Parashah 24: Vayikra (He called) 1:1–5:26(6:7)

1 Adonai called to Moshe and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, ² “Speak to the people of Isra’el; say to them, ‘When any of you brings an offering to Adonai, you may bring your animal offering either from the herd or from the flock. ³ If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he must offer a male without defect. He is to bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, so that it can be accepted by Adonai. ⁴ He is to lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. ⁵ He is to slaughter the young bull before Adonai ; and the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to present the blood. They are to splash the blood against all sides of the altar, which is by the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁶ He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it in pieces. ⁷ The descendants of Aharon the cohen are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. ⁸ The sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to arrange the pieces, the head and the fat on the wood which is on the fire on the altar. ⁹ He is to wash the entrails and lower parts of the legs with water, and the cohen is to cause all of it to go up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.

¹⁰ “‘If his offering is from the flock, whether from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he must offer a male without defect. ¹¹ He is to slaughter it on the north side of the altar before Adonai; and the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. ¹² He is to cut it into pieces, and the cohen is to arrange them with the head and fat on the wood which is on the fire on the altar. ¹³ He is to wash the entrails and lower parts of the legs with water; and the cohen is to offer it all and make it go up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.

(ii) ¹⁴ “‘If his offering to Adonai is a burnt offering of birds, he must offer a dove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵ The cohen is to bring it to the altar, snap off its head and make it go up in smoke on the altar; its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶ He is to remove the food pouch and its feathers from its neck and discard it on the pile of ashes just east of the altar. ¹⁷ He is to pull it open with a wing on each side, but without tearing it in half. The cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar, on the wood which is on the fire, as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.

2 “‘Anyone who brings a grain offering to Adonai is to make his offering of fine flour; he is to pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. ² He is to bring it to the sons of Aharon, the cohanim. The cohen is to take a handful of fine flour from it, together with its olive oil and all its frankincense, and make this reminder portion go up in smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai. ³ But the rest of the grain offering will belong to Aharon and his sons; it is an especially holy part of the offerings for Adonai made by fire.

⁴ “‘When you bring a grain offering which has been baked in the oven, it is to consist of either unleavened cakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil or matzah spread with olive oil. ⁵ If your offering is a grain offering cooked on a griddle, it is to consist of unleavened fine flour mixed with olive oil; ⁶ you are to break it in pieces and pour olive oil on it — it is a grain offering. (iii) ⁷ If your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pot, it is to consist of fine flour with olive oil.

⁸ “‘You are to bring the grain offering prepared in any of these ways to Adonai ; it is to be presented to the cohen, and he is to bring it to the altar. ⁹ The cohen is to remove the reminder portion of the grain offering and make it go up in smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai. ¹⁰ But the rest of the grain offering will belong to Aharon and his sons; it is an especially holy part of the offerings for Adonai made by fire.

¹¹ “‘No grain offering that you bring to Adonai is to be made with leaven, because you are not to cause any leaven or honey to go up in smoke as an offering made by fire to Adonai. ¹² As an offering of firstfruits you may bring these to Adonai, but they are not to be brought up onto the altar to make a fragrant aroma. ¹³ You are to season every grain offering of yours with salt — do not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God, but offer salt with all your offerings.

¹⁴ “‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to Adonai, you are to bring as the grain offering from your firstfruits kernels of grain from fresh ears, dry-roasted with fire. ¹⁵ Put olive oil on it, and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The cohen is to cause the reminder portion of it, its grits and olive oil, with all its frankincense, to go up in smoke; it is an offering made by fire for Adonai.

3 (iv) “‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, then, if he offers before Adonai an animal from the herd, then, no matter whether it is male or female, it must be without defect. ² He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to splash the blood against all sides of the altar. ³ He is to present the sacrifice of the peace offerings as an offering made by fire to Adonai; it is to consist of the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, ⁴ the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. ⁵ Aharon’s sons will make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering which is on the wood on the fire; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.

⁶ “‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai is from the flock, then, when he offers it, no matter whether it is male or female, it must be without defect. ⁷ If he brings a lamb for his offering, then he is to present it before Adonai. ⁸ He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aharon are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. ⁹ From the sacrifices made as peace offerings, he is to present Adonai with an offering made by fire; it is to consist of its fat, the entire fat tail, which he will remove close to the lower backbone, the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, ¹⁰ the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. ¹¹ The cohen will make it go up in smoke on the altar; it is food, an offering made by fire to Adonai.

¹² “‘If his offering is a goat, then he is to present it before Adonai. ¹³ He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aharon are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. ¹⁴ He is to present from it his offering, an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is to consist of the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, ¹⁵ the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The cohen will make them go up in smoke on the altar; it is food, an offering made by fire to be a fragrant aroma; all the fat belongs to Adonai. ¹⁷ It is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations wherever you live that you will eat neither fat nor blood.’”

4 (v) Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If anyone sins inadvertently against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, if he does any one of them, ³ then, if it is the anointed cohen who sinned and thus brought guilt on the people, he is to offer Adonai a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he committed. ⁴ He must bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai, lay his hand on the bull’s head and slaughter the bull in the presence of Adonai. ⁵ The anointed cohen is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tent of meeting. ⁶ The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the presence of Adonai in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. ⁷ The cohen is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense before Adonai there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood of the bull he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ He is to remove from the bull for the sin offering all of its fat — the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, ⁹ the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys ¹⁰ as it is removed from an ox sacrificed as a peace offering; and the cohen is to make these parts go up in smoke on the altar for burnt offerings. ¹¹ But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head, the lower parts of its legs, its inner organs and dung — ¹² in other words, the entire bull — he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are emptied out. There he is to burn it on wood with fire; there, where the ashes are emptied out, it is to be burned up.

