantine it a second time for seven days. ⁵⁵ Then, if the Priest sees that the plague hasn’t changed its appearance in the clothing or woven things after it has been washed, even if it hasn’t spread, it is unclean and it must be burned in a fire. ⁵⁶ But if the Priest sees that the spot has turned dark after it was washed, he must cut it out of the clothing, weaving, or skin. ⁵⁷ However, if it still looks the same in the clothing, weaving, or skin, it is an active plague of leprosy and it must be burned in a fire. ⁵⁸ But if the clothing, weaving, or thing made from skin washes clean, the plague has been removed. It must then be rewashed, and will be clean.’

⁵⁹ These are the laws concerning the plague of leprosy on wool or linen clothing, weaving, and leather goods, to [show whether to] pronounce them clean or unclean.

Chapter 14

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘This is the law about lepers: On the day that [a leper] has been cured, a Priest must be brought to him, ³ and the Priest must go outside the camp to look and see if the plague of leprosy has been removed from the leper. ⁴ Then the Priest will give directions to the cleansed person to obtain two live, clean birds, some cedar wood, some spun scarlet and some hyssop; ⁵ and following the Priest’s directions, he must slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over some running water. ⁶ Then [the Priest] must take the living bird, the cedar wood, the spun scarlet and the hyssop, and he must dip them and the living bird into the blood of the bird that was killed, over the running water. ⁷ Then he must [use them to] sprinkle [some of the blood on] the person who was cured of leprosy seven times, and he will be clean. Then he must set the living bird [free], to go into the fields.

⁸ ‘Then the man who was cured must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water; and he will be clean and can return to the camp… but he can’t enter his house for seven days.

⁹ ‘On the seventh day, he must shave off all the hair from his head, beard, eyebrows, and everything else, then wash his clothes and his body in water, in order to be clean.

¹⁰ ‘Then on the eighth day, he must take two perfect yearling lambs and one perfect yearling ewe, plus a [small amount] of fine flour that has been kneaded with oil as a sacrifice, and one small cup of oil. ¹¹ And the Priest who did the cleansing must present the man who is being purified, along with these [offerings], before Jehovah at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. ¹² Then the Priest must take the lamb and present it as a compensation offering, along with the cup of oil, and set them aside as a special offering before Jehovah. ¹³ Then they must slaughter the lamb in the Holy Place where they slaughter the whole-burnt offerings and sin offerings, because a compensation offering (like a sin offering) is very holy, and it belongs to the Priest.

¹⁴ ‘Then the Priest must take the blood of the compensation offering and put some of it on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe on the right foot of the person being cleansed.

¹⁵ ‘Then the Priest must take the cup of oil and pour it over his own left hand, ¹⁶ then dip the finger of his right hand in some of the oil in his left hand, and sprinkle it before Jehovah with his finger seven times. ¹⁷ And the Priest must put the remaining oil (which is on his hand) on the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the person who is being cleansed, where the [blood of the] compensation offering [was put]. ¹⁸ Any oil that is left over on the hand of the Priest should then be put on the head of the cleansed person, and the Priest must [use it to] pay for his sins before Jehovah.

¹⁹ ‘Next, the Priest must sacrifice the sin offering as a payment to Jehovah for the sins of the person who is being purified, and then the Priest must slaughter the whole-burnt offering. ²⁰ The Priest must offer the whole-burnt offering sacrifice on the Altar before Jehovah to pay for [the person’s] sins, so he can be cleansed.

²¹ ‘However, if [the person] is poor and can’t afford much; then he must bring a lamb as a separate offering to pay for his sins and to soothe his [relationship with God], plus a [small amount] of fine flour mixed with oil for a sacrifice, a cup of oil, ²² and two turtledoves or two young pigeons… whichever he can afford. One will serve as the sin offering, and the other as the whole-burnt offering. ²³ These must be brought to the Priest at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs before Jehovah on the eighth day, so he can be purified. ²⁴ Then the Priest must take the lamb of the compensation offering and the cup of oil, and set them before Jehovah. ²⁵ Then he must slaughter the lamb, and the Priest must take its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the person who is being purified.

²⁶ ‘Next, the Priest must pour the oil over his own left hand, ²⁷ and sprinkle some of the oil that is on his left hand with the finger of his right hand before Jehovah, seven times. ²⁸ Then the Priest must put some of the oil that is on his hand on the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the person who is being cleansed, and over the blood of the compensation offering. ²⁹ Any oil that is left on the hand of the Priest must then be put on the head of the one who is being purified, and the Priest must pay for his sins before Jehovah.

³⁰ ‘Next, he must offer the turtledoves or young pigeons (whichever he can afford); ³¹ one for a sin offering, and the other for a whole-burnt offering. The Priest must use these to smooth the relationship of the person being purified with Jehovah.’

³² This is the law for the person who has the plague of leprosy and who can’t afford the offerings for his purification.

³³ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said: ³⁴ ‘When you enter the land of the CanaAnites, which I am giving you to own, I will [allow] the plague of leprosy to [exist] in the houses of the land that you will own. ³⁵ [When it is found], the owner of the house must report it to the Priest and say, I have seen what looks like a plague in [my] house. ³⁶ Then the Priest must have the furniture removed from the house before he enters it to look at [what was described as] the plague, so none of the furniture in the house will become unclean. Thereafter, the Priest can go in and examine the house.

³⁷ ‘When he looks at [what is called] the plague on the walls of the house, and if he sees green or red pits that run beneath the surface of the walls, ³⁸ the Priest must walk outside the house, [close] its door, and quarantine it for seven days. ³⁹ And if the Priest returns to look at the house on the seventh day and finds that the plague has spread in the walls, ⁴⁰ then the Priest must order the [infected] stones to be taken away and thrown into an unclean place. ⁴¹ Then the entire house must be scraped down and the dust must be poured into an unclean place outside the city, ⁴² and scraped stones must be used [to replace the removed] stones, and the [whole house] must be re-plastered.

⁴³ ‘However, if the plague returns and breaks out in the house after they have taken away the stones and scraped and re-plastered the walls, ⁴⁴ then the Priest must go in and see if the plague has [truly re-grown] in the house. [If so], it is a confirmed leprosy in the house, [and the house] is unclean. ⁴⁵ So they must tear down the house – all its timbers and its stones – and carry everything outside the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ And anyone who enters that house at any time during its demolition must be [considered] unclean until the evening. ⁴⁷ And anyone who sleeps in the house or eats there must wash his clothes and be [considered] unclean until the evening.

⁴⁸ ‘But if the Priest goes in and sees that the plague hasn’t spread in the house at all after it has been re-plastered, the Priest must declare the house clean, because the plague has been cured. ⁴⁹ Then to purify the house, he must take two clean, living birds, some cedar wood, some spun scarlet, and some hyssop, ⁵⁰ and he must slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over running water. ⁵¹ Then he must take the cedar wood, the spun scarlet, the hyssop, and the living bird, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over running water, and use them to sprinkle the house [with the blood] seven times. ⁵² The house will then be purified with the blood of the bird, the running water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and with the spun scarlet. ⁵³ Then he must let the living bird go to leave the city for the fields, in order to create a good relationship with [God] for the house, and to make it clean.’

⁵⁴ This is the law about all plagues of leprosy and dead skin, ⁵⁵ as well as the leprosy of clothing, houses, ⁵⁶ sores, clear spots, and shiny ones, ⁵⁷ to show what is unclean and what to do when it is cured. This is the law on leprosy.

Chapter 15

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said, ² ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: Whenever a man has gonorrhea in the male [member] of his body, his discharge is unclean. ³ This is the law concerning the uncleanness caused by gonorrhea in a body, and this describes the uncleanness that is caused by the discharge that is affecting his body, as long as it keeps coming from his body, and how his body is unclean due to the discharge.

⁴ ‘Any bed or seat that the person (with the discharge) sits on, is unclean. ⁵ So, anyone who touches the bed must wash his clothes and take a bath, and be unclean until the evening. ⁶ Also, anyone who sits on the seat where the person with the discharge sat, must wash his clothes and take a bath, and be unclean until the evening.

⁷ ‘Anyone who touches the skin of the man with the discharge must wash his clothes and take a bath, and be unclean until the evening. ⁸ And if the man who has the discharge should spit on someone that is clean, [the clean person] must wash his clothes and take a bath, and be unclean until the evening.

⁹ ‘Any saddle that the man with the discharge has mounted must be unclean until evening, ¹⁰ and anyone who touches anything that has been under him will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks him up with his hands must wash his clothes and take a bath, and be unclean until the evening. ¹¹ And whoever the man with the discharge touches – if he hasn’t washed his hands in water – must wash his clothes and take a bath, and be unclean until the evening.

¹² ‘Any clay pot that the person with the discharge happens to touch must be broken, but any wooden bowl can be washed in water, and it will be clean.

¹³ ‘However, if [the man] should be cured of the discharge, he must wait for seven days before he can be called clean; then he must wash his clothes and take a bath, and he will be clean. ¹⁴ Then on the eighth day, he must obtain two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them before Jehovah at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, and give them to the Priest. ¹⁵ And the Priest must offer one as a sin offering and the other as a whole-burnt offering. Thereby, the Priest will pay for his sins before Jehovah for the discharge.

¹⁶ ‘Any man who ejaculates semen must wash his whole body and be unclean until evening. ¹⁷ And every piece of clothing, or any skin on which there is semen must be washed with water and be unclean until evening. ¹⁸ And when any woman goes to bed with a man and receives his semen, they must both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

¹⁹ ‘And during the week that a woman is experiencing menstruation, she must separate herself; and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Also, everything that she lies on or sits on during [her period of] separation will be unclean. ²¹ And whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and he will be unclean until evening. ²² And anyone who touches any pot that she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²³ And when someone touches her while she’s lying in bed or sitting on a chair; he will be unclean until evening.

²⁴ ‘And if anyone lies with her and gets her uncleanness on him, he will be unclean for seven days; and any bed that he lies on will be unclean.

²⁵ ‘And if a woman has a blood flow for a long time – not just during her period of separation, but if her blood continues to flow after that – as long as it continues the unclean flow, she must separate herself and be unclean. ²⁶ And any bed that she lies on during the outpour must be treated like the bed of her separation, and any chair that she sits on will be unclean, just as it is during her period of separation. ²⁷ Anyone who touches it will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

²⁸ ‘However, after the [unusual] blood flow stops, she must wait seven days, and thereafter she will be considered clean. ²⁹ Then on the eighth day, she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the Priest at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs, ³⁰ and the Priest must offer one as a sin offering and the other as a whole-burnt offering. Thus the Priest must pay for her sins before Jehovah for her unclean flow.

³¹ ‘So, you must make the children of Israel aware of what makes them unclean, so they don’t die for polluting My Tent while they are unclean. ³² These are the laws concerning men who have gonorrhea, and concerning ejaculation (so no one is polluted by it), ³³ and for women to be separated during their menstruation; and how males and females are to deal with ejaculated sperm, and what to do with a man who lies with a woman during [her period of] separation.’

Chapter 16

¹ And Jehovah spoke to Moses (after Aaron’s two sons had died for bringing unauthorized fire before Jehovah) ² and said, ‘Tell your brother Aaron not to come before the Propitiatory on the Chest of Proofs behind the veil in the Holy Place at just any time, so he doesn’t die; for I will appear in a mist over the Propitiatory.

³ This is how Aaron may enter the Holy Place: [He must do so] with a calf of the herd as a sin offering, and with a ram as a whole-burnt offering. ⁴ He must wear the perfect linen tunic and the linen underwear to cover his flesh; he must wrap himself with the linen sash, put on the linen turban (for these are holy garments), and he must wash his entire body in water before he puts them on.

⁵ ‘Then he must take two kids goats for a sin offering, and one lamb for a whole-burnt offering on behalf of the gathering of the children of Israel. ⁶ Aaron must also bring a calf for his own sin offering, to cover his sins and [the sins] of his house. ⁷ Then he must take the two goats and stand them before Jehovah at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. ⁸ Then Aaron must cast lots over the two goats… one [will be] for Jehovah, and the other [will be] the scapegoat.

⁹ ‘Then Aaron must bring up the goat which the lot [showed was Jehovah’s], and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ And the goat that was chosen by lot as the scapegoat must be presented alive before Jehovah, as a cleansing for him, then sent away as a scapegoat and released into the desert.

¹¹ ‘Then Aaron must bring up the calf for his own sins and slaughter it as a sin offering, to cleanse himself and his house.

