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Pentateuch · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Leviticus 24

Holiness, sacrifice, priesthood, purity, atonement, and life near God's presence.

Old Testament

Leviticus 24

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.

3Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.

4He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before the LORD continually.

5“You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake.

6You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD.

7You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to the LORD.

8Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually. It is an everlasting covenant on the behalf of the children of Israel.

9It shall be for Aaron and his sons. They shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.”

10The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp.

11The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.

12They put him in custody until the LORD’s will should be declared to them.

13The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

14“Bring him who cursed out of the camp; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

15You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.

16He who blasphemes the LORD’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name.

17“‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.

18He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life.

19If anyone injures his neighbor, it shall be done to him as he has done:

20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It shall be done to him as he has injured someone.

21He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death.

22You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am the LORD your God.’”

23Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Holiness, sacrifice, priesthood, purity, atonement, and life near God's presence. Read Leviticus 24 within the complete Leviticus overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Leviticus 24

Leviticus 24 contains 23 verses and about 504 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 23 closes: “Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as the LORD commanded…” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include israel, children, moses, pure, continually, name. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Leviticus 24

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Leviticus 24:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer