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King James Bible - Old Testament Leviticus
God told Moses to have his people sacrifice cattle, sheep or fowl. Aaron and his sons were to eat a portion of the meat. God described various sorts of offerings to Moses. A peace offering involved the kidneys of a cow, lamb or goat. A sin sacrifice would come from a bullock. A leader should sacrifice a goat kid and a commoner a female kid. Someone who saw a sin was to sacrifice either a male or female kid or two doves. Sin offerings were to be wholly burnt and never eaten.
A trespass offering was to be prepared in the same way. No children of Israel are to eat blood or fat for these are to be burnt to God. God told Moses to make a great sin offering for all of his people. God's fire consumed the sacrifice. Moses told the people to keep their heads covered. The priests were not to drink wine in the tabernacle. He also instructed that,
"Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divided not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the coney....And the hare....And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean unto you." Leviticus, 11:3-7
Everything in the water without fin or scales was declared unclean as well as swan, pelican, stork, bat and heron. Anyone who touched one of these beasts was made unclean. Lizards and snakes were also unclean. Women were unclean for a time after bearing children. Priests were to watch out for lepers. If a leper was healed, he was to make a sacrifice, wash all his clothing and shave his hair. A house plagued by leprosy was to be cleaned or burned. A woman was to be considered unclean while she menstruated and any man who slept with her during this time was considered unclean. Anywhere she sat during this time was also considered unclean.
The tenth day of the seventh month God commanded to be another day of rest. All animals killed by Israelites were to be killed at the tabernacle. Family members were not to see other family members naked except for husband and wife. God decreed that men should not have sex with men or beasts. God restated many of the commandments and reiterated that people should be kinder and "love they neighbor as thyself...." Leviticus, 19:18. Men could be forgiven for sleeping with servants but could have neither tattoos nor piercings. Children were forbidden to swear against their parents and incest was strictly forbidden. A priest could marry only a virgin and if his daughter turned whore she was to be burned. The corner portions of harvest were reserved for the poor. Murderers and blasphemers were to be put to death.
Every seventh year was decreed to be a year of rest and people were to return to celebrate with their families the forty-ninth year. God reviewed the commandments with Moses and promised destruction if they were not kept. One-tenth of the land was to be given to God. Moses kept these commandments for the children of Israel.