¹² ‘Then he must take his censer and fill it with coals from the fire on the Altar before Jehovah, fill his hands with fine mixed incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³ Then he must put the incense on the [coals] there before Jehovah, and the incense smoke must cover the Propitiatory over the tablets inside the [Chest of] Proofs, so he doesn’t die. ¹⁴ Then he must take the calf’s blood and sprinkle it eastward toward the Propitiatory with his finger. He must sprinkle the blood toward the Propitiatory with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ ‘Then he must slaughter the goat before Jehovah as the people’s sin offering, and he must bring its blood inside the veil, and do the same thing that he did with the blood of the calf, sprinkling its blood on and before the Propitiatory. ¹⁶ So, he must [cleanse] the Holy Place for the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and for their errors and all their sins. He must do these things in the Tent of Proofs that was established there among them, amidst all their uncleanness.

¹⁷ ‘No one else may be inside the Tent of Proofs when he enters the Holy Place to cover sins – from the time that he enters until the time he leaves – as he pays for his own sins, those of his house, and those of the whole gathering of the children of Israel.

¹⁸ ‘Afterward, he must go outside to the Altar that is before Jehovah, and put the blood of the calf and the goat all around the horns of the Altar, to pay for sins. ¹⁹ Then he must sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and he must cleanse it and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

²⁰ ‘After Aaron finishes cleansing the Holy Place, the Tent of Proofs, and the Altar, he must hold a cleansing for the Priests. He must bring up the living goat, ²¹ lay his hands on its head, and he must speak of all the errors of the children of Israel, all their unrighteousness, and all their sins. He must lay them on the head of the living goat, then a man must lead it away into the desert. ²² [By doing this], Aaron will be sending all their unrighteousness away into the desert on the head of the goat.

²³ ‘Thereafter, Aaron must enter the Tent of Proofs and remove the linen garments that he put on as he entered the Most Holy, and leave them there. ²⁴ Then he must wash with water inside the Holy Place, put on his [regular] clothes, and then go outside and offer one whole-burnt offering for himself and one for the people. Thereby, he will pay for his own sins, as well as for those of his house, those of the Priests, and those of the people. ²⁵ Then he must offer the fat on the Altar as a sin offering.

²⁶ ‘After the goat is led out of the camp and released [into the desert], the person [who led it out] must wash his clothes and bathe in water before he can enter the camp.

²⁷ ‘As for the calf and goat for the sin offering whose blood was carried in to pay for sins in the Holy Place; they must be carried outside the camp and burned in a fire… everything, including their skin, flesh, and dung. ²⁸ Then the person that burns them must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and thereafter he can enter the camp.

²⁹ ‘This is a rule for you through the ages: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must humble yourselves; and you, as well as the aliens and strangers that live among you, must do no work. ³⁰ For on that day [the High Priest] must [offer the sacrifices to] pay for your sins and cleanse you from all your errors before Jehovah, and then they will be purged from you. ³¹ This must be a most holy Sabbath for you – a time of rest – and you must humble yourselves… this is to be a rule through the ages.

³² ‘The Priest that they [choose to] anoint must [offer the sacrifices] to pay for the sins. Then this one that they have chosen to make perfect and to serve in the Priestly office after his father, must wear the linen robe and the holy garments. ³³ He’s the [only] one who may [enter] the Most Holy inside the Tent of Proofs to pay for sins. He must cleanse the Altar and the Priests, and [offer sacrifices to] pay for the sins of the entire gathering. ³⁴ This must be your rule through the ages… that [he must offer sacrifices] for the children of Israel to pay for all their sins. It must be done once each year, just as Jehovah commanded Moses.’

Chapter 17

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘Speak to Aaron, his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and tell them, This is what Jehovah has commanded ³ of all men among the children of Israel, including the aliens that live among you: If you slaughter a calf, sheep, or goat [as a sacrifice] – whether inside or outside the camp – ⁴ [you must] bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs as a sweet smelling whole-burnt offering or as a peace-offering sacrifice to Jehovah, for it to be to be acceptable. If you slaughter it outside and don’t bring it to the entry at the front of the Tent of Proofs as a gift to Jehovah, you will be held guilty of shedding the blood, and you must be cut off from your people.

⁵ ‘All [cattle] that the children of Israel might slaughter in the fields as a sacrifice to Jehovah must be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs and to the Priest, who must sacrifice it as a peace offering to Jehovah. ⁶ Then the Priest must pour its blood on and around the Altar before Jehovah and offer the fat as a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah.

⁷ ‘Do not waste [your time] by offering sacrifices in [spiritual] adultery. This is the rule for you through the ages and for all your generations.

⁸ ‘And you must tell them: Should any man of the children of Israel or of the sons of the converts that are living among you offer a whole-burnt offering as a sacrifice ⁹ and fail to bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Proofs and sacrifice it to Jehovah, he must be destroyed from among his people.

¹⁰ ‘And if any man of the children of Israel or alien that is living among you eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats the blood and make him an enemy among his people. ¹¹ For blood is the life of its flesh, and I have given it to you [for use] on the Altar to pay for your sins… its blood will pay for the sins of your life. ¹² That is why I have told the children of Israel that none of you should eat blood, nor should aliens that live among you eat blood.

¹³ ‘And if any man of the children of Israel, or any alien that is living among you, catch an edible animal while hunting, whether it’s a wild animal or a bird, you must pour out its blood and cover it with dirt, ¹⁴ because the blood of all flesh is its life. So I have told the children of Israel: You must not eat the blood of any flesh, because the blood is the life of all flesh, and every person who eats it must be destroyed.

¹⁵ ‘And a person who eats anything that has died on its own or has been [killed] by animals – whether [that person] is a native or an alien – must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and he must be unclean until the evening… then he will be clean. ¹⁶ But if he doesn’t wash his clothes or bathe his body in water, then he must continue to carry his sin.’

Chapter 18

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them [this]: I am Jehovah your God. ³ So, you must not do things that were done in Egypt where you [used to] live, or follow the ways of the [people in] the land of CanaAn where I am taking you… don’t do these [things] and don’t follow their rules! ⁴ You must obey and follow My decisions and keep My rules, for I am Jehovah your God. ⁵ So, follow all My rules and all My decisions! Follow them in such a way [that you learn to] live by them; for I am Jehovah your God!

⁶ ‘No man may approach a close relative and uncover his/her nakedness, for I am Jehovah. ⁷ Don’t uncover your father’s naked [body], or your mother’s naked [body]… she’s your mother, so don’t [undress] her! ⁸ Nor should you uncover the naked [body] of your stepmother, because [that is the same as uncovering] your father’s naked [body].

⁹ ‘You must not uncover the naked [body] of your sister, whether by your father or by your mother, or whether [she is] born at home or somewhere else. ¹⁰ Nor should you uncover the naked [body] of your grandchildren, because that is your own nakedness. ¹¹ You must not uncover the naked [body] of the daughter of your father’s wife, for she is your stepsister by your father, so don’t uncover her nakedness.

¹² ‘You must not uncover the naked body of your father’s sister, because she’s your father’s closest relative. ¹³ Nor may you uncover the naked [body] of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s closest relative. ¹⁴ You must not uncover the naked [body] of your father’s brother, nor may you [have sex] with his wife, because she’s also related to you.

¹⁵ ‘You must not uncover the naked [body] of your daughter-in-law, because she’s your son’s wife, so don’t undress her. ¹⁶ Nor should you uncover the naked [body] of your brother’s wife, because that is also your brother’s nakedness.

¹⁷ ‘You must not [uncover] the naked body of a woman and her daughter, and you may not take and uncover the naked [bodies] of her grandchildren. That would be disrespectful, because they are also related to you. ¹⁸ Nor should you marry your wife’s sister while she’s still alive, because uncovering her sister’s nakedness would be offensive to her.

¹⁹ ‘You must not [have sex] with a woman and uncover her naked body while she’s [sleeping elsewhere] during her [menstrual period]. ²⁰ And you must not [have sex] with your neighbor’s wife and dirty yourself with her.

²¹ ‘You must not give of your sperm in service to a ruler, and you must not profane My Holy Name, for I am Jehovah.

²² ‘You must not go to bed with a man as [you would] with a woman, because that’s disgusting. ²³ Nor may you lie down and have sex with any animal, for that would pollute you. Nor should any woman offer herself before any animal to have sex with it, because that would be disgusting.

²⁴ ‘Don’t dirty yourselves with any of these things, because these are the things that dirty the nations that I’m driving out from before you… ²⁵ it’s what is polluting their land, and it’s the reason why I am paying them back for their sins! Why, the land is offended by the people who live there!

²⁶ ‘You must keep all My Laws and all My rules. And neither the native peoples nor the aliens who come to live among you may do any of these disgusting things. ²⁷ Because, these are the disgusting things that the people who lived there before you did, and it polluted the land. ²⁸ So, don’t offend the land by polluting it, as did the people who I am driving away. ²⁹ Any person who does any of these disgusting things must be destroyed from among your people.

³⁰ ‘So, you must keep My rules! You may not do any of the disgusting things that have been done [in the land] before you get there, and you must not pollute yourselves by doing [any of these things], for I am Jehovah your God.’

Chapter 19

¹ And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ² ‘Speak to the gathering of the children of Israel and tell them: You must be holy, for I Jehovah your God am holy!

³ ‘Everyone must fear his father and his mother, and you must keep My Sabbaths, for I am Jehovah your God.

⁴ ‘You must not become an idol worshiper, nor may you mold [statues] as gods for yourselves, for I am Jehovah your God.

⁵ ‘If you bring a peace-offering sacrifice to Jehovah, it must be offered willingly. ⁶ It may be eaten on the day after you sacrifice it, but if any of it should be left over until the third day, it must be totally burned in a fire. ⁷ If any of it is eaten on the third day, the sacrifice will be considered unfit and it will not be accepted. ⁸ Also, the person who eats it will be [guilty] of sin, because he has misused the holy things of Jehovah, so he must be destroyed from among his people.

⁹ ‘When you harvest your land, you must not completely harvest everything, nor may you pick up anything that falls on [the ground]. ¹⁰ And when you pick the grapes in your vineyard, you must not gather them all, but you must leave some for the poor and for strangers, for I am Jehovah your God.

¹¹ ‘You must not steal, you must not lie, and you must not provide false testimony as an informer against your neighbor.

¹² ‘You must not swear a false oath in My Name, nor may you misuse the Holy Name of your God, for I am Jehovah your God.

¹³ ‘You must not do any harm to your neighbor… you must not rob him; and the wages of a hired hand must not be withheld until the [next] morning.

¹⁴ ‘You must not make fun of the deaf, nor should you set a trap for the blind, for you must fear Jehovah your God. I am Jehovah your God.

¹⁵ ‘You must never judge unrighteously. You must not mistreat poor people, nor may you show [special] respect to those who are powerful… you must be just when you judge your neighbors.

¹⁶ ‘You must not march in treachery against your nation, and you must not [go to battle to shed] the blood of your neighbors, for I am Jehovah your God.

¹⁷ ‘You must not hate your brothers in your hearts, and you must correct your neighbors [when they are wrong], so you aren’t found guilty of sin because of them. ¹⁸ You must not raise your hands in vengeance, and you must not be angry with the sons of your people… you must love your neighbors as you [love] yourselves, for I am Jehovah, ¹⁹ and you must obey My Laws!

‘You must not allow your cattle to breed with other types [of cattle]; you must not plant a vineyard with different types of seeds; and you must not wear woven pieces of clothing that are made from different [materials].

²⁰ ‘If anyone goes to bed and has sex with a woman who is the household servant of another man, and she hasn’t been bought or set free by the man’s overseer, they must [both] be punished, but not killed, because she wasn’t free. ²¹ Then, for his sin, he must bring a ram as an offering for his error to Jehovah at the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. ²² There the Priest must use the ram he is offering to pay Jehovah for the sin that he committed, and his sin must be forgiven.

²³ ‘And when you enter the land that Jehovah your God is giving you and plant any fruit trees, you must first purge away the filth [of the land], so its fruit must be unclean to you, and it must not be eaten for three years. ²⁴ But in the fourth year, all the fruit will be holy and worthy of praise to Jehovah. ²⁵ Then in the fifth year, you must eat the fruit, for that’s when it will produce a great abundance. I am Jehovah your God.

²⁶ ‘Don’t hold feasts in the mountains, and you must not have anyone search for omens in the flight of birds.

²⁷ ‘You must not have the hair on your head cut short, and you must not [cut] your beard. ²⁸ Nor may you make cuts on your bodies over [someone who dies], and you must not tattoo your bodies, for I am Jehovah your God.

²⁹ ‘You must not allow your daughters to become dirty by making them prostitutes, so the land doesn’t become filled with prostitution and sin.

³⁰ ‘You must keep My Sabbaths and fear My Holy Place, for I am Jehovah.

³¹ ‘You must not associate with or pollute yourselves with those who speak by [the demons], nor have anything to do with witches, for I am Jehovah your God.

³² ‘You must rise before a grey-headed person; [you must] value the faces of elderly men; and you must fear your God, for I am Jehovah your God.

³³ ‘And if a stranger should come to [live among] you in your land, you must not make his life difficult. ³⁴ You must treat strangers as natives, and you must love them as yourselves, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.

³⁵ ‘You must not be unrighteous in judgments, in measurements, or in [your] weights and scales. ³⁶ You must all have honest weights, scales, and liquid measures, for I am Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷ You must obey and follow all My Laws and rules, for I am Jehovah your God.’

Chapter 20

¹ And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ² ‘You must also tell the children of Israel: If any of the children of Israel or any of Israel’s converts offer their [children] to Moloch, they must be put to death… the [people] in the land must stone him with rocks. ³ I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because he has given his [child] to Moloch and defiled My Holy Place, and he has dirtied the name of My holy people.

⁴ ‘And if anyone in the land should in any way choose to overlook what that person did by giving his [child] to Moloch, and fail to put him to death, ⁵ then I will turn My face against that man and his family, and destroy them and everyone who agrees with him, so he doesn’t go to the rulers and lead the people into [spiritual] adultery.

⁶ ‘And I will turn My face against any person who commits [spiritual] adultery by becoming a follower of someone who predicts the future by means of [demon possession], or [a follower] of witches. I will destroy [such a person] from among his people. ⁷ For, you must be holy as I Jehovah your God am holy. ⁸ You must obey My rules and follow them, for I am Jehovah who makes you holy.

⁹ ‘Any man who is found guilty of saying bad things about his father or mother must absolutely be put to death for the bad things that he says about them.

¹⁰ ‘When any man commits adultery with the wife of another, or when anyone commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both (the adulterer and the adulteress) must absolutely be put to death.

¹¹ ‘And if anyone is found guilty of lying down with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness, so both must absolutely die.

¹² ‘And if anyone is found guilty of lying down with his daughter-in-law, both must absolutely be put to death for their lack of respect.

¹³ ‘And when anyone is found guilty of lying with a male as though he were a woman, they have both done something disgusting, so they must absolutely die.

¹⁴ ‘It is also a sin when someone takes both a woman and her mother. They must all be burned in a fire for their badness, so there won’t be any sin among you.

¹⁵ ‘Any man that [has sex with] an animal must absolutely be put to death… along with the animal. ¹⁶ And if any woman is found guilty of [having sex with] an animal, you must absolutely kill both the woman and the animal.

¹⁷ ‘If anyone undresses his sister (by his father or his mother) so they can look at each other’s nakedness, it is disgusting. They must both be destroyed before the other children in their family, for they have sinned by [looking at] each other’s naked bodies.

¹⁸ ‘And whenever a man lies down with a woman who is sleeping apart during [her menstrual period] and uncovers her naked body, he has uncovered the source of her blood flow and seen her blood, so they must both be destroyed from among their generation.

¹⁹ ‘You must not undress your father’s sister or your mother’s sister and look at the naked body of a close relative, for both will be guilty of sin. ²⁰ Whoever [has sex] with a close relative has also uncovered the naked body of his [other] close relative, and they must [both] die childless. ²¹ And whoever [has sex] with his brother’s wife has done something that is unclean, for he has uncovered his brother’s naked body, so they must [both] die childless.

²² ‘If you obey and follow all My rules and decisions, you won’t offend the land where I am taking you to live. ²³ You must not [adopt] the customs of the nations that I am driving out before you, because I have hated them for the things they are doing. ²⁴ I have told you that you will inherit their land, and I am giving you this land that flows with milk and honey to be your own. For, I am Jehovah your God who is separating you from all those nations.

²⁵ ‘You must pay attention to the differences between the clean and unclean cattle, and the clean and unclean birds. You must not dirty yourselves with [unclean] cattle or birds, or with any of the things that slither on the earth, for I have separated you from such uncleanness. ²⁶ You must be holy to Me, because I Jehovah your God am holy, and I have set you apart from all other nations as Mine.

²⁷ ‘And if a man or woman is found guilty of telling the future by means of a [demon], or is a witch, he or she must absolutely be put to death. You must stone him or her with rocks.’

Chapter 21

¹ And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the Priests among the sons of Aaron and tell them that they must not [show themselves to be mourning] over the dead before the nation. ² They may [mourn] for a close relative, such as a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, ³ or for a loved virgin sister that isn’t married… they may [show that they mourn] over them, ⁴ but they may not show that they are mourning before their people by appearing unclean. ⁵ They must not shave their heads bald on top, nor may they shave their beards or cut gashes in their flesh over the dead. ⁶ They must be holy to their God, and they may not profane the Name of their God, because they offer the sacrifices to Jehovah as gifts to their God, so they must be holy.

⁷ ‘They must not marry a woman who is a whore, one who has been violated, or a divorced woman, because these [men] are holy to their God Jehovah. ⁸ They must remain holy, because they offer the gifts to their God Jehovah. They must be holy, for I Jehovah (who makes them holy) am holy.

⁹ ‘And if the daughter of a man who is a Priest dirties herself by having immoral sex, she dirties the name of her father, so she must be burned in a fire.

¹⁰ ‘And the Priest who is the chief one among his brothers – the one who has been anointed by having oil poured over his head and who has been made perfect to wear the [Priestly] garments – must not take the turban off his head, and he must never tear his clothes, ¹¹ nor may he go close to any dead body. He may not profane himself even [on behalf of] his own father or mother. ¹² He may not leave the Holy Place and he must not make the Holy Place of his God unclean, because he wears God’s holy anointing oil. I am Jehovah.

¹³ ‘He may only take a wife who is a virgin and from his own tribe… ¹⁴ not a widow, a divorcee, someone who has been violated, or a whore. He may only take a virgin from his own people as a wife. ¹⁵ For, he must not profane his seed among his people. I am Jehovah who makes him holy.’

¹⁶ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁷ ‘Tell Aaron this: Through the generations, no man of your tribe who is physically imperfect may be used to offer the gifts to his God. ¹⁸ No one may be used that is blind, lame, has a disfigured nose, deformed ears, ¹⁹ a crippled hand or foot, ²⁰ is a hunchback, has cataracts, has lost his eyelashes, has open sores, has a birthmark, or has lost a testicle.

²¹ ‘None of Aaron the Priest’s seed that are physically imperfect may be used to offer sacrifices to your God… because of his imperfection, he must not go in to offer the gifts of God, ²² for these gifts to God are very holy. He may eat the holy things, ²³ but he must not approach the veil or get close to the Altar, because of his handicap. He must not dishonor the Holy Place of his God, for I am Jehovah who makes them holy.’

²⁴ This is what Moses told Aaron and his sons, and all the children of Israel.

Chapter 22

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, and warn them to be careful with the holy things of the children of Israel, so they don’t profane My Holy Name in anything that they offer to Me in a holy way, for I am Jehovah. ³ Tell them that throughout their generations, any of their seed that comes to Me to offer the holy things – whatever the children of Israel may offer to Jehovah – and do so while they are unclean… that person will be cut off from Me, for I am Jehovah your God.

⁴ ‘And if any man who is the seed of Aaron the Priest should have leprosy or a running sexual discharge, he may not eat the holy things until he becomes clean. And any of them that touch something unclean from a dead body, or who has ejaculated sperm, ⁵ or who has touched an unclean slithering thing which has defiled him, or who touches an unclean man… ⁶ that soul will be unclean until evening; so he must not eat of the holy things until he bathes his body in water ⁷ after the sun goes down… then he will be clean and can eat all the holy things, for they are his food.

⁸ ‘They must not eat anything that dies on its own or that has been killed by wild animals, so they aren’t polluted by them, for I am Jehovah. ⁹ They must keep My rules so they don’t fall into sin in these matters and die due to their making themselves dirty, for I am Jehovah God who makes them holy.

¹⁰ ‘And no stranger may eat the holy things, including those who travel with the Priests or those who are hired by them. ¹¹ But if a Priest purchases a [slave] with money, or if [a person] is born in his house, they may eat the [holy] bread.

¹² ‘However, if the daughter of a Priest should marry a stranger, she may not eat the offerings from the Holy Place. ¹³ But if the Priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no children, and she returns to her father’s house as when she was young, she may eat her father’s bread; but no stranger may do so.

¹⁴ ‘If a man [who isn’t worthy] should eat holy things in ignorance, he must return as much with a fifth more added, and give the holy things to the Priest.

¹⁵ ‘They must not profane the holy things of the children of Israel that are offered to Jehovah ¹⁶ and thereby bring the sin of error upon themselves when they eat their holy things, for I am Jehovah who makes them holy.’

¹⁷ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁸ ‘Speak to Aaron, his sons, and to the entire gathering of Israel, and tell them; Any man among the children of Israel, and any alien that lives among them in Israel, who wishes to offer gifts as a confession, as they may choose – whatever they may bring to Jehovah as a whole-burnt offering – ¹⁹ must be offered willingly… and it must be a perfect male from the herd, or a sheep, or a goat. ²⁰ They must not bring anything to Jehovah that isn’t perfect, for it won’t be accepted.

²¹ ‘Whenever a man brings something to Jehovah from the herd, or a sheep, as a peace offering, or to fulfill a promise, or as a free-will offering; it must be perfect to be accepted… it shouldn’t have any flaws. ²² They may not offer anything to Jehovah that is blind, lame, has its tongue cut out, has warts, or a running sore, or a scar… nor may you offer any of these as burnt offerings on the Altar.

²³ ‘If a calf or a sheep is missing an ear or has lost its tail, you can slaughter it for yourself, but it is unacceptable [as an offering] for your vows. ²⁴ This is [also true] of one that has been castrated or has had its testicles crushed… you must not offer it to Jehovah, nor may you sacrifice it on your land.

²⁵ ‘And you may not offer any of these gifts to your God at the hand of a stranger, because that would corrupt [the gift] and make it imperfect, so [such things] are not acceptable for you.’

²⁶ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ²⁷ ‘Calves, sheep, and goats must suckle their mothers for seven days from the time they are born, and after the eighth day, they can be accepted as burnt-offering sacrifices to Jehovah… ²⁸ and you must not sacrifice a cow or an ewe and its young on the same day.

²⁹ ‘If you vow to offer a sacrifice to Jehovah out of sheer joy, you must offer it willingly. ³⁰ It must be eaten on that same day and not left over until the next morning, for I am Jehovah.

³¹ ‘You must keep My Commandments and obey them. ³² And you must not profane the Name of the Holy One, for I must be made holy in the midst of the children of Israel. I am Jehovah who makes you holy and ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God… I am Jehovah!’

Chapter 23

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: The feasts of Jehovah that you are going to call Holy Assemblies are My feasts. ³ You may work for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath, a [day of] rest and a Holy Assembly to Jehovah. You must not work on that day, for it is a Sabbath to [Jehovah… this covers] everything that you do.

⁴ ‘Here are the feasts to Jehovah… the Holy Assemblies that you are to [observe] in each of their seasons:

⁵ ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, is Jehovah’s Passover. ⁶ Then the fifteenth day of that month is the Feast of Fermentation-free bread to [Jehovah]. So, you must eat fermentation-free bread for seven days. ⁷ The first [of these] days must be a Holy Assembly for you, and you must not work for anyone on that day. ⁸ And you must offer whole-burnt offerings to [Jehovah during those] seven days. Then the seventh day will be [another] Holy Assembly for you, [during which] you must not work for anyone.’

⁹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁰ ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: When you enter the land that I will give you and you start reaping its harvests, you must bring a bundle of [cut stalks] from the first fruitage of your harvest to the Priest, ¹¹ and he must hold them up and wave the bundle before [Jehovah, for Him to] accept it from you. This must be done on the morning of the first day.

¹² ‘And on that same day, you must offer a perfect yearling lamb as a whole-burnt offering to Jehovah. ¹³ Then, along with this offering of meat, you [must offer] two measurements of fine flour mixed with oil as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a quart of wine as a drink offering to Jehovah. ¹⁴ You may not eat any new bread or roasted grain until this day when you offer the sacrifices to your God. This is a Law through the ages and throughout your generations for as long as you live.

¹⁵ ‘Then you must count the days, starting from the day after the Sabbath when you offered the bundle of grain that was waved before Jehovah. And after seven full weeks, ¹⁶ on the morning following the last week (or after fifty days), you must bring a food offering to Jehovah. ¹⁷ You must also bring two loaves [of bread] from your homes that are made from two measurements of fine flour baked with fermentation as an offering of your first fruitage to Jehovah.

¹⁸ ‘And with the bread, you must bring seven healthy yearling lambs, a calf from your herd, and two perfect male kid goats as whole-burnt offerings to Jehovah. These food and drink offerings are to be sacrificed as a sweet odor to Jehovah.

