Leviticus 1-7

GOD’S WORD Translation

1 The Lord 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 the Lord, 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 the Lord 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 the Lord’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 the Lord.

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 the Lord’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 the Lord.

Burnt Offerings of Birds

¹⁴ “If your offering to the Lord 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 the Lord.”

Uncooked Grain Offerings

2 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Now, if any of you bring a grain offering to the Lord, 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 the Lord. ³ The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from the Lord’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 the Lord 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 the Lord. ¹⁰ The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from the Lord’s offering by fire.

Other Ingredients

¹¹ “Every grain offering that you bring to the Lord must be prepared without yeast. Never burn yeast or honey as an offering to the Lord. ¹² You may bring them to the Lord 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 God’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 the Lord 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 the Lord.”

Fellowship Offerings of Cattle

3 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of cattle in the Lord’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 the Lord. 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 the Lord.

Fellowship Offerings of Sheep

⁶ “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of sheep to the Lord, you must bring a male or female animal that has no defects. ⁷ If your offering is a lamb, you must bring it to the Lord. 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 the Lord. 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 the Lord.

Fellowship Offerings of Goats

¹² “If your offering is a goat, you must bring it to the Lord. 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 the Lord. 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 the Lord. ¹⁷ This is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live: Never eat any fat or blood.”

Offerings for Unintentional Wrongdoing

4 The Lord spoke to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the Lord’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 the Lord. ⁴ He must bring the bull into the Lord’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 the Lord’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 the Lord’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 the Lord’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 the Lord’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 the Lord’s presence. One of them will slaughter it in the Lord’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 the Lord’s presence facing the canopy. ¹⁸ He will also put some blood on the horns of the altar in the Lord’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 the Lord his God—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 the Lord’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 the Lord’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 the Lord. 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 the Lord. 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 the Lord 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 the Lord 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 the Lord 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 The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁵ “If any of you fail to do your duty by unintentionally doing something wrong with any of the Lord’s holy things, bring a guilt offering to the Lord. 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 the Lord’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 the Lord is concerned.”

For Sins against the Lord’s People

6 ^[d]The Lord spoke to Moses, ² “If any of you sin against the Lord by failing to do your duty, if you lie to your neighbor about something you were supposed to take care of or if you lie about something stolen or seized from your neighbor, you are sinning and will be guilty. ³ If you find something that someone lost and lie about it under oath, or commit any other sin like this, ⁴ you are sinning and will be guilty. Return what you stole or seized, what you were supposed to take care of, the lost item you found, ⁵ or whatever it was that you swore falsely about. Pay it back in full plus one-fifth more. Give it back to its owner on the day you bring your guilt offering. ⁶ Then bring the Lord your guilt offering, a ram that has no defects or its value in money. Bring it to the priest. ⁷ So the priest will make peace with the Lord. Then you will be forgiven for whatever you did that made you guilty.”

Instructions for Taking Care of the Fire

⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses, ⁹ “Command Aaron and his sons: These are the instructions for the burnt offering that stays on the altar overnight while the altar fire is kept burning.

¹⁰ “The priest must put on his linen clothes, including his linen undergarments. Then he will remove the ashes left on the altar from the fire that consumed the burnt offering and will put them next to the altar. ¹¹ Then he will take off these clothes and put on some others. He will take the ashes to a clean place outside the camp. ¹² The fire must always be burning on the altar. It must never go out. The priest will burn wood on it every morning. He will lay the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offering. ¹³ The fire must always be burning on the altar. It must never go out.

The Grain Offering from the People

¹⁴ “These are the instructions for the grain offering. Aaron’s sons must bring it into the Lord’s presence in front of the altar. ¹⁵ One of them will remove a handful of flour from the grain offering, together with the olive oil and all the incense. He will burn it on the altar as a reminder. It is a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁶ Aaron and his sons will eat the rest of it. They will eat unleavened bread in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ¹⁷ Don’t use yeast in baking the bread. I have given it to them as their share from the offerings by fire made to me. It is very holy like the offering for sin and the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Every male descendant of Aaron may eat it. It is a permanent law for generations to come regarding the offering by fire to the Lord. Everyone who touches it will become holy.”

Special Grain Offerings from the Priests

¹⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, ²⁰ “This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must bring to the Lord on the day he is anointed—eight cups of flour. They must do this every day. He must offer half of it in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ Prepare it in a frying pan with olive oil, mixing it well. Offer baked pieces of the grain offering as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ²² Aaron’s son who is anointed to take his place as priest will prepare it. This is a permanent law of the Lord: It must be completely burned. ²³ Every grain offering made by a priest must be completely burned. It must not be eaten.”

Instructions for the Offering for Sin

²⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses, ²⁵ “Tell Aaron and his sons: These are the instructions for the offering for sin. The offering for sin must be slaughtered in the Lord’s presence in the same place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. It is very holy. ²⁶ The priest who makes the offering for sin will eat it in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ²⁷ Anything that touches its meat will be holy. If blood gets on someone’s clothes, he must wash them in a holy place. ²⁸ Any piece of pottery in which the offering for sin is cooked must be broken into pieces. Any copper kettle in which the offering for sin is cooked must be scoured and rinsed with water. ²⁹ Any male among the priests may eat the offering for sin. It is very holy. ³⁰ Any offering for sin must not be eaten if some of the blood was brought into the holy place in the tent of meeting to make peace with the Lord. It must be burned.”

Instructions for the Guilt Offering

7 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “These are the instructions for the guilt offering. It is very holy. ² It must be slaughtered in the same place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. ⌞A priest⌟ will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. ³ He will offer all the fat, the fat from the tail, the fat covering the internal organs, ⁴ and the two kidneys with the fat on them. He will also remove the lobe of the liver along with the kidneys. ⁵ The priest will burn them on the altar. It is a guilt offering by fire to the Lord. ⁶ Any male among the priests may eat it. It will be eaten in a holy place. It is very holy.

⁷ “The same instructions apply to the offering for sin and the guilt offering. Both offerings belong to the priest to make peace with the Lord. ⁸ The skin of the burnt offering belongs to the priest who sacrifices it. ⁹ Every grain offering, whether baked in an oven or prepared in a skillet or a frying pan, belongs to the priest who offers it. ¹⁰ Every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, will be shared equally by all of Aaron’s sons.

Instructions for the Fellowship Offering of Thanksgiving

¹¹ “These are the instructions for the fellowship offering that you must bring to the Lord. ¹² If you offer it as a thank offering, you must also bring rings of unleavened bread mixed with olive oil, wafers of unleavened bread brushed with olive oil, and loaves made from flour mixed well with olive oil. ¹³ In addition to these rings of bread, you must bring bread with yeast along with your fellowship offering of thanksgiving. ¹⁴ From every offering you must bring one loaf to the Lord as a ⌞special⌟ contribution. It will belong to the priest who throws the blood of the fellowship offering.

¹⁵ “The meat from your fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered. Never leave any of it until morning.

Instructions for Other Fellowship Offerings

¹⁶ “If your sacrificial offering is something you vowed or a freewill offering, it must be eaten the day you offer it or the next day. ¹⁷ However, on the third day any meat left over from the sacrifice must be burned. ¹⁸ You will not be accepted if any meat from the fellowship offering is eaten on the third day. You will not receive credit for it. It is repulsive to God. The person who eats any of it must be punished.

¹⁹ “Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten. It must be burned. Anyone who is clean may eat from these sacrifices. ²⁰ Those who eat meat from the Lord’s fellowship offering while unclean must be excluded from the people. ²¹ Those who touch anything unclean, human or animal, or any other disgