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Leviticus 24

Leviticus 24 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Leviticus 24 sets out duties for worship in the tabernacle and then moves to serious matters of justice in the camp. It shows steady care for holy things, reverence for God's name, and fair treatment under the same law for everyone in Israel.

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What happens in Leviticus 24?

The chapter begins with instructions for pure olive oil so the lamps in the tent of meeting will burn continually, tended by Aaron before the LORD. It then gives rules for the showbread: twelve loaves arranged before God each Sabbath, with frankincense and a holy portion for Aaron and his sons. The second half records a man who blasphemed the Name during a dispute. After seeking the LORD's judgment, the community carries out the sentence. The chapter closes with laws of fair punishment, including life for life and equal standards for native and foreign resident alike.

Leviticus 24 follows the appointed times in chapter 23 and continues the theme of holy life among God's people. It moves from sacred worship in the tabernacle to a legal case that clarifies the seriousness of honoring God's name. The chapter also prepares for the justice and land instructions that continue in chapter 25.

Themes to notice

  • Continual WorshipThe lamps and bread show ongoing attention to God's presence and covenant care.
  • Reverence for God's NameBlasphemy is treated as a grave offense, showing the holiness of God's name.
  • Just JudgmentThe closing laws stress measured, equal justice for harm done to others.

Questions for Leviticus 24

  • What do the lamp oil and showbread teach about steady worship before the LORD?
  • Why is the blasphemy case handled by waiting for the LORD's judgment first?
  • How does the chapter describe fairness in punishment for both natives and foreign residents?

Read the full text of Leviticus 24 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Leviticus 24

The Oil for the Lamps

1Then the LORD said to Moses,2“Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.3Outside the veil of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps continually before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come.4He shall tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.

The Showbread

5You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,6and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD.7And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, an offering made by fire to the LORD.8Every Sabbath day the bread is to be set out before the LORD on behalf of the Israelites as a permanent covenant.9It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place; for it is to him a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the LORD—his portion forever.”

Punishment for Blasphemy

10Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite.11The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)12They placed him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.13Then the LORD said to Moses,14“Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.15And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses his God, he shall bear the consequences of his sin.16Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must surely be put to death; the whole assembly must surely stone him, whether he is a foreign resident or native; if he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

17And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.18Whoever kills an animal must make restitution—life for life.19If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him:20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he injured the other person, the same must be inflicted on him.21Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death.22You are to have the same standard of law for the foreign resident and the native; for I am the LORD your God.’”

23Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

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