Study Desk

"So Aaron will make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar pure. Then he will bring the living goat to the front of the tent.

So the goat will carry all the people's sins on itself into the empty desert. The man who leads the goat will let it loose in the desert.

That law will continue forever. Once every year you will purify the Israelites from all their sins." So they did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

It doesn't matter; you must bring that animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. You must give a part of that animal as a gift to the Lord . You spilled blood, so you must take a gift to the Lord 's Holy Tent. If you don't take part of the animal as a gift to the Lord , you must be separated from your people!

This rule is so that you will bring your fellowship offering to the Lord . You must bring any animal that you kill in the field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Bring those animals to the priest.

This is because the life of every kind of animal is in its blood. So I give this command to the Israelites: Don't eat meat that still has blood in it! Whoever eats blood must be separated from their people.

"You must never have sexual relations with your father or mother. She is your mother, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

"You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

"So you must obey my laws and rules. You must not do any of these terrible sins. These rules are for the citizens of Israel and the people living among you.

Those who lived in the land before you have done all these terrible things. So the land became filthy.

"Tell all the Israelites: I am the Lord your God. I am holy, so you must be holy.

"When you offer a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord , you must offer it in the right way so that you will be accepted.

"Don't secretly hate any of your neighbors. But tell them openly what they have done wrong so that you will not be just as guilty of sin as they are.

"I will be against anyone who goes to mediums and wizards for advice. Whoever does this is being unfaithful to me. So I will separate them from their people.

"Whoever curses their father or mother must be put to death. They cursed their father or mother, so they are responsible for their own death!

I am forcing other people to leave that country because they committed all those sins. I hate those sins! So don't live the way those people lived.

So you must treat clean animals differently from unclean animals. You must also treat clean birds differently from unclean birds. Don't eat any of these unclean birds or animals or things that crawl on the ground. I have made these things unclean.

I have separated you from other nations to be my own special people. So you must be holy because I am the Lord , and I am holy.

his unmarried sister. (This sister is close to him because she has no husband. So the priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies.)

Priests must be holy for their God. They must show respect for God's name. They offer the bread and special gifts to the Lord , so they must be holy.