²⁸ In the future, whenever the people of Israel lift up a peace offering, a portion of it must be set aside for Aaron and his descendants. This is their permanent right, and it is a sacred offering from the Israelites to the Lord.

³ “These are the parts the priests may claim as their share from the cattle, sheep, and goats that the people bring as offerings: the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.

⁴¹ Moses gave all the Lord’s share to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had directed him.

²⁹ Give this share of the army’s half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.

²⁹ Be sure to give to the Lord the best portions of the gifts given to you.

²⁴ because I have given them the Israelites’ tithes, which have been presented as sacred offerings to the Lord. This will be the Levites’ share. That is why I said they would receive no allotment of land among the Israelites.”

¹⁹ and you eat the crops that grow there, you must set some aside as a sacred offering to the Lord. ²⁰ Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind, and set it aside as a sacred offering, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor.

¹⁴ But the breast and thigh that were lifted up as a special offering may be eaten in any place that is ceremonially clean. These parts have been given to you and your descendants as your portion of the peace offerings presented by the people of Israel. ¹⁵ You must lift up the thigh and breast as a special offering to the Lord, along with the fat of the special gifts. These parts will belong to you and your descendants as your permanent right, just as the Lord has commanded.”

Further Instructions for the Peace Offering

¹¹ “These are the instructions regarding the different kinds of peace offerings that may be presented to the Lord. ¹² If you present your peace offering as an expression of thanksgiving, the usual animal sacrifice must be accompanied by various kinds of bread made without yeast—thin cakes mixed with olive oil, wafers spread with oil, and cakes made of choice flour mixed with olive oil. ¹³ This peace offering of thanksgiving must also be accompanied by loaves of bread made with yeast. ¹⁴ One of each kind of bread must be presented as a gift to the Lord. It will then belong to the priest who splatters the blood of the peace offering against the altar. ¹⁵ The meat of the peace offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the same day it is offered. None of it may be saved for the next morning.

¹⁶ “If you bring an offering to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, the meat must be eaten on the same day the sacrifice is offered, but whatever is left over may be eaten on the second day. ¹⁷ Any meat left over until the third day must be completely burned up. ¹⁸ If any of the meat from the peace offering is eaten on the third day, the person who presented it will not be accepted by the Lord. You will receive no credit for offering it. By then the meat will be contaminated; if you eat it, you will be punished for your sin.

¹⁹ “Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean may not be eaten; it must be completely burned up. The rest of the meat may be eaten, but only by people who are ceremonially clean. ²⁰ If you are ceremonially unclean and you eat meat from a peace offering that was presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community. ²¹ If you touch anything that is unclean (whether it is human defilement or an unclean animal or any other unclean, detestable thing) and then eat meat from a peace offering presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community.”

The Forbidden Blood and Fat

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. You must never eat fat, whether from cattle, sheep, or goats. ²⁴ The fat of an animal found dead or torn to pieces by wild animals must never be eaten, though it may be used for any other purpose. ²⁵ Anyone who eats fat from an animal presented as a special gift to the Lord will be cut off from the community. ²⁶ No matter where you live, you must never consume the blood of any bird or animal. ²⁷ Anyone who consumes blood will be cut off from the community.”

A Portion for the Priests

²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁹ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present a peace offering to the Lord, bring part of it as a gift to the Lord. ³⁰ Present it to the Lord with your own hands as a special gift to the Lord. Bring the fat of the animal, together with the breast, and lift up the breast as a special offering to the Lord. ³¹ Then the priest will burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his descendants. ³² Give the right thigh of your peace offering to the priest as a gift. ³³ The right thigh must always be given to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the peace offering. ³⁴ For I have reserved the breast of the special offering and the right thigh of the sacred offering for the priests. It is the permanent right of Aaron and his descendants to share in the peace offerings brought by the people of Israel. ³⁵ This is their rightful share. The special gifts presented to the Lord have been reserved for Aaron and his descendants from the time they were set apart to serve the Lord as priests. ³⁶ On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded the Israelites to give these portions to the priests as their permanent share from generation to generation.”

³⁷ These are the instructions for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, as well as the ordination offering and the peace offering. ³⁸ The Lord gave these instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai when he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.

Procedures for the Peace Offering

3 “If you present an animal from the herd as a peace offering to the Lord, it may be a male or a female, but it must have no defects.