'May' in the Bible

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you may bring your offering from the herd or the flock.

“If his gift is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord.

You may present them to the Lord as an offering of firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma.

Or if someone swears rashly to do what is good or evil—concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.

“But if he cannot afford an animal from the flock, then he may bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons as restitution for his sin—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

“But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he may bring two quarts of fine flour as an offering for his sin. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.

or finds something lost and lies about it; or swears falsely about any of the sinful things a person may do—

In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it. It is to be eaten in the form of unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

Any male among Aaron’s descendants may eat it. It is a permanent portion throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the Lord. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy.”

Any male among the priests may eat it; it is especially holy.

But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned up.

Any male among the priests may eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place; it is especially holy.

“Now this is the law of the fellowship sacrifice that someone may present to the Lord:

The meat of his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship must be eaten on the day he offers it; he may not leave any of it until morning.

“If the sacrifice he offers is a vow or a freewill offering, it is to be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and what is left over may be eaten on the next day.

“Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned up. Everyone who is clean may eat any other meat.

The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is mauled by wild beasts may be used for any purpose, but you must not eat it.

Moses said, “This is what the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair hang loose and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the Lord will become angry with the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn over that tragedy when the Lord sent the fire.

But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution in any ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the Israelites’ fellowship sacrifices.

“Tell the Israelites: You may eat all these kinds of land animals.

You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud.

“This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams.

But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground.

You may eat these:any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, and grasshopper.

in order to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animals that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”

But if she doesn’t have sufficient means for a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.”

The one who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; he is clean. Afterward he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days.

The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the most holy place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.

The man who released the goat for azazel is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

Therefore I say to the Israelites: None of you and no foreigner who lives among you may eat blood.

“Any Israelite or foreigner living among them, who hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.

“When you offer a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.

He may make himself unclean for his young unmarried sister in his immediate family.

“Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.

He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy.

When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the holy offerings, for that is his food.

But if a priest purchases someone with his money, that person may eat it, and those born in his house may eat his food.

But if the priest’s daughter becomes widowed or divorced, has no children, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may share her father’s food. But no outsider may share it.

You are not to present any animal to the Lord that is blind, injured, maimed, or has a running sore, festering rash, or scabs; you may not put any of them on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord.

You may sacrifice as a freewill offering any animal from the herd or flock that has an elongated or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable as a vow offering.

When you sacrifice a thank offering to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

“Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord wherever you live.

He will wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.”

Place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread and a fire offering to the Lord.

You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years.

All of its growth may serve as food for your livestock and the wild animals in your land.

It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field.

“You are to keep My statutes and ordinances and carefully observe them, so that you may live securely in the land.

If your brother becomes destitute and sells part of his property, his nearest relative may come and redeem what his brother has sold.

he may calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man he sold it to, and return to his property.

But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in the possession of its purchaser until the Year of Jubilee. It is to be released at the Jubilee, so that he may return to his property.

The open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for it is their permanent possession.

Let him stay with you as a hired hand or temporary resident; he may work for you until the Year of Jubilee.

Then he and his children are to be released from you, and he may return to his clan and his ancestral property.

Your male and female slaves are to be from the nations around you; you may purchase male and female slaves.

You may also purchase them from the foreigners staying with you, or from their families living among you—those born in your land. These may become your property.

You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But concerning your brothers, the Israelites, you must not rule over one another harshly.

he has the right of redemption after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him.

His uncle or cousin may redeem him, or any of his close relatives from his clan may redeem him. If he prospers, he may redeem himself.

“If the vow involves one of the animals that may be brought as an offering to the Lord, any of these he gives to the Lord will be holy.

He may not replace it or make a substitution for it, either good for bad, or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

“If the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the Lord, the animal must be presented before the priest.