1. The Lord said to Moses:
2. Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful how they treat the holy things that the Israelites devote to me so that they do not make my holy name impure: I am the Lord.
3. Say to them: If any descendant of yours should ever come near the holy things that the Israelites have dedicated to the Lord while he is in an unclean state, he will be cut off from before me; I am the Lord.
4. Any descendant of Aaron who is afflicted with skin disease or has a discharge cannot eat of the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who touches anything made unclean by a dead body, or who has an emission of semen,
5. or who touches any swarming creature or another person who makes him unclean—whatever the uncleanness might be—
6. the person who touches these things will be unclean until evening. He must not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.
7. Once the sun has set and he has become clean again, he may eat of the holy things, for that is his food.
8. He must not eat an animal that has died naturally or that was killed by another animal, becoming unclean by doing so; I am the Lord.
9. The priests must keep my requirement so that they don’t become liable to punishment and die for having made it impure. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.
10. No layperson is allowed to eat the holy offerings. No foreign guest or hired laborer of a priest can eat it.