Leviticus 1-5
Names of God Bible
1 Yahweh called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites: If any of you bring a sacrifice to Yahweh, you must offer an animal from your cattle, sheep, or goats.
Burnt Offerings of Cattle
3 “If you bring a burnt offering from your cattle, you must offer a male that has no defects. Offer it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that Yahweh will accept you. 4 Place your hand on the animal’s head. The burnt offering will be accepted to make peace with the Lord. 5 Then slaughter the bull in Yahweh’s presence. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will offer the blood. They will throw it against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 Skin the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. 7 Then the sons of the priest Aaron will start a fire on the altar and lay the wood on the fire. 8 Aaron’s sons, the priests, will also lay the pieces, the head, and the fat on top of the wood burning on the altar. 9 Wash the internal organs and legs. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Burnt Offerings of Sheep or Goats
10 “If your offering is a sheep or goat, you must bring a male that has no defects. 11 Slaughter it in Yahweh’s presence on the north side of the altar. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 12 Then cut it into pieces. The priest will lay the head and the fat on the wood burning on the altar. 13 Wash the internal organs and legs. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Burnt Offerings of Birds
14 “If your offering to Yahweh is a bird, you must sacrifice a mourning dove or pigeon. 15 The priest must bring it to the altar. He will break its neck and burn the bird on the altar. First, he will drain the blood against the side of the altar. 16 Remove the gizzard with its filth and throw it on the east side of the altar on the place for the ashes. 17 Then pull on the bird’s wings to tear the bird open, but don’t pull the wings off. Then the priest will lay the bird on the wood burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh.”
Uncooked Grain Offerings
2 The Lord continued, “Now, if any of you bring a grain offering to Yahweh, your offering must be flour. Pour olive oil on it, and put incense on it. 2 Then bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. Take from this a handful of flour with olive oil, and all the incense. The priest will burn it on the altar as a reminder. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 3 The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from Yahweh’s offering by fire.
Cooked Grain Offerings
4 “If you bring a grain offering which has been baked in an oven, it must be rings of unleavened bread made of flour mixed with olive oil or wafers of unleavened bread brushed with olive oil. 5 If your grain offering is prepared in a frying pan, it, too, will be unleavened bread made of flour mixed with olive oil. 6 Break it into pieces and pour olive oil over it. It is a grain offering. 7 If your grain offering is prepared in a skillet, it will be made of flour with olive oil.
8 “Bring Yahweh the grain offering prepared in any of these ways. Offer it to the priest who will bring it to the altar. 9 The priest will remove part of the grain offering and burn it as a reminder on the altar. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 10 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from Yahweh’s offering by fire.
Other Ingredients
11 “Every grain offering that you bring to Yahweh must be prepared without yeast. Never burn yeast or honey as an offering to Yahweh. 12 You may bring them to Yahweh as offerings of your first products. But they must never be placed on the altar to make a soothing aroma. 13 Also put salt on each of your grain offerings. The salt of Elohim’s promise[a] must never be left out of your grain offerings. Put salt on all your offerings.
Offering the First Grain Harvested
14 “If you bring a grain offering to Yahweh from the first grain you harvest, roast the cracked grain over fire. 15 Put olive oil on it, and place incense on it. It is a grain offering. 16 The priest will burn the flour, olive oil, and all the incense as a reminder. It is an offering by fire to Yahweh.”
Fellowship Offerings of Cattle
3 The Lord continued, “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of cattle in Yahweh’s presence, it must be a male or female animal that has no defects. 2 Place your hand on the animal’s head. Then slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 3 From your offering remove the fat that covers the internal organs 4 and the two kidneys with the fat on them and offer them by fire to Yahweh. Also cut off the lobe of the liver along with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons will lay them on top of the burnt offering on the burning wood. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh.
Fellowship Offerings of Sheep
6 “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of sheep to Yahweh, you must bring a male or female animal that has no defects. 7 If your offering is a lamb, you must bring it to Yahweh. 8 Place your hand on the animal’s head. Slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 9 Then take the fat from the fellowship offering and offer it by fire to Yahweh. Remove all the fat from the tail and the fat that covers the internal organs. 10 Also remove the two kidneys with the fat on them along with the lobe of the liver. 11 Then the priest will burn the fellowship offering on the altar. It is food, an offering by fire to Yahweh.
Fellowship Offerings of Goats
12 “If your offering is a goat, you must bring it to Yahweh. 13 Place your hand on its head. Slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 14 Then bring the fat that covers the internal organs 15 and the two kidneys with the fat on them as an offering by fire to Yahweh. Also remove the lobe of the liver along with the kidneys. 16 Then the priest will burn them on the altar. It is food, an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a soothing aroma. All the fat belongs to Yahweh. 17 This is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live: Never eat any fat or blood.”
