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Leviticus 17

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them; This is the word which Jehovah has commanded, saying,

3 A man, a man from the house of Israel, who slaughters an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,

4 and brings it not to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering to Jehovah before the Habitation of Jehovah; blood shall be reckoned to that man; he has shed blood; and that man shall be cut·​·off from among his people;

5 for the sake that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice on the faces of the field, and that they may bring them to Jehovah, to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace·​·offerings to Jehovah.

6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Jehovah at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and burn·​·for·​·incense the fat for a restful smell to Jehovah.

7 And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to satyrs, after whom they have committed·​·harlotry. This shall be a statute for eternity to them to their generations.

8 And thou shalt say to them, A man, a man there be of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners which sojourn among you, that offers·​·up a burnt·​·offering or sacrifice,

9 and brings it not to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, to make it an offering to Jehovah; even that man shall be cut·​·off from his peoples.

10 And a man, a man there be of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners that sojourn among you, that eats any blood; I will even put My face against the soul who eats the blood, and will cut· him ·off from among his people.

11 For the soul of the flesh, it is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make·​·atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes·​·atonement for the soul.

12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, Not any soul of you shall eat blood, and the sojourner who sojourns in your midst shall not eat blood.

13 And a man, a man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourner sojourning in your midst, who hunts a hunting of a wild·​·animal or fowl that may be eaten, he shall also spill its blood, and cover it with dust.

14 For it is the soul of all flesh; its blood, it is with the soul of the flesh*; and I said to the sons of Israel, the blood of all flesh you shall not eat: for the soul of all flesh is its blood; all who eat it shall be cut·​·off.

15 And every soul that eats a carcass, or that which was torn, whether among the native born or among the sojourner, he shall both wash his garments, and bathe himself in the water, and be·​·unclean until the evening; and then shall he be·​·clean.

16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Field

  
The Sower, by Vincent van Gogh

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.