¹⁹ ‘One of the kid goats must be sacrificed as a sin offering, and the two yearling lambs are to be offered with the first-fruit bread as a peace offering. ²⁰ The Priest must set them aside with the first-fruitage loaves as an offering before Jehovah. They will be holy to Jehovah, but they will belong to the Priest who brings them.

²¹ ‘You must designate this as an assembly day, and it must be holy to you, so you may not work for anyone on that day. This is a rule through all your generations, wherever you may live.

²² ‘And when you harvest your land, you must not reap everything in your field, nor may you gather anything that falls during the harvest. You must leave it for the poor and for strangers, for I am Jehovah your God.’

²³ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ²⁴ ‘Also, the tenth day of the seventh month is to be the Day of Atonement ([when you pay for your sins]). It [is also] to be a holy [day of] assembly for you. You must be very humble [on that day] and present a whole-burnt offering to Jehovah. ²⁵ You must not do any work on that day, for it is a day when you pay for your sins before Jehovah your God. ²⁶ – ²⁷ – ²⁸ –

²⁹ ‘Any person who doesn’t show humility on that day must be cut off from among his people. ³⁰ And any person who works on that day should have his life destroyed from among his people. ³¹ You must not do any sort of work. This is a law through the ages, throughout all your generations, wherever you may live.

³² ‘The ninth day of that month, from evening to evening, is [also] to be a holy Sabbath for you, and you must humble yourselves and keep your Sabbaths.’

³³ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ³⁴ ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them; On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and the next seven days, is to be the Feast of Tents to Jehovah. ³⁵ The first day must be a Holy Assembly [during which] you may not work for anyone. ³⁶ You must offer whole-burnt offerings to Jehovah for seven days, and the eighth day will [also] be a Holy Assembly to you, [during which] you must offer whole-burnt offerings to Jehovah. This is [to be] a free day, so you must not work for anyone.

³⁷ ‘These are the feasts to Jehovah, which you are to call Holy Assemblies, [and during which] you are to offer burnt offerings to Jehovah… whole-burnt offerings, food offerings, and drink offerings, each on its day. ³⁸ This is in addition to the Sabbaths to Jehovah, and to your gifts, and to all your vows, and to all the free offerings that you will give to Jehovah.

³⁹ ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have completely harvested all the fruit of the ground, you must hold a feast to Jehovah for seven days… and both the first day and the eighth day will be rest days. ⁴⁰ On the first day you must bring a large amount of fruit from your trees, some palm-tree branches, some thick tree branches, willow branches, and branches from water willows, as a rejoicing to Jehovah your God… [do this] for seven days each year.

⁴¹ ‘This is to be the law through the ages for all your generations… you must observe this in the seventh month. ⁴² You must live in tents for seven days… all the native people of Israel must live in tents, ⁴³ so your descendants can see that I made the children of Israel live in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. For I am Jehovah your God.’

⁴⁴ So, this is how Moses explained Jehovah’s feasts to the children of Israel.

Chapter 24

¹ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘Talk to the children of Israel and tell them to bring pure, beaten olive oil [for use in] the lamp, so it may always be kept burning ³ outside the veil of the Tent of Proofs. Aaron and his sons must keep it burning before Jehovah continuously from evening until morning. This is a law through the ages for all your generations. ⁴ The lamps on the pure lampstand must be kept burning before Jehovah until morning.

⁵ ‘Then you must take fine flour and make twelve loaves [of bread] from it, and each loaf should be [made with] two measurements. ⁶ Then place them in two rows, six loaves in each row, on the pure table before Jehovah, ⁷ and pour frankincense and salt over each row. Remember to set these things and the loaves before Jehovah ⁸ on each Sabbath. They must continue to be set before Jehovah by the children of Israel as a sacred agreement through the ages. ⁹ This will be for Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it there in the Holy Place, for this is their own very holy portion of the offerings that are made to Jehovah, as [part of] the Law of the ages.’

¹⁰ Well, it so happened that there was this son of an Israelite woman (whose father was an Egyptian) [that lived] among the children of Israel, and he got into a fight in the camp [with a man] whose mother and father were both Israelites. ¹¹ Then [during the fight], the son of the Israelite woman used God’s Name while cursing… so they brought him to Moses (his mother’s name was SalomIth, and she was the daughter of Dabri of the tribe of Dan). ¹² Thereafter, they locked him up and held him for judgment by Jehovah.

¹³ Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁴ ‘Take the man that did the cursing outside the camp, and everyone who heard it must lay their hands on his head, and then the whole gathering must stone him. ¹⁵ Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them, Whoever curses God is guilty of sin, ¹⁶ and whoever [curses] using the Name Jehovah must absolutely be put to death, whether he is a native or an alien. The entire gathering of Israel must stone him with rocks, and he must die for [swearing vengeance in] the Name of the Lord.

¹⁷ ‘Also, whenever a man strikes another man and kills him, he must absolutely be put to death. ¹⁸ And whenever a man strikes [someone’s] animal and it dies, he must give a life for the life. ¹⁹ And whoever harms his neighbor must have the same thing done to him… ²⁰ bruise for bruise, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever damage he does to a man must be done to him. ²¹ And if a man strikes a man and kills him, he must be put to death. ²² This one judgment must be the same for both natives and aliens, for I am Jehovah your God.’

²³ Well, after Moses told this to the children of Israel, they took the man that had done the cursing outside the camp and stoned him with rocks… the children of Israel did just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Chapter 25

¹ Jehovah spoke to Moses [while he was] on Mount Sinai and told him, ² ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving to you, the ground must [be allowed] to rest during its Sabbaths to Jehovah. ³ You may plant your fields, prune your vines, and gather their fruitage for six years, ⁴ but the seventh year will be a Sabbath during which the land should rest. During this Sabbath to Jehovah, you may not plant your fields, prune your vines, ⁵ or gather anything that starts to grow of its own in your fields. Nor may you completely gather the sacred grapes, for it is to be a year of rest for the ground. ⁶ For, during the Sabbaths on the land, [there will be enough] food for you, your male and female servants, those who work for you, and for any aliens that live among you. ⁷ And as for your cattle and the wild animals that live on your land; they may eat anything that they wish.

⁸ ‘Then you must keep track and [count off] seven Sabbaths of years (seven times seven years) to make seven weeks of years, or forty-nine years. ⁹ Then in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month (on the Day of Atonement), you must sound a trumpet and send out a proclamation throughout the entire land with trumpeting. ¹⁰ For that year (the fiftieth year) is holy, and you must proclaim a Release on the land and upon all that live on it… it is to be a year of setting free. It’s a Signal to you that each person may return to his home and family.

¹¹ ‘The fiftieth year must be a Signal of Release among you. You may not plant, nor may you harvest any of the produce that grows from the ground on its own, or gather any of its sacred fruit. ¹² For, it is to be the Signal of Release, and it must be holy to you, so you must eat the [stored] crops that you have taken from the fields.

¹³ ‘In the year of the Release Signal, everyone must [be allowed] to return home. ¹⁴ And if you sell [your land] to a neighbor, or if you should buy your neighbor’s [land], it should not be [held permanently]. ¹⁵ So, count the number of years after each Release [Year] when you purchase [land] from your neighbor, then [figure out] how many years [you may own it] and how much you will likely harvest from it… ¹⁶ the more years, the higher the [land’s] value. And when there are few years, there is less value, for there will be fewer crops, so [the price] should be [set lower]. ¹⁷ No man should oppress his neighbor, for you must fear your God Jehovah. I am Jehovah your God.

¹⁸ ‘You must keep all My Laws and all My decisions and obey them. For if you follow and obey them, you will live in the land in safety, ¹⁹ the ground will provide abundant yields, you will have plenty to eat, and you will live there in security.

²⁰ ‘Now, if you should ask, What will we eat during the seventh year, if we don’t plant anything or pick our fruit? ²¹ I will send My blessings in the sixth year, and the land will [have] produced abundant crops during [the previous] three years. ²² Then you will start planting again in the eighth year, and eat from your stored crops until the ninth year… until its crop comes in, you will eat from the stored crops.

²³ ‘No land can be sold permanently, for all the land is Mine, and you are just aliens and travelers before Me. ²⁴ So, any land that you [buy] must also be allowed to be repurchased. ²⁵ Therefore, if your brother who lives near you is poor and has to sell [you] some of his land, and his relative should come to assist him, he must be allowed to buy back the land that his brother has sold. ²⁶ Or if he has no such relative, and he starts to prosper and finds enough money to buy back [the land] himself, ²⁷ he must calculate how many years the land has been sold, and pay the person who he sold it to a fair amount, and then it should be returned. ²⁸ But if he hasn’t prospered enough to buy back the property, the one who bought it will own the land through the sixth year before the year of Release; then it should be returned, and its owner may go back to his land. ²⁹ – ³⁰ – ³¹ – ³² – ³³ – ³⁴ –

³⁵ ‘And if your brother who lives among you becomes poor and needs to [borrow money] from you; you must help him as you would an alien or a traveler, and allow your brother to keep living among you. ³⁶ You must not charge him interest or [tell him] to pay you more, for you must fear your God. I am Jehovah… and you must [help] your brother to keep living among you. ³⁷ You must not lend your money to him with interest, and you must not lend him any food and expect him to pay you back with more. ³⁸ For I am Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of CanaAn… and to be your God.

³⁹ ‘And if your brother should become so bad off that he sells himself to you, he must not serve you and work as your slave. ⁴⁰ You must treat him like a hired person or as a traveler, and he will only work for you until the Year of Release. ⁴¹ Then during the Release, he and his children will leave as a family, and they will hurry back to their family possession, ⁴² because they are My servants who I brought out of the land of Egypt. So they can’t be sold as slaves, ⁴³ nor may you force them into hard labor, for you must fear Jehovah your God.

⁴⁴ ‘If you choose to purchase male and female slaves, buy them from the nations that that live around you. ⁴⁵ You may also buy the sons of the travelers that live among you. You may buy them and their relatives… all that live in your land may become your possession ⁴⁶ and may be left as an inheritance to your children after you, and be your [family] possession through the ages. However, you must never oppress your brothers of the children of Israel by forcing them to do hard labor.

⁴⁷ ‘And if an alien or a traveler who lives among you should become rich, and your brother who is in need is sold to the alien or traveler that lives among you, or to an [Israelite] convert; ⁴⁸ after he has been sold, one of his brothers should buy him back. ⁴⁹ An uncle, a cousin, or another close relative from his tribe must be allowed to buy him… or if he gets wealthy, he may buy himself back.

⁵⁰ ‘The person who buys him must calculate how many years there are from the time he sold himself until the Year of Release, and pay the amount that would be paid to a hired person during that number of years. ⁵¹ And if anyone has [enough money] to pay [the wages] for all those years, he must pay the ransom. ⁵² And if there is just a short time until the Year of Release, then he will pay the ransom [for that short period]. ⁵³ [And the person who buys him] must treat him as hired help through the years… you must not force him into hard labor!

⁵⁴ ‘And if he can’t pay his own fair ransom, he and his children must be set free in the Year of Release. ⁵⁵ For the children of Israel are My servants… they are My attendants who I brought out of the land of Egypt.

Chapter 26

¹ ‘You must not mold [gods] for yourselves or carve them with your hands. Nor may you set up stone pillars in your land to worship, for I am Jehovah your God. ² You must keep My Sabbaths and respect My Holy Places, for I am Jehovah.

³ ‘If you follow My rules and keep My Commandments and obey them, ⁴ I will give you rain in its season, the ground will produce its fruitage, and the trees of your fields will bear fruit. ⁵ Then your threshing time will run through your fruit-picking time, and your fruit-picking time will run into your [planting] time. You will eat all the bread you want, and you will live on your land in safety, for there will be no wars in your land… ⁶ I will bring peace to your land, so you can go to sleep and not fear anyone. I will also destroy all the bad animals in your land, ⁷ and you will chase your enemies and they will be slaughtered before you. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase tens of thousands. Then your enemies will be cut down before you with swords.

⁹ ‘I will watch over you, make you grow and multiply, and keep My Sacred Agreement with you. ¹⁰ Then you may eat that which is old and very old, or throw out the old to make way for the new.

¹¹ ‘I will pitch My Tent among you, and in My heart there will be no hatred of you. ¹² So I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. ¹³ I am Jehovah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. It was I who broke the shackles of your [slavery] and paraded you away before [everyone]!

¹⁴ ‘However, if you choose not to listen to Me and obey My rules… ¹⁵ if you disobey them and your lives come to hate My decisions… if you don’t keep all My Commandments and if you break My Sacred Agreement, ¹⁶ these are the things that I must do to you:

‘I will bring uprisings among you and make you uncomfortable. You will develop rashes, skin discoloring, fever, loss of eyesight, and your lives will be shortened. When you plant seeds, it won’t do any good, because your enemies will eat them. ¹⁷ For, if I set My face against you, you will fall before your enemies. Those who hate you will chase you, and you will run… even when no one is behind you!