¹³ “‘If the entire community of Isra’el inadvertently makes a mistake, with the assembly being unaware of the matter, and they do something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, they are guilty. ¹⁴ When the sin they have committed becomes known, then the assembly is to offer a young bull as a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ The leaders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter the bull in the presence of Adonai. ¹⁶ The anointed cohen is to bring some of the bull’s blood to the tent of meeting. ¹⁷ The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of Adonai in front of the curtain. ¹⁸ He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar before Adonai, there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹ He is to remove all its fat and make it go up in smoke on the altar. ²⁰ This is what he is to do with the bull — he must do the same with this bull as he does with the one for the sin offering. Thus the cohen will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. ²¹ He is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

²² “‘When a leader sins and inadvertently does something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. ²³ If the sin which he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a male goat without defect, ²⁴ lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering in the presence of Adonai ; it is a sin offering. ²⁵ The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. Its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. ²⁶ All its fat he is to make go up in smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice for peace offerings; thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.

(vi) ²⁷ “‘If an individual among the people commits a sin inadvertently, doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. ²⁸ If the sin he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a female goat without defect for the sin he committed, ²⁹ lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place of burnt offerings. ³⁰ The cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. ³¹ All its fat he is to remove, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

³² “‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect, ³³ lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter burnt offerings. ³⁴ The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ All its fat he is to remove, as the fat of a lamb is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for Adonai made by fire. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed, and he will be forgiven.

5 “‘If a person who is a witness, sworn to testify, sins by refusing to tell what he has seen or heard about the matter, he must bear the consequences. ² If a person touches something unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, a domestic animal or a reptile, he is guilty, even though he may not be aware that he is unclean. ³ If he touches some human uncleanness, no matter what the source of his uncleanness is, and is unaware of it, then, when he learns of it, he is guilty. ⁴ If someone allows to slip from his mouth an oath to do evil or to do good, and he doesn’t remember that he clearly spoke this oath, then, no matter what it was about, when he learns of it, he is guilty. ⁵ A person guilty of any of these things is to confess in what manner he sinned ⁶ and bring his guilt offering to Adonai for the sin he committed; it is to be a female from the flock, either a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin.

⁷ “‘If he can’t afford a lamb, he is to bring as his guilt offering for the sin he committed two doves or two young pigeons for Adonai — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. ⁸ He is to bring them to the cohen, who will offer the one for a sin offering first. He is to wring its neck but not remove the head, ⁹ sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar and drain out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰ He is to prepare the second as a burnt offering in the manner prescribed. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he committed, and he will be forgiven.

(vii) ¹¹ “‘But if his means are insufficient even for two doves or two young pigeons, then he is to bring as his offering for the sin he committed two quarts of fine flour for a sin offering; he is not to put any olive oil or frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. ¹² He is to bring it to the cohen, and the cohen is to take a handful of it as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for Adonai made by fire; it is a sin offering. ¹³ Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed concerning any of these things, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the cohanim, as with a grain offering.’”

¹⁴ Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁵ “If anyone acts improperly and inadvertently sins in regard to the holy things of Adonai, he is to bring as his guilt offering for Adonai a ram without defect from the flock or its equivalent in silver shekels (using the sanctuary shekel as the standard), according to your appraisal of its value; it is a guilt offering. ¹⁶ In addition, he is to make restitution for whatever he did wrong in regard to the holy thing; moreover, he is to add to that one-fifth and give it to the cohen. Then the cohen will make atonement with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁷ “If someone sins by doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty, even if he is unaware of it; and he bears the consequences of his wrongdoing. ¹⁸ He must bring a ram without defect from the flock, or its equivalent according to your appraisal, to the cohen for a guilt offering; the cohen will make atonement concerning the error which he committed, even though he was unaware of it; and he will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering — he is certainly guilty before Adonai.”

^20 (6:1) Adonai said to Moshe, ^21 (6:2) “If someone sins and acts perversely against Adonai by dealing falsely with his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him, by stealing from him, by extorting him, ^22 (6:3) or by dealing falsely in regard to a lost object he has found, or by swearing to a lie — if a person commits any of these sins, ^23 (6:4) then, if he sinned and is guilty, he is to restore whatever it was he stole or obtained by extortion, or whatever was deposited with him, or the lost object which he found, (Maftir) ^24 (6:5) or anything about which he has sworn falsely. He is to restore it in full plus an additional one-fifth; he must return it to the person who owns it, on the day when he presents his guilt offering. ^25 (6:6) He is to bring as his guilt offering to Adonai a ram without defect from the flock, or its equivalent according to your appraisal, to the cohen; it is a guilt offering. ^26 (6:7) Thus the cohen will make atonement for him before Adonai, and he will be forgiven in regard to whatever it was he did that made him guilty.

Haftarah Vayikra: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 43:21–44:23

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Vayikra: Romans 8:1–13; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 10:1–14; 13:10–16

Parashah 25: Tzav (Give an order) 6:1(8) – 8:36

6 ⁽⁸⁾ Adonai said to Moshe, ^2 (9) “Give this order to Aharon and his sons: ‘This is the law for the burnt offering ^[a]: it is what goes up ^[b] on its firewood upon the altar all night long, until morning; in this way the fire of the altar will be kept burning. ^3 (10) When the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, the cohen, having put on his linen garment and covered himself with his linen shorts, is to remove the ashes and put them beside the altar. ^4 (11) Then he is to remove those garments and put on others, before carrying the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ^5 (12) In this way, the fire on the altar will be kept burning and not be allowed to go out. Each morning, the cohen is to kindle wood on it, arrange the burnt offering and make the fat of the peace offerings go up in smoke. ^6 (13) Fire is to be kept burning on the altar continually; it is not to go out.

^7 (14) “‘This is the law for the grain offering: the sons of Aharon are to offer it before Adonai in front of the altar.