About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand.  In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form. 

The book of Leviticus

Leviticus 20 -22
Rules against sacrificing children
Rules against sexual relations with family members
Rules about priests
Rules about the food offered for sacrifices

Leviticus 20


Rules against sacrificing children

God talked to Moses. Some of the people (not Israelites) in that area at that time worshiped an idol or false god named Molech. Some of these people burned their own children as sacrifices to Molech. God said that none of the Israelites should sacrifice their children to Molech. The other people who live with the Israelites should not sacrifice their children either. The people who are bad and sacrifice their children should be stoned to death. This means that the other Israelites will throw rocks at them and kill them. 
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.


God will be against the people who offer child sacrifices. Those people will be cut off from the Israelites. This means that they will not be part of God's people anymore.  It is wrong to sacrifice children. It makes the altar unclean, and it brings shame to God's holy name. 
[3] And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

If someone sacrifices his child to Molech, and the other Israelites do not kill him,  God will cut them all off--the man, his family, and the people who did nothing.
[4] And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
[5] Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

The Israelites should not go to mediums or wizards

God will also punish people who go to mediums or wizards. Mediums are people who say they can talk to dead people. Wizards are people who do magic. God will cut off people who go to mediums or wizards.
[6] And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.


God is Lord, and the people should obey His laws and be clean. God made them holy.
[7] Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
[8] And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.

Respect for parents

No one should curse (talk bad to) his father or mother. If he does, he will be killed, and it will be his own fault.
[9] For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

The Israelites should not commit adultery

No one should commit adultery (have sexual relations with a person who is married to someone else). If they do, both the man and the woman will be killed. 
[10] And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

The Israelites should not have sexual relations with people in their families


A man should not have sexual relations with any of his father's other wives. If he does, both he and the woman will be killed.
[11] And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.


A man should not have sexual relations with his daughter-in-law. If he does, both he and the woman will be killed.
[12] And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

A man should not have sexual relations with another man. If he does, both he and the other man will be killed.
[13] If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.


A man should not marry both a woman and her mother. If he does, he and both women will be killed with fire.
[14] And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

A man should not have sexual relations with an animal. If he does, both he and the animal will be killed.
[15] And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.


A woman should not have sexual relations with an animal. If she does, both she and the animal will be killed.
[16] And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.


A man should not have sexual relations with his sister or his half-sister. If he does, both he and the woman must leave the community.
[17] And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.


A man should not have sexual relations with a woman who is having her monthly period. If he does, both he and the woman must leave the community.
[18] And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.


A man should not have sexual relations with any of his aunts.
[19] And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.


A man should not have sexual relations with any of his uncles' wives. If he does, both he and the woman will never have children.
[20] And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.


A man should not have sexual relations with any of his brothers' wives. If he does, he and the woman will never have children.
[21] And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.


God wants the Israelites to obey His laws. The people who lived in Canaan before the Israelites did not obey God's laws.  God was angry and disgusted with them.  They will be put out of the land. If the Israelites behave the same as the Canaanites, they will be put out, too.
[22] Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
[23] And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.


God promised that the Israelites would live in Canaan. Canaan was a land "flowing with milk and honey". That means it was a very good land, and things would grow well there. God said that the Israelites were special, and they would have land away from other people. 
[24] But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

The Israelites should obey God's laws


The Israelites should remember God's laws about clean and unclean animals and birds.  They should not eat any animal or bird that is unclean.  If they eat unclean animals or birds, they are unclean, too.
[25] Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.


God is holy, and the Israelites should be holy, too.  God separated the Israelites from the other people. They are God's special people.
[26] And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.


No one should go to a person who says they talk to dead people or a person who does magic. If they do, they should be stoned to death (killed by other people throwing rocks at them).  It will be their own fault because they did not obey God's laws.
[27] A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

Leviticus 21


Rules about the priests


God told Moses some rules for Aaron and his sons, the priests. Being around dead people made the priests unclean. They should not go to funerals for people in their family unless it is their mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister. They should not go to funerals for people who are family only by marriage (in-laws).
[1] And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
[2] But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,
[3] And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.
[4] But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.


When the priests were mourning (sad because someone died), they should not shave their heads, cut their beards, or cut on their skin. 
[5] They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.


The priests make the offerings to God. The priests should be holy. They should not do things to bring shame to God's name.  
[6] They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.


A priest is holy. He should not marry a divorced woman, a woman who is not a virgin, or a prostitute. 
[7] They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.


God told Moses that the priests were special and holy.  The priests give the offerings to God, and God is holy.
[8] Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.


If the priests' daughters become prostitutes, they bring shame to their fathers. People will think bad about their fathers. The daughters should be burned with fire.
[9] And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

When one of the Israelites died, the people in his family did things to show they were very sad. They messed up their hair, and they ripped their clothes.  But the priests should not do these things when they are sad. The priests were anointed (made special), and they can wear the special priests' clothes. Also, in the anointing ceremony, they had anointing oil poured on their heads. So they should not tear their clothes or mess up their hair. 
[10] And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;


The priests should not go near any dead bodies, even if it is his father or mother. He should not leave the Tabernacle and go into houses where dead bodies are.
[11] Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
[12] Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.