¹⁸ ‘And if you still refuse to listen to Me, then I must discipline you seven times more for your sins, ¹⁹ because I must break down your haughtiness and pride. I will turn your sky into iron and your ground into brass. ²⁰ All your hard work will be wasted, for the seeds in your ground won’t produce, and the trees in your fields won’t bear fruit.

²¹ ‘And after that, if you continue to walk a crooked path and you aren’t willing to obey Me, I will bring seven plagues upon you for your sins. ²² I will send wild animals into the land, and they will eat you and kill your cattle. You will decrease in numbers, and your [land] will become empty.

²³ ‘And if that doesn’t straighten you out and you continue to walk a crooked path with Me, ²⁴ then My Breath will become crooked and I will walk a crooked path among you, causing Me to strike you seven times for your sins. ²⁵ For, I will bring swords against you to avenge the Sacred Agreement. You will run to your cities for safety, but I will send death to you, and you will be handed over to your enemies. ²⁶ I will bring a famine of bread among you, so it will take ten women to bake your loaves in just one oven. Then they will weigh out portions of bread for you to eat, but you will still be hungry.

²⁷ ‘And if you still don’t obey Me, but continue to walk a crooked path with Me, ²⁸ then I will walk among you with an angry mind, and I must discipline you seven times as much for your sins, ²⁹ so you will have to eat the flesh of your sons and daughters. ³⁰ I will wipe away your stone columns, and totally destroy the wooden [images] that you’ll make with your hands. Then I will lay your dead bodies on the remains of your idols, and My soul will hate you.

³¹ ‘I will destroy your cities, empty your holy places, and [never again] smell the odor of your sacrifices. ³² Then I will empty your land, and your enemies who live there will be amazed; ³³ and I will scatter you among the nations… you will be attacked with swords and destroyed, and your land and your cities will be emptied!

³⁴ ‘But the ground will enjoy its Sabbaths during all the time that it is empty… ³⁵ while you are living in the land of your enemies! Yes, that’s when the land will enjoy its Sabbaths… during all the time that it’s empty! For, it will keep the Sabbaths that weren’t kept when you lived there.

³⁶ ‘And in your hearts, I will put all that you have left into bondage, there in the land of your enemies, so that even the sound of shaking leaves will chase you, and you will run as though you’re running from a war, and fall when no one is chasing you. ³⁷ Brothers won’t have any regard for their brothers, as in war. And although no one will be chasing you, you won’t be able [to be saved from] your enemies. ³⁸ You will die among the ethnics, and the country of your enemies will swallow you up. ³⁹ Then those who remain will perish because of their sins and the sins of their fathers… they will just waste away in the land of their enemies.

⁴⁰ ‘However, if they confess their sins and the sins of their fathers, and [admit] that they have sinned and neglected Me, and that they have walked a crooked path before Me, ⁴¹ and [admit that] this is the reason why I walked among them with a crooked mind and destroyed them, [and sent them] into the land of their enemies… yes, when their uncircumcised hearts become ashamed, and they repent of their sins, ⁴² then I will remember the Sacred Agreement that I made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ⁴³ I will also remember their land, and that land will still be waiting for them. For by then, the land will have enjoyed her Sabbaths, during the time they had deserted it.

‘However, they must acknowledge their sins, because they neglected My decisions and they hated My Laws in their [hearts]. ⁴⁴ But despite this, I didn’t fail to [keep an eye] on them while they were in the land of their enemies, nor did I hate them and void the Sacred Agreement that I made with them, for I am Jehovah their God.

⁴⁵ ‘Then I will remember the Sacred Agreement [that I made with them] when I brought them out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery before that nation, to be their God. For I am Jehovah.

⁴⁶ ‘These are My decisions, My rules, and the Law that Jehovah Himself gave to the children of Israel from Mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.’

Chapter 27

¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and said, ² ‘Speak to the children of Israel and tell them; Whenever someone wishes to make a vow to offer the value of a life to Jehovah, ³ the value of a male between twenty and sixty years old must be fifty double-silver coins by the standards of the Holy Place. ⁴ The value of a female must be thirty double-silver coins; ⁵ the value for a male child between five and twenty years old must be twenty double-silver coins, and ten double-silver coins for a female.

⁶ ‘As for a child between one month and five years old; the value for a male must be five double-silver coins, and for a female, three double-silver coins. ⁷ And for those who are over sixty, the value must be fifteen double-silver coins for a male and ten double-silver coins for a female. ⁸ And if a person is too poor to pay these values, he must go before the Priest, and the Priest will value him at whatever the man says he can afford in his vow; and this is [the price] that the Priest must set for him.

⁹ ‘And when cattle are offered as gifts to Jehovah by anyone, they become holy. ¹⁰ So, the [person] may not trade a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one. And if someone does decide to make a trade, it must be with an equal… and both will be holy.

¹¹ ‘And if [someone brings] an unclean animal (which must never be offered as a gift to Jehovah), he must bring the animal to the Priest, ¹² and the Priest must determine whether it is valuable or not, and whatever value the Priest sets is what must be paid for it. ¹³ And if he wishes to buy it back, he must pay a fifth more than that amount.

¹⁴ ‘And if a man chooses to set aside his house as holy to Jehovah, the Priest must determine whether it is valuable or not, and whatever value the Priest sets is what must be paid. ¹⁵ And if he wishes to buy it back, he must pay a fifth more for it than the valuation.

¹⁶ ‘And if a man should choose to designate a portion of a field that he owns as holy to Jehovah, then it must be valued by whatever is planted there. It will be worth fifty double-silver coins per two hundred and fifty quarts of barley. ¹⁷ And if he [sets aside] his field as holy on the Year of Release, that’s how much it should be valued. ¹⁸ But if he donates his field sometime after the Release, the Priest must figure its value to the next Year of Release, and deduct the appropriate amount from the full valuation. ¹⁹ But if the one who made the field holy wishes to buy it back [before the Year of Release], he must add a fifth more to its value and it will be his.

²⁰ ‘And if he doesn’t buy back the field, it may be sold to someone else, and he can’t buy it back later. ²¹ However, after the Release, the field will be holy to Jehovah and subdivided, for the Priest will then own it.

²² ‘And if a man should set aside a field to Jehovah that he has bought and which isn’t a family possession, ²³ the Priest must calculate its value to the Year of Release, and that’s how much he must pay that day as holy to Jehovah. ²⁴ Then in the Year of Release, the land must be restored to the man who sold it and [really] owned the land.

²⁵ ‘All the values must be determined by using the holy weights. A double-silver coin is worth twenty copper coins.

²⁶ ‘All the firstborn cattle are Jehovah’s, so no man can [set them aside] as holy… whether it’s a calf or a sheep, it is Jehovah’s.

²⁷ ‘If [a man] chooses to buy back an unclean animal, he must add a fifth more to its valuation. But if he doesn’t buy it back, it may be sold at its stated value.

²⁸ ‘Anything a man has that he chooses to curse before Jehovah, whether it’s a man, an animal, or a field that he owns; it may never be sold or taken back. Everything that is cursed for destruction becomes very holy to Jehovah. ²⁹ And whoever is cursed among men must not be ransomed, but must surely be put to death.

³⁰ ‘Anything in the land that is to be offered, whether it is seeds or the fruit of trees, is Jehovah’s… it is holy to Jehovah. ³¹ And if any man should ever wish to buy back his offering, he must add a fifth more to its [value], and it will be his.

³² ‘And a tenth of everything, including bulls, sheep, and anything else that is taxable, will be holy to Jehovah. ³³ So, you may not exchange anything good for anything bad, or anything bad for something good. If you should make an exchange, it must be an equivalent, and since it is holy, it cannot be repurchased.’

³⁴ These are the commandments that Jehovah gave to Moses for the sons of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Notes

Soul or?

The Greek word psyche (as in psychology) has been translated many ways, including soul, life, etc. However, psyche actually means something that breathes. It is used in the Bible to describe both breathing animals and breathing humans. So by definition, a soul cannot leave the body, because a soul is what the living body (whether human or animal) is (see Genesis 2:7).

In ancient Greece, philosophers eventually added another meaning to psyche: The inner person (as opposed to the person that others see and come to know). And with time, the pagan religion of Greece started to teach that this inner person is its own entity and can never die (is immortal). Over the centuries, this pagan Greek doctrine thereafter crept into the Christian religions. Please see the link Soul for more history of the word.

However, such Greek philosophical thought never influenced Jesus and his Apostles. So, they consistently used psyche to indicate a living person or animal. Therefore, the later teaching that the soul is immortal stands in direct conflict with Jesus’ promise of a resurrection, because, if a person is immortal (can never die) he/she can never be resurrected (brought back to life).

In addition, the teaching of the immortality of the human soul is totally without support from the Bible. For the word immortal(ity) (Gr: athanasia or undying) is only mentioned in the Bible in two places, and it isn’t used with or applied to the word soul in either case. Both of these scriptures show that immortality is only given by God as a reward for righteousness. And as Ezekiel 18:4 says, ‘The person (gr. psyche or ‘soul’) that is sinning will die (gr. apothaneitai).’

Of course, there are places in the Bible where the word soul means more than just a living, fleshly body. For example, God is recorded to have spoken of ‘My Soul’ in several places. Obviously, God is much more than just a ‘soul’ as most people think of that term, and He surely wasn’t talking about His having a human body. So we must conclude that what He was referring to is His life.

Then there are Jesus’ words found at Matthew 10:28, which read, ‘Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the person (psyche or soul). Rather, be afraid of him who can destroy both the person (soul) and the body in the garbage dump.’ Here, Jesus is using the word psyche (soul) to refer to the value of life that remains with God until the resurrection. And he obviously isn’t referring the soul as immortal in this instance, because he says God will destroy (gr. apolesai) the [unrighteous] soul or person.

Unfortunately, no single word can be used to translate psyche in every possible Bible application, so various terms are used herein, depending on the circumstances, but always in an attempt to harmonize with the meaning.

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Age, Eternal, Perpetual, Everlasting, Immortal, or Forever?

Two words imply infinite states in the Bible; one is the Greek word athanasia (undying), which is only found in two places, 1 Corinthians 15:53, where it mentions resurrected ones as clothing themselves with immortality, and at 1 Timothy 6:16, where Paul speaks of Jesus as having received it. The other Greek word is aidios, which is used at Romans 1:20 to describe God’s Power and Might as eternal, and at Jude 6 when speaking of the perpetual state of gloomy darkness that rebellious angels have been confined to.

However, the Greek word aionos (pronounced ai-on-oss), which is used throughout the Bible and is often translated as forever and everlasting, is what the English word eon is derived from. It means an indefinite period, and there is no exact English word to translate it. The best equivalents are age(s) or era(s).

Where the plural form of the word (aionion) is used, it refers to a long time… at least multiple generations. However, where the singular form is used (aionos), this appears to mean a much shorter period, such as a lifetime, generation, or era. And where the term ages of the ages is used (such as at Ephesians 3:21), which is usually said in reference to The God, we would assume that this truly means forever.

It is noteworthy that aionos is the word that is used in the Greek Septuagint in place of the Hebrew word ohlam, which is also translated as forever and time indefinite in popular versions of the Ancient Scriptures of Israel. So, this one word (aionos) is translated as forever, everlasting, eternal, system of things, time indefinite, [end of] the world, long ago, from of old, etc. Obviously, something is very wrong here, because the word can’t mean a period having a definite end in one place and infinity in another.

Take for example, the unique way that aionos is used in the question that Jesus’ Apostles asked him, which is found at Matthew 24:3: ‘Tell us; When will these things happen… what will be the signs when you are to arrive and this age will come to its conclusion?’ You can see that the word aionos obviously doesn’t mean forever, everlasting, or eternal in this case, nor did it mean world or system of things. It simply meant the age or, the time before the end would come. And for them, that meant the age when God’s Temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, because that’s what Jesus had just told them.

The word aionos (which we have translated as age here) is also translated as world (KJ) and as system of things (NW) in other Bibles. However, if the Apostles had meant any of those words, they would have used the Greek word cosmos (world or system of things), not aionos.

The ancient Hebrews viewed everything (and rightly so) as having a beginning and an end. For that reason, you will only find three places in the Bible where words are used that imply no end, and none that imply no beginning. An interesting possible insight on the reason for this can be found at Hebrews 1:10-12, which says: ‘Long ago, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and your hands made the heavens. They will destroy themselves, but you will remain. They will grow old just like clothes do. Then, as [you would do to] a robe, you will wrap them up and repair them like clothes. Yes, you are the one, and your years will never expire.’

So, notice; The Bible shows that even our universe will eventually end and need to be ‘wrapped up and repaired,’ which agrees with the conclusions of modern science.

The problem with most Bible translations is that; when they encounter the word aionos in all its different tenses, they interpret it according to accepted doctrine, not according to the way that Jesus and his disciples used it. So, the common renderings forever, eternal, and everlasting are used even when the word is in its singular forms (aioni, aiona, aionos, aionion, aionian, aionios, aioniou), and this totally distorts the meaning of the text.

Take for example, the scripture at John 5:24, where Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth; He who hears what I say and believes in the One that sent me, will have life in this age… he won’t have to be judged, for he has crossed over from death to life!’

Most Bibles translate Jesus as saying that those who believe in the One who sent him will have everlasting life (or the equivalent). However, the words that Jesus used there were, zoe aionos (life age – singular), not zoe aionion (life ages – plural).

Notice how Jesus explained the meaning of these words with his next statement, ‘He won’t have to be judged, for has crossed over from death to life.’

So, what Jesus was saying here, wasn’t that they would have everlasting life, but that they in their current lifetime would be considered among the living, not among the dead (see Revelation 20:12).

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t live forever… it’s just that Jesus wasn’t really saying that. What we find (from consideration of the evidence found in the bulk of Jesus’ words about life) is that he never taught the hope of ‘life eternal,’ ‘everlasting life,’ or ‘immortality,’ in those specific words. However, the concept is still there. What he taught was that righteous people will receive ‘life in the age,’ or be considered worthy of (possibly everlasting) life by God during their current lifetimes… that their names would be written in ‘the scroll of life,’ and that they would not have to be judged, but will have already ‘crossed over from death to life,’ as Jesus said at John 5:24.

Yes, we know that this is a difficult concept to understand, but it’s what Jesus actually said.

For more information, select the linked documents, The Hereafter and Does the Bible Promise Everlasting Life?

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Animal Sacrifices

Many religious teachers have tried to draw a line between Jehovah, who they refer to as the vengeful, warring ‘God of the Old Testament,’ and the ‘God of the New Testament,’ as represented by the loving, kind actions and words of Jesus. However, if you pay close attention to the details, you’ll find the same kind, loving God in both portions of the Bible. And part of this can be seen in His requirement for animal sacrifices.

Now, for confirmed vegetarians, the thought of offering the lives of animals to God may sound repulsive. However, these sacrifices pictured something much more important; the need to bring an end to all human (and perhaps most animal) suffering and death.

Notice that the first animal sacrifice mentioned in the Bible is the one offered by Adam’s second son Abel. And although he and his brother Cain both offered sacrifices, Abel’s was the one that God found to be satisfactory. Was this because God liked Abel better than He liked Cain? That doesn’t appear to be the case. Apparently, Abel’s sacrifice was more pleasing to God because he offered a living thing, which better represented the sacrifice that God Himself would make when He offered His son’s life for mankind.

Of interest though, are God’s kind instructions about how such sacrifices were to be offered. For example, to show that they were being offered to God, some type of Altar had to be constructed. What kind? Notice that God said (at Exodus 20:24) ‘You must make an Altar to Me from the dirt…’ So nothing fancy or expensive was required. Then, notice what He said after that (Exodus 20:25): ‘Now, if you build a stone Altar to Me, don’t use cut stones…’ And at Exodus 20:26 we read, ‘Nor should you build any steps to My Altar…’ So, the Altar wasn’t to be too high, and simple rock (or dirt) construction was fine.

Of course, shortly thereafter, God gave the instruction to build the Sacred Tent, and it was to have an Altar. And while the Tent must have been beautiful in all its gold, the Altar was short and quite small, and made of wood and brass… because it was to be portable. So, the fires were kept small, and only animal fat and small organs, plus bread and wine, and tiny amounts of animal blood, were offered there.

Then a ‘clean’ and ‘perfect’ animal was to be slaughtered, and the rest of its flesh was usually to be roasted or boiled nearby – except where it was a ‘whole burnt offering.’ ‘Clean’ of course, meant that it was to be an edible animal, such as a calf, sheep, pigeon, or dove. And what was to happen to the meat? It was to be eaten by those who offered it, and by the priests. In other words, this was just a community barbecue with one’s neighbors and God. And what portion would God take on his Altar? The fat, the liver, the kidneys, etc. They were mostly offered as a form of incense or pleasing odor to Him. No angry and vengeful (or hungry) God here.

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Chest of Proofs

We are sorry to use such an unfamiliar term, but Ark of the Covenant may not accurately describe the sacred box that eventually held the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the writings of Moses and Joshua, the manna, and the walking stick of Aaron. First, the meaning of the ancient English word ‘ark’ has been lost in history. And the second word, ‘covenant’ (meaning, sacred agreement) isn’t always used as part of the name in the Greek text. In some places it is called the kiboton marturion, which literally means Box [of] Testimony. So, although it may have been built to illustrate the Sacred Agreement (Covenant) between God and the Israelites, it was also built to hold the Proofs of the things that God did for Israel. So, wherever the words kiboton marturion appear in the text, we have called it the Chest of Proofs. But it was also referred to as the Chest of the Sacred Agreement (or, Ark of the Covenant) at Exodus 27:21, for example, so that term must also be correct. However, after the Israelites settled in the Promised Land it was always referred to as the kiboton marturion, or the Chest of Proofs.

Unfortunately (during the time of Samuel and the High-Priest Eli), the Philistines captured the Chest, emptied its contents, and then returned it to Israel empty, because, their having it brought a plague on them (see 1 Samuel 6:12). However, later, during the time of King Solomon, the sacred tablets containing the Ten Commandments were found to be still in the Chest, but nothing else (see 1 Kings 8:9); so we have to assume that they had been found and returned.

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Propitiatory

We have searched hard for a modern English synonym for this difficult and obscure word, and have found none. Sure, it was just a cover for the sacred Chest, but cover wouldn’t properly reflect the full meaning.

The Greek word that we are struggling with is ilasterion. Other Bibles have translated it as Propitiatory, Expiation, and Mercy Seat. Yet, the first two words are unfamiliar and Mercy Seat doesn’t accurately describe what it was, because nobody was to sit on it. It was actually an Altar where the Priests sprinkled the blood of Propitiation on the Day of Atonement. And what does Propitiation mean? It refers to something that is done to sooth God’s feelings and to improve relations with Him.

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Bible Measurements

The most common unit for measuring length, height, and depth in the Bible is a cubit, which is the length of a man’s forearm. And of course, the lengths of forearms vary depending on the size of the person, so a cubit may be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-two inches. However, to give you a better idea of the size and proportions of things in the Bible, we have converted the units of measure to more familiar terms, such as feet and inches. And we have roughly averaged the sizes or lengths.

Also, some units of measure, such as a cor (about 32 bushels), hin, or bath (about 6 gallons), have been roughly estimated, since such terms are obsolete.

We have also dropped the obscure names of coins, since most readers have no idea of their value, and simply inserted the type of coin they are (gold, silver, or copper), and sometimes their size, to provide you some frame of reference.

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Servants

For centuries, the proper translation of this word has bothered people who wish to create levels of authority within the Christian Congregation. So, to add weight to this office, the Greek word diakonos has been translated into many words in attempts to blur what it really means in English, servant. Words such as ‘deacon’ (from diakonos), minister, and even the redundancy ‘ministerial servant’ have been employed. However, what they were called in the First-Century Congregation was just servants. These qualified men handled the work and odd jobs that were necessary in running the day-to-day affairs of the congregation.

A later position of responsibility that was spoken of by Paul was the appointment of ‘elders’ or ‘overseers’ in the emerging Christian congregations. Elders likely had to be males, and their job was to shepherd and teach the congregations. However, elders were also just servants – that is, servants with a small ‘s.’

The Scriptures show that; In order to qualify as servants in the congregation, men (and possibly women) had to meet high standards of conduct and reputation. And although Paul didn’t mention it specifically, they were expected to be able to make wise decisions and to show signs of having God’s Breath. Notice that these were the qualifications for all servants in the Christian Congregation, for Acts 6:3 says: ‘So, brothers, find seven qualified men among you who are filled with wisdom and the Breath [of God].’

For more information, see the linked document, Arrangement of the First Christian Churches.

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The Expression of Judgment

The term, Expression of Judgment (gr. logeion ton kriseon) is what the Greek text tells us that God used to describe the special jeweled chest covering of gold cloth that the Israelite High Priest wore when he served on special occasions. It had twelve different types of gems, each of which had the name of one of the Sons of Israel engraved upon it. The different types of stones likely signified different qualities of these individuals and/or their tribes.

It is interesting that the names were to be of the Sons of Israel, not the names of the tribes, so it is likely that Joseph would supplant the tribal names of his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, and the Priestly tribe of Levi would have had its own stone.

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Revelation and Truth

How did JoShua learn of God’s decisions? The text at Numbers 27:21 tells us, ‘Then he must stand alongside EliEzer the Priest, and whenever they come before Jehovah to ask for the judgments of the Revelation, they must do whatever he says.’

The Greek word that we have translated as Revelation is delon. And while other Bibles have translated it with the Hebrew word urim, or urim and thumim, the Greek word from the Septuagint just means revelation.

Delon is a conjugation of the word delosin, which is found at Exodus 28:26, where God told Moses (when He was describing the High Priest’s official clothes), ‘You are to put the Revelation and the Truth (gr. ten delosin kai ten aletheian) on the Expression of Judgment, and Aaron will wear it on his chest when he enters the Holy Place before Jehovah.’

Unfortunately, this description is only found in the Greek Septuagint, where exactly what the Revelation and the Truth is, isn’t identified. However, tradition has it that this item, which was referred to in the Hebrew text as the Urim and Thumim, was used in some way to indicate God’s decisions. And according to the wording, JoShua was to stand next to the High Priest who wore this item on his chest, to determine God’s will.

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Anointing

At Exodus 29:29 we find that Aaron and his sons were to be ‘anointed’ as Priests to Jehovah, and that this action would make them ‘holy’ or clean. It also signified that they had been chosen to this office by God. And in Leviticus, when we read of the ‘anointed’ Priest, the reference seems to be to one of the Priests who has been chosen for the special office of what later became known as the High Priest.

The Greek word that we have translated as anointed here, is chriseis, which can also be translated as Christ (it’s just a conjugation of Christos), since christ and anointed both come from the same root, which is Greek for olive oil (it may also mean Judged, since the words are similar). So, Jesus wasn’t the first or the only one to be correctly referred to as a christ.

Why olive oil? Because, that substance was traditionally poured over the heads of those whom God chose to be Priests and kings over Israel. However, at least in the case of Aaron and his sons, fragrant herbs were added to the oil to give it a pleasing odor. This is implied at Exodus 25:7, where the Israelites were asked to donate ‘fragrances for anointing oil.’ And we find the exact formula for the anointing oil at Exodus 30:34, where we read that it was to be made from ‘sixteen pounds of choice myrrh flowers, eight pounds of sweet-smelling cinnamon, eight pounds of sweet-smelling calamus, sixteen pounds of cassia (for the Holy Place), and a gallon of olive oil.’

The physical anointing with oil also appears to have pictured their receiving of God’s Holy Breath, making them ‘holy,’ which was an appropriate description for Jesus years later. And remember that both the ‘anointed’ priests and the kings pictured Jesus. So, the term christ is apropos.

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Hebrews, Israelites, Jews, and Semites

We often hear people using the above terms interchangeably, as though they all refer to the same people, and they don’t. Abraham and all his descendants were Hebrews. That is, they all descended through Abram’s (or Abraham’s) great, great, great grandfather, Heber. However, many other lines of descent also came from this man; so, many other races are likely Hebrews also.

The first mention of the word Hebrew, is found at Genesis 14:13, where Abraham was referred to as a Hebrew. And thereafter, Isaac, IshMaEl, and Abraham’s other sons were also called Hebrews, as were Jacob, Esau, and all their descendants.

The first Israelites (who were also Hebrews) were the twelve sons of Jacob (whom God renamed Israel). Then their families were thereafter often referred to both as the ‘Sons of Israel’ and as ‘Hebrews.’ Then, during the time of David, a split is to be noted between the tribe of Judah (the Jews), and Israel. For, during the first portion of David’s reign, he ruled over just Judah; and then later, both he and Solomon ruled over all the tribes, a reunited Israel.

However, the split between the tribes arose once again after the rule of Solomon, when the northern ten tribes rebelled, creating their own kingdom called Israel, leaving the southern two tribes (Judah and BenJamin), who were referred to in English as the Jews.

And actually, there were many people who came to be called both Jews and Israelites, which weren’t related to either Judah or Israel. This is because God’s Law allowed foreigners to become a part of the nation. In fact, RaHab, the prostitute of Jericho (who was a CanaAnite, not a Semite, Hebrew, or Israelite) became the ancestress of Kings David and Solomon, and eventually Jesus; and this was also true of the Moabite, Ruth.