Offerings for Unintentional Wrongdoing
4 Yahweh spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of Yahweh’s commands—this is what he must do.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Chief Priest
3 “If the anointed priest does something wrong and brings guilt on the people, he must bring a bull that has no defects as an offering for sin to Yahweh. 4 He must bring the bull into Yahweh’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will place his hand on the bull’s head. He will then slaughter the bull in Yahweh’s presence. 5 Then the anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. 6 The priest will dip his finger in it and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in Yahweh’s presence facing the canopy in the holy place. 7 Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for sweet-smelling incense in Yahweh’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the bull’s blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He will remove all of the fat from the bull that is the offering for sin, the fat that covers the internal organs, 9 and the two kidneys with the fat on them. He will also remove the lobe of the liver and the kidneys 10 the same way they were removed from the bull used for the fellowship offering. The priest will lay them on the altar for burnt offerings. 11 Then he will take the entire bull (the skin, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and excrement) 12 to a clean[b] place outside the camp where the ashes are dumped. He will burn it there on a wood fire.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Whole Congregation
13 “If the whole congregation of Israel unintentionally does something wrong, without the assembly being aware of it, if they do even one thing that is forbidden by any of Yahweh’s commands, they will be guilty. 14 When the wrong they have done becomes known, the congregation must sacrifice a bull as an offering for sin. They must bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15 The leaders of the congregation will place their hands on the bull’s head in Yahweh’s presence. One of them will slaughter it in Yahweh’s presence. 16 Then the anointed priest will bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 17 The priest will dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times in Yahweh’s presence facing the canopy. 18 He will also put some blood on the horns of the altar in Yahweh’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 He will remove all the fat and burn it on the altar. 20 He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then he will take the bull outside the camp and will burn it the same way he burned the first bull. It is an offering for sin for the community.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Leader
22 “When a leader unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the commands of Yahweh his Elohim—he will be guilty. 23 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a male goat that has no defects as his offering. 24 He will place his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it in Yahweh’s presence where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. It is an offering for sin. 25 Then the priest will take some of the blood of the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. 26 He will burn all the fat on the altar the same way the fat of the fellowship offering is burned. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what the leader did wrong, and the leader will be forgiven.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Common Person—Goats
27 “If a common person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing forbidden by Yahweh’s commands—he will be guilty. 28 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a female goat that has no defects as his offering for what he has done wrong. 29 He will place his hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it where animals for burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30 The priest will take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. 31 He will remove all the fat the same way it is removed from the fellowship offering. The priest will burn it on the altar for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for that person, and that person will be forgiven.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Common Person—Lambs
32 “If someone brings a lamb as his offering for sin, he must bring a female that has no defects. 33 He will place his hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. 34 Then the priest will take some of the blood from the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. 35 He will remove all the fat the same way the fat of the lamb is removed from the fellowship offerings. Then the priest will burn it on the altar with the offering by fire to Yahweh. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what that person did wrong, and that person will be forgiven.”
Sins Which Require an Offering for Sin
5 The Lord continued, “Now, if you are a witness under oath and won’t tell what you saw or what you know, you are sinning and will be punished.
2 “If you touch anything unclean[c]—the unclean dead body of a wild or tame animal or the body of an unclean, swarming creature—and then ignore what you did, you are unclean and will be guilty.
3 “If you become unclean by touching human uncleanness of any kind and then ignore it (although you know what you did), you will be guilty.
4 “If you hastily take a vow about what you will or will not do (as some people do) and then ignore it (although you know what you said), you will be guilty.
5 “So if you are guilty of any of these sins, you must confess it. 6 Bring your guilt offering to Yahweh for the sin you committed. It must be a female sheep or goat as an offering for sin. Then the priest will make peace with the Lord for what you did wrong.
If You Cannot Afford a Sheep
7 “Now, if you cannot afford a sheep, you must bring to Yahweh two mourning doves or two pigeons as a guilt offering for the sin you committed. One will be an offering for sin, the other a burnt offering. 8 Bring them to the priest, and he will sacrifice the offering for sin first. He will break the bird’s neck without pulling its head off. 9 He will sprinkle some of the blood from the offering for sin on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood will be drained at the bottom of the altar. It is an offering for sin. 10 Then, following the proper procedures, he will sacrifice the second bird as a burnt offering. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what you did wrong.
If You Cannot Afford Two Mourning Doves
11 “But if you cannot afford two mourning doves or two pigeons, then bring eight cups of flour as an offering for the sin you committed. Never put olive oil on it or add incense to it, because it is an offering for sin. 12 Bring it to the priest. The priest will take a handful of it. He will burn it as a reminder on top of the offering by fire to Yahweh on the altar. It is an offering for sin. 13 So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what you did wrong, and you will be forgiven. The offering will belong to the priest like the grain offering.”
For Unintentional Wrongdoing against the Lord’s Property
14 Yahweh spoke to Moses, 15 “If any of you fail to do your duty by unintentionally doing something wrong with any of Yahweh’s holy things, bring a guilt offering to Yahweh. It must be a ram that has no defects or its value in silver weighed according to the official standards of the holy place. 16 Pay for whatever holy things you used plus one-fifth more. Give it to the priest. So the priest will use the ram sacrificed for the guilt offering to make peace with the Lord for what you did wrong, and you will be forgiven.
For Unintentionally Disobeying the Lord’s Commands
17 “If any of you do wrong—even one thing forbidden by any of Yahweh’s commands, but you didn’t know it—when you realize your guilt, you must be punished. 18 You must bring the priest a ram that has no defects from the flock or its value in money for a guilt offering. The priest will make peace with the Lord for the wrong you did unintentionally (although you didn’t know what you did), and you will be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering because you are certainly guilty as far as Yahweh is concerned.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 2:13 Or “covenant.”
- Leviticus 4:12 “Clean” refers to anything that is presentable to God.
- Leviticus 5:2 “Unclean” refers to anything that is not presentable to God.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