The rule about the priest's wives


The Israelite priests could marry. But the priest's wife should be a virgin.  She should not have been married before. She should not be a widow (a woman whose first husband died). She should not be a divorced woman. She should not be a prostitute. The priest's wife should be from his own tribe.
[13] And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
[14] A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.


If the priest follows this rule about a wife, God will continue to make his descendants holy. His descendants will continue to be priests.
[15] Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.

Priests cannot have any physical problems


God talked to Moses and gave him this law.  A priest should be physically perfect. He should not have any physical problems.  A priest cannot be blind or  lame (cannot walk normally).  A priest cannot have any problems on his face.  A priest cannot have a crooked foot, hand, or back. A priest cannot have an eye disease or skin disease. A priest cannot have damaged testicles (male parts).  
[16] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[17] Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
[18] For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
[19] Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
[20] Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;


No man with physical problems can be a priest. He cannot make the burnt offerings or food offerings to God. He may eat the food offerings, but he cannot go into the holy place or the most holy place. He would make the holy places unclean.
[21] No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
[22] He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
[23] Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

Moses told Aaron, his sons, and all of the Israelites these rules.
[24] And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

Leviticus 22


Times when priests are unclean


God talked to Moses. God told Moses some more rules for the priests. These rules are about times when the priests are unclean. When they are unclean, they should not make the offerings to God. If they are unclean, they also cannot eat the holy food offerings. If they make the offerings when they are unclean, they will be cut off. That means they will not be able to be priests anymore. 
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.
[3] Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.


These are some times when a priest would be unclean:  if he has a skin disease, if he has a discharge, if he touches anything that is dead, if he has an emission of semen, and if he touches any unclean animal or unclean person. 
[4] What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
[5] Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;


If a priest touches anything that is unclean, he is also unclean until that evening. He cannot eat the holy food offerings until he takes a bath in water. 
[6] The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
[7] And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.

A priest should eat only animals that have been killed for eating.  He should not eat an animal that was sick and died or was killed by another animal. The Lord God made the priests holy, and they must obey his laws. If they do not obey his laws, they will die.
[8] That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.
[9] They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

Rules about who can eat the holy food (the food that other Israelites brought to the tabernacle for offerings)


The priest and the priest's family are the only ones who can eat the holy food.  No other people are allowed to eat the holy food. If they priest has visitors or people who work for him, they are not allowed to eat the holy food. But if the priest owns a slave that he bought or a slave who was born in his house, the slave can eat the holy food. 
[10] There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
[11] But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.

This rule is about the priest's daughter who is married. If the priest's son-in-law is not a priest,  the priest's daughter is not allowed to eat the holy food. But if the priest's daughter is divorced or her husband died, and she has no children, she is allowed to eat the holy food.
[12] If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.
[13] But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.


If someone eats the holy food but he didn't realize that it was holy food, he must pay the priest back for it. He must also add 20% of the food's value.
[14] And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.


The priests should respect the holy food that the Israelites offered to God. If they allow other people to eat the food, they cause the other people to be punished. 
[15] And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;
[16] Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

Rules about animals used for offerings


God talked to Moses. He told Moses to give the Israelites this rule about animals used for burnt offerings. The rule was for offerings that were made for promises or freewill (voluntarily, not required). If an Israelite or a person from another country makes an offering, they should offer a perfect animal. The animal can be a cow, sheep, or goat. The animal should be perfect with nothing wrong with it.  If it has something wrong with it, they should not offer it.  It will not be accepted.   
[17] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[18] Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;
[19] Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
[20] But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.



Any animal used for a peace offering should be perfect. It should have nothing wrong with it.  The animal cannot be blind, have bad legs, or have skin problems.  The animals with problems cannot be used for offerings to God.
[21] And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
[22] Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.


If a person is making a freewill (volunteer) offering, he may offer a bull or lamb that has one leg shorter than the other three legs. But he cannot use the animal for an offering made for a promise. 
[23] Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.


They should not offer animals with damaged testicles. The animal's testicles should not be bruised, crushed, torn, or cut.
[24] Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.


They should not offer animals that they bought from other people (people who are not Israelites).  God will not accept these animals. These animals are not perfect. 
[25] Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.


God talked to Moses. He told him a rule about baby animals. Animals for sacrifices should be at least 8 days old. This rule is for baby cows, sheep, or goats.
[26] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[27] When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.


They should not sacrifice a mother cow and her baby calf on the same day.  Also they should not sacrifice a mother goat and her baby on the same day. The same rule is for mother sheep and their babies. 
[28] And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.


When an Israelite makes an offering to thank God for His blessings,  he should offer it of his own free will (no one forces him to offer it). He should eat the offering the same day. He should not leave any of it until the next day. God is Lord.
[29] And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.
[30] On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.

The Israelites should obey God's laws. They should not bring shame to God's name. God should be honored and respected by the Israelites. God chose the Israelites and made them holy. He brought them out of Egypt. He is their Lord God.
[31] Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.
[32] Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
[33] That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.