The Anglicized term ‘Jew’ is an English corruption of the word ‘Judean.’ And although Jesus and many of his disciples were in fact Judeans, they were often referred to by people who lived in the Roman province of Judea, as Galileans, because they came from an area outside Judea near the Sea of Galilee. Also, when Jesus and his disciples spoke of the Jews, they were often specifically referring to people who lived in and around the city of Jerusalem.

The term ‘Semite’ even predates the term ‘Hebrew,’ because it refers to descendants of Noah’s son Shem, which likely covers at least one-third of the peoples on the earth. So, when someone accuses another of being ‘anti-Semitic,’ he or she is actually accusing the person of being biased against a broad range of peoples, including many so-called Arab nations. For, many Arab nations are also Hebrews, and some directly descend from Abraham and even Israel.

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Synagogue

We find the word synagogue (gr. synagoges) mentioned several times while the Israelites were in the desert. Just what type of building was this?

Well, it wasn’t a building at all. Actually, synagogue means a gathering, and the entire nation of Israel was usually referred to as a synagogue. It wasn’t until in later years, after they had entered the Promised Land, and possibly after their return from exile in Babylon, that they built buildings for worship (other than the Temple). Then later, they started referring to the buildings as synagogues. And while synagogues are mentioned several times in the Christian Era Scriptures, the only mention of one as a Christian meeting place can be found at James 2:2. In every other instance, it refers to Judaic houses of worship.

This referring to a building as a gathering is similar to what happened in Christendom. For, in older Bibles, Christian gatherings (gr. ekklesias) were called churches. But before long, members started referring to the buildings as churches. For more information see the linked document, Church, Synagogue, or Called Ones.

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Swearing

At Leviticus 5:1, we read, ‘And if a person sins by witnessing, seeing, or knowing of someone who has sworn an oath [of vengeance] against another, and doesn’t report it, he is responsible for his sin.’

Unfortunately, many Bibles translate the word used here, horkismou, as just swearing. And in American English, that generally means using a profanity. However, horkismou refers to swearing an oath (in vengeance), not to the use of profanities. So, although this verse is often used by religious groups to condemn the use of profanities, that isn’t implied by the verse.

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Last Lamb

The Twenty-Ninth Chapter of Exodus talks about a calf and two lambs that must be sacrificed as a rite of empowerment for Aaron and his sons to be Priests. And we have referred to the sacrificing of the last lamb as just that; the end of the ceremony, or the last lamb. However, other Bibles refer to this as the Sacrifice of Consecration, the Ram of Installation, etc. So, why have we deviated in our rendering of this term?

In Greek, the words kriou teleioseos simply mean lamb final. And it was for a fact the last lamb or sacrifice offered during that seven-day event. So, we feel that last lamb or the end of the ceremony more accurately reflect the words, as found in the Greek Septuagint.

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Perfect Lamb

In many other Bibles, we read that the Israelites were to offer unspotted lambs in their sacrifices to God. Did this mean that the animals were to be perfectly white with no spots, or did it mean that they were to be perfectly healthy?

It is interesting that the Greek word often translated as unspotted is hamartias, which really means without sin. Obviously, the word sin can’t really be applied to animals, as we understand those terms, so hamartias must have meant that the lambs were to be physically perfect. And we don’t know if this means that they should have no literal spots (as indicated by other Bibles), but that could have been implied. Yet, other sacrificial animals that are naturally spotted (such as bulls and goats) are also described as having to be perfect, since hamartias, or a related Greek word, hamoma (which can’t be directly translated into English) is also used to describe them. So, those words should actually be translated as sinless; however, translating it that way might be confusing to readers who would think of sin as actions, not physical attributes; so we have decided to use the word perfect (although that term is better translated from the Greek word telios… which was used to describe the Anointed Priest).

In view of the fact that God often required just the undesirable portions of an animal for sacrifices (the fat, liver, and kidneys), one might wonder why He required the animals to be healthy (not sick, lame, or deformed). Well, we first have to understand the meanings of the sacrifices. They were required to show the need for the sacrifice of a perfect human to redeem mankind in general from the effects of the imperfection, sin, and death that we inherited from Adam (due to his sin in the Paradise). At 1 Peter 1:19, for example, we can clearly see that these perfect animals which were sacrificed, pictured God’s offering of His perfect son, Jesus. And at John 1:29 he was described as ‘The Lamb of God who lifts sin from the world!’

Unfortunately, many today (due to religious cynicism and wrong teachings) have lost sight of just who Jesus was, what type of person he had to be, and why he had to die as he did. But, the perfection (hamartias) of the lamb and the perfection (telios) of the Anointed (christos or Christ) Priests showed that both had to be sinless… like Jesus, the perfect son of God.

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Sin of Aaron’s Sons

In Leviticus the Tenth Chapter, we read of something that was done by Aaron’s sons Nadab and AbiUd, which caused them to be destroyed by God, and for some of their priestly relatives to be cut off from Israel by being driven away from the camp. So, surely this was a very serious matter. What had they done?

We can’t be sure, simply because the Bible doesn’t tell us any more. However, after that, there is no mention of the Priests being allowed to use the sacred incense for any purpose other than on the incense Altar, which was inside the Tent of Proofs. And any person that used it, or made any of it for other purposes, was to be destroyed. So, perhaps their sin involved misuse of the sacred incense.

Why had they done such a thing? The answer to this is implied by God’s instructions that followed, ‘You and your sons must not drink any wine or liquor before you enter the Tent of Proofs or before you approach the Altar, so you don’t die.’ So apparently, Aaron’s two sons (and some of his relatives) had been drinking too much alcohol and got drunk, which led Nadab and AbiUd to do something foolish and disrespectful.

Notice also Moses’ instructions to the remaining Priests, that they shouldn’t bare their heads or rip their clothes over the deaths of these men. So, they weren’t to show any signs of mourning for those who have been destroyed by Jehovah, or any support for those who were cut off from the camp. Rather, their actions were to show the rest of Israel that they were in full support of God’s discipline.

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Leprosy

It is interesting that the disease we call leprosy today doesn’t seem to be the same as what was called leprosy in the Bible. While modern leprosy may appear to be the same, since the skin turns white and it is extremely debilitating, there are some major differences. For example, ancient leprosy seemed to have been extremely contagious, so people who had it weren’t allowed to come near to those who were healthy, while modern leprosy is listed as only ‘mildly contagious.’

Another difference is that the white skin coloration for modern leprosy comes from external skin scaling, while the Bible’s description of leprosy back then, was of a whiteness (or redness) that was internal or deep into the skin, and that it caused hollow spots under the skin. Also, notice that; once a person’s skin was turned completely white from the disease, God’s Law no longer considered them contagious (Leviticus 13:12-17).

Medical descriptions of modern leprosy say that it comes as the result of a bacterial infection. And while this may also have been true of ancient leprosy (in fact, it could have come from a bacteria that people have become largely immune to today), the fact that it could be found in clothing and leather goods, and that it was so hard to kill by washing, suggests that Bible leprosy may have been caused by a mold or fungus.

It would seem unlikely in the dry climate of Palestine that clothing in particular, would develop bacterial infections, unless they were extremely dirty, which is doubtful, knowing God’s view of cleanliness. However, mold can grow almost anywhere, and it is extremely hard to destroy. The fact that it grew on walls in Bible times seems to indicate that it was a type of mold.

Of interest are the descriptions of where and how leprosy developed in Bible times. Notice that it often started in wounds, sores, or in the hairline. And the fact that it was found on clothing (which was usually damp due to sweating in the arid climate), indicates that the disease was spread by close and prolonged contact with skin or through abrasions. However, modern Bedouins no longer seem to be plagued by this malady.

The fact that the bacteria, mold, or fungus was carried and transmitted from clothing and hair seems to be quietly affirmed by the fact that there is no mention of the disease attacking the genitals, which would be normally expected today, due the common use of tight-fitting underwear. Why not? Well, the ancient Israelites apparently didn’t wear them. The fact that underpants had to be specifically made for those who served in Jehovah’s Temple, indicates that such things weren’t customary.

Another interesting fact about the leprosy of Bible times, is that people who suffered from it could eventually (or even spontaneously) get over it without a need for modern antibiotics or treatments. The fact that Leviticus Chapter Fourteen gives extensive rules for the cleansing and repatriating of those who became well, indicates that this may have been a common occurrence.

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Reptiles and Birds

The Greek word that we have translated as ‘slithering animals’ herein, is herpeton, which is where the English word reptile comes from, as does herpetology – a study of reptiles. However, from the context, we (the translators) have concluded that the Bible wasn’t using this word to refer to the specific animal variety, but to its characteristic of slithering or crawling on the ground. This fact is born out by the types of animals that the Israelites were forbidden to eat (in the book of Leviticus), and listed among the herpeton are insects, weasels, and mice. So in most instances, we have rendered the word herpeton as slithering animal (or creature).

We have taken a similar liberty with the Greek word peteina, which is usually translated birds, but it literally means winged creatures, because bats are listed among them in Leviticus.

So, whereas modern science may have grouped all animals into types, such as mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, insects, fish, etc, the Bible groups them into flying creatures, wild animals, cattle, slithering things, and things that live in (or come from) the water. This difference doesn’t appear to be the result of a lack of recognition (on the part of Bible writers) of basic animal types, but rather, it appears to stem from the ways they are grouped to describe all possible animal species.

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Incest

Notice that the first laws that God gave forbidding incest are found in Leviticus the Eighteenth Chapter… and that more than just concerns about genetic problems caused by inbreeding are involved. Clearly, it was also a matter of propriety and respect. For, even having sexual relations with close relatives who are not genetically related was forbidden.

This is quite a different view from what faithful servants of God considered right and proper prior to that time. In fact, during the times of Adam and Noah (after the downpour), marrying anyone other than a close relative wasn’t an option. And in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, marriage to anyone other than a close relative was considered unwise, due to the corrupt practices of the nations that lived around them (Abraham married his half sister, and both Isaac and Jacob married first cousins).

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Homosexuality and Bestiality

If you search the Internet for references to Leviticus 18:22, you will find hundreds of them. Some of these are used to prove that God forbids homosexuality, and many more are written to argue against that thought. So, let’s consider what the Greek Bible text actually says. The words are, ‘Kai meta arsenos ou koimethese koiten bdelugma gar estin,’ or, ‘And with males not bed as/bed women, disgusting for is.’

So, the Law strictly forbade male/male intercourse here, and listed it in the same way as man/animal intercourse, calling the acts disgusting (gr. bdelugma). For, in the next verse (Leviticus 18:23) we read: ‘Nor may you lie down and have sex with any animal, for that would pollute you. Nor should any woman offer herself before any animal to have sex with it, because that would be disgusting.’

However, remember that this Law was given to, and just applied to, those living among the people of Israel. And as several Bible writers after the time of Jesus (especially Paul) pointed out, this old Law was superseded by the new Sacred Agreement of love.

Then, may we conclude that God no longer has a law against such things? No, for Paul clarified the matter (of homosexuality) at 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, where he listed ‘gays (gr. malakoi) and men who have sex with men (gr. arsenokoitai)’ with adulterers and other sexually immoral people; and he said that such ones wouldn’t ‘inherit God’s Kingdom.’

Also, Paul wrote (at Romans 1:26, 27), ‘And this is why God abandoned them to their dishonorable passions, for their females changed the natural use of themselves into something that’s unnatural, and the same is true of their males; for they left the natural use of females and started burning in their lust toward each other – males with males – doing what is indecent and receiving the type of reward they deserve for such wrongdoing.’

So, does this mean that such people are ‘eternally damned?’ No, it just means that God does not view them as righteous, but they still have a hope of a resurrection. For more information, see the linked documents The Hereafter and The Resurrection.

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Tent

The statement found at Leviticus 26:11 (‘I will pitch My tent among you’) may sound unusual to most people. For, why would God refer to Himself as living in a tent?

The Greek word that we have translated as tent is skene (pronounced skaynay). The word is used throughout the Bible and may also be translated as booth and as tabernacle. But really, none of these words (tent, booth, or tabernacle) is an accurate description of what skene means in the English language. It implies a temporary-type dwelling that can be made of cloths, skins, or sticks and branches. For example, God’s Sacred Tent in the desert was made of cloth and covered with skins, while the tents that the Israelites were to live in during what has become known as ‘the Festival of Booths,’ was made of sticks and branches.

The Greek word oikos (pronounce oy-koss), on the other hand, refers to a permanent dwelling, and it is usually translated as house. For example; When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, the Sacred Tent of Jehovah was to be temporary, but Solomon later built His Temple, which was referred to as a House. Yet, despite that description, God never really lived there. And that may be the reason why God refers to his coming to ‘tent’ with mankind (as at Revelation 21:3). The term likely refers to His temporary presence or representation, not to His coming to the earth to live among men.

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Signal of Release

As we have pointed out, some favorite expressions have been changed in this Bible translation to provide you a better, more accurate description of things, places, and events. And we have had to change the wonderful, joyful term ‘Jubilee Year,’ to reflect the actual words as they appear in the Greek text of the Bible. At Leviticus 25:11, notice that the Greek words found there (which are usually translated as Jubilee of release) are apheseos semassia, or release signal. So, no Jubilee is actually mentioned in the text.

Also, notice that the rule of releasing Israelite slaves seems to have been revised in the later book of Deuteronomy, for we read at Deuteronomy 15:12-14, ‘And if your brother (a Hebrew man or woman) should be sold to you, he may serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you should set him free. And when you set them free, don’t send them away empty-handed! You must give them provisions from your flock, your grain, and your wine… as Jehovah your God has blest you, that’s how you must treat them.’

Also, all debts were to be forgiven every seven years, for Deuteronomy 15:1-4 tells us: ‘Every seven years you must cancel debts, and these are the rules: You must cancel any debts that your neighbors owe you personally, and you must not ask them to pay them back, because this is a cancellation [of debts] to Jehovah your God. You may ask strangers to pay whatever they owe you, but not your brothers… you must cancel their debts. That way, there won’t be any poor people among you and Jehovah your God will surely bless you in the land that He’s giving you as your inheritance.’

So, apparently the only difference between the seventh years and the Release Years, had to do with the return of inherited land.

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Dedicated to Destruction

The instruction that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, as found at Leviticus 27:28, 29, has long confused Bible scholars. These verses appear to imply that any human who was dedicated to God should be put to death as some sort of a human sacrifice. For earlier (in verses one through seven), we read of people offering themselves and their families to Him. Was this indicating that they were the ones to be put to death?

No, for the verses are talking about two different sets of circumstances. However, much has been written about these verses, and there still seems to be some confusion.

The specific words found at Leviticus 27:29 read (in Greek), ‘Kai pan ho ean anathete opo ton anthropon ou lytrothesetai alla thanato thanatothesetai,’ or, ‘And all those who/are cursed of the men not ransomed but die the/death.’

So, as you can see, these verses refer to those who have been cursed (anathema), and it implies a vow to dedicate vile persons or nations to death. There is no indication (or record of) people being offered for sacrifice at Jehovah’s Temple. So the verse implies a vow to destroy those whom God deems worthy of destruction.

An example of the outworking of such an oath can be found at Numbers 21:2, 3, where the Israelites swore an oath to God to dedicate a particular group of Canaanites to Him if He would give them the victory over these enemies. The account says, ‘That was when Israel swore a vow to Jehovah, saying, If you will hand them over to us, we will dedicate them and their cities to You.’ So, Jehovah heard the voices of [the people of] Israel and gave the Canaanites into their hands, then they [totally destroyed] them and their cities. And they started calling that place The Cursed.

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Tent of Proofs

We are sure that many will object to our calling God’s place of worship in the desert a ‘tent’ rather than a ‘tabernacle.’ However, tabernacle is just an obsolete word, the true meaning of which most people misunderstand, so for clarification, we have opted to use the modern word, tent. Because, it was for a fact, a portable building made of cloth.

Actually, this tent is often referred to in Greek as the skenes tou marturion, or, Tent (or Temporary Dwelling) of Testimony. And the reason why they called it that, was because it housed the kiboton martyrion (Box [of] Witness), which is also referred to in other Bibles as the Ark of the Covenant. So, we have translated it as the Tent of Proofs wherever these Greek words are found.

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Perfect Priests

At Leviticus 4:5 (for example), we find an interesting description of a Priest to Jehovah who carried out his duties of offering up the blood of a sacrificial animal. In Greek he is described there as ho teteliomenos, which can be translated as, the perfect. However, this term is missing in the Hebrew text at that location, so we are unsure of its validity. If the current Hebrew text is right, the Septuagint has added questionable words. But if the word was originally there, then we must assume that they have been deleted from the Hebrew text. Which is true? Our current leaning is to trust the Septuagint, since it predates the available Hebrew texts. And it does logically follow that God must have considered the Priest perfect in his duties on such occasions, because of the required action that followed (entering the Sacred Tent).

These words (Perfect Priest) seem to describe a specific Priest among the Priests. In fact, the descriptions found at Leviticus Chapter Sixteen indicates that it refers to the person that was later described in the Bible as the High Priest, or as the one who may have been chosen annually to offer the sacrifices on what came to be known as The Day of Atonement.

Other Bibles have translated teteliomenos as consecrated, which isn’t a bad choice, since it indicates that the Priest was chosen to his work by God, and that could be implied. However, consecrated is an unfamiliar term today, so we have chosen not to use it. And notice that the root portion of that Greek word telios, means perfect, end, or finish. So we have selected perfect as the most likely meaning of the term here.

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Foreskin

It appears as though God has provided a secret sign, known only to God and a person’s mate, to indicate righteousness or a desire to be righteous; the foreskin of the genitalia. On males, this is the extra fold of skin around the top of the penis; and on females, it is the small piece of skin called the hymen. So, whether this skin remains unbroken or is removed, is something that is quite secret and unseen by others, but known by God and one’s mate.

It seems unusual that both of these small pieces of skin appear to have been made to be broken or cut off without creating any long-term injury or harm; and in the case of the hymen, is exclusive to humans. So, it appears as though man was deliberately created with the extra fold of skin, so that those who wished to remain faithful could choose to indicate this desire before God in a very private way.

We first learned of the meaning and need for males to be circumcised, when God told Abraham that he, his entire household, and all his descendants should have their foreskin removed. Note what He said as found at Genesis 17:10-12, ‘This is the Sacred Agreement between you and your seed (through all its generations) and Me: All of your males must be circumcised. The foreskin of your flesh must be circumcised. This will be the sign of the Sacred Agreement between you and Me. You must circumcise all of your male children when they are eight-days old, throughout all your generations. [This includes all the] servants who are born in your house, those who are bought with money, and it includes the sons of aliens who are not your seed.’

It is also interesting that new-born males were to be circumcised on the eighth day after their birth, because that is precisely the best time to perform this delicate operation, since that is the time when the least bleeding will occur. Who would have known this, other than God?

It was later on, after the death of Jesus, when many gentile converts were coming into the Christian Congregation, that the question of circumcision arose, for circumcised Jewish Christians were demanding that uncircumcised gentile converts should also be circumcised. And when the matter was brought before ‘the Holy Ones’ in Jerusalem, they decided that physical circumcision was just a sign that God required of the descendants of Abraham. So, they decreed (as found at Acts 15:28, 29), ‘It’s apparent to the Holy Breath [of God] and to us, that we shouldn’t put any burdens on you, other than these necessary things: Stay away from things that are sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things that are strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you stay away from these things, you will do well. Good health to you!’

In other words, physical circumcision was no longer required. However, notice what Moses wrote (as recorded at Deuteronomy 10:16, 17), ‘So, circumcise the hardness from your hearts and don’t be [rebellious], for Jehovah your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords.’

As you can see, there is both physical circumcision and a spiritual circumcision, which both amount to a removing of the sign of impurity (for males).

Females, of course, were not to be circumcised, because their foreskin is a sign of their virginity. And although modern people call the practice of surgically removing the clitoris (as is practiced by many peoples on the African continent today) ‘female circumcision,’ that is just mutilation, not a removal of the foreskin.

What is the purpose of establishing virginity among women? Because God’s view is that a husband has a right to choose a wife of high moral character who is clean and untouched. And for this, He provided the sign of the foreskin, which bleeds when first broken in sexual relations. So in ancient Israel (and among other descendants of Abraham), the custom was to provide the blanket or rug on which the marriage was consummated to the parents of the bride, as proof that she was a virgin. For we read at Deuteronomy 32:13-15, ‘If any man should take a wife who he comes to dislike after he has lived with her, then starts saying bad things about her and calling her bad names, saying, When I took this woman and had sex with her, she didn’t prove to be a virgin, her father and mother must bring the girl’s proof of virginity to the elders at the city gate.’

And, just as one can choose to be circumcised in the heart, one can also choose to be a spiritual virgin, for at Revelation 14:4 we read of such individuals: ‘These didn’t dirty themselves with women. In fact, they are virgins who keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. They were bought from mankind [and offered] as the first fruitage to God and to the Lamb.’

What type of virginity is being spoken of here? This scripture isn’t talking about living the life of a monk or a nun, but of someone who has kept him/herself pure in their worship of God. A contrasting person would be one who the Disciple James spoke of at James 4:4, where he said, ‘Adulteresses, don’t you know that if you’re a friend of the world, you’re an enemy of God? So, whoever wants to be a friend of the world is putting himself down as God’s enemy.’

For a graphic description of what a spiritual whore is to God, read His description of the unfaithfulness of Judah and Israel, using the pseudonyms Aholah and Aholibah, as found in Ezekiel the Twenty-Third Chapter.

On the other hand; in the account of the Bride of the Lamb found in Revelation 19:7, 8, we read, ‘Let’s rejoice, shout in joy, and glorify Him, because it’s time for the Lamb’s wedding! His bride has prepared herself, and she was found worthy to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen. This fine linen represents the righteous actions of the Holy Ones.’

Of course, according to the Law of God, this bride of Jesus (the Lamb) has to be a virgin, because of his heavenly position as the High Priest before God. For, notice what God required of the brides of the entire Priesthood class of Israel (Leviticus 21:13-15): ‘He may only take a wife who is a virgin and from his own tribe… not a widow, a divorcee, someone who has been violated, or a prostitute. He may only take a virgin from his own people as a wife, for he must not profane his seed among his people. I am Jehovah who makes him holy.’

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Capitals in Bible Names

You have likely noticed that we are putting some of the letters in Bible names in capital letters. For example, we’ve started spelling such names as Jonathan as JoNathan, Isaiah as IsaiJah, and Eliezer as EliEzer. Why? Well, partly to help with the correct pronunciations of the names, and partly to show some translating consistency.

We all know that the common English pronunciation of Jonathan (for example) is Jon-uh-thun. But did you know that the first part of the name (Io in Greek, Ieho in Hebrew) refers to the name Jehovah, and the second part of the Name (Nathan) means Gift? So, the name was originally pronounced closer to Ye-hoh-nuh-thahn.

In the case of names that end with an iah, as in Isaiah, the last part of the name often includes the name of God. Isaiah, for example, means Salvation [of] Jehovah, and it was originally pronounced Ee-sai-Yah. So, why have we substituted a capital ‘J’ for the letters ‘ie’ in both of the above cases? Well, we recognize that there is an inconsistency here, because there was no letter ‘J’ in Hebrew or Greek alphabets. However, we have the choice of changing all names that start with ‘J’ (such as Jesus, John, Jonah, Joshua, Jeremiah, etc.) to start with the letters ‘Ie’, or for consistency, we can change all the ‘Ies’ into ‘Js’, which is what we have done. Realize that several other Hebrew consonants are commonly mispronounced in English, which no one objects to, so this minor deviation should not be objectionable to the thinking.

Does this mean then that we are setting out a new rule for name spelling? Absolutely not, for centuries ago, a Bible translator first established this rule when he spelled the name Eliou (Greek spelling, pronounced ay-lee-ou) and wrote it as EliJah, because this name is regarded as meaning ‘My God is Jehovah.’

Also notice that where a name ends with an iah, as in Jeremiah (Jehovah exalts), we have often spelled it as iJah, because the I would typically be pronounced as a long E, followed by a Y in Hebrew, and writing it without the I (as in JeremJah) misses this nuance. So, we have rendered it as JeremiJah, which is similar to the way it is often pronounced by modern-day Hebrew-speaking Jews, YeremiYah.

Another important word in names that we usually capitalize is ‘El’ (from the Hebrew Elohe, or God). So EliEzer (which people commonly pronounce Eelai-eezer and means God [has] Helped) should actually be pronounced El-ee-eh-zer. The same is true for the letters Ai, especially in the names of cities, because Ai in Hebrew refers to the word city. So, AiLam (for example) probably meant the City of Lam.

Similar words, such as Bel (as in BelShazzar), Baal, and Beel, refer to ‘the Lord’ or ‘the God.’ Also, the prefixes ‘Ben’ and ‘Bar’ mean ‘the son of.’ ‘Beth’ means ‘the house of,’ ‘Beer’ refers to a ‘well,’ ‘Is’ or ‘Ish’ means ‘Man,’ etc.

Does this mean that we have put all the capitals in the right places? No, for we make no claim to Hebrew scholarship (all our translating here has been from Greek). So, what we are trying to do is provide a better understanding to how these names were pronounced by First-Century Christians.

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