Study Desk

"This shall be a permanent statute for you, so that atonement may be made for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year." So he did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

"Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'This is what the LORD has commanded, saying,

"Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'I am the LORD your God.

'You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the LORD.

"Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

"Moreover, you shall say to the children of Israel, 'Any Israelite or any stranger residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech (the god of the Ammonites) [as a human sacrifice] shall most certainly be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

'I will also set My face against that man [opposing him, withdrawing My protection from him] and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them], because he has given some of his children to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.

'If the people of the land should ever tolerate that man when he gives any of his children [as a burnt offering] to Molech, and fail to put him to death [as My law requires],

so that he will not profane or dishonor his children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies the high priest.'"

"Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings, gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name; I am the LORD.

"Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The appointed times (established feasts) of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

"Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

"Say to the children of Israel, 'On the first day of the seventh month (almost October), you shall observe a day of solemn sabbatical rest, a memorial day announced by the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

"Say to the children of Israel, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and for seven days, is the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) to the LORD.

"Command the children of Israel to bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light [of the golden lampstand], to make a lamp burn continually.

"Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I am giving you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.

and then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the property of his fathers.

'Moreover, from the children of the strangers who live as aliens among you, from them you may buy slaves and from their families who are with you, whom they have produced in your land; they may become your possession.

'You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression).

'Even if he is not redeemed during these years and under these provisions, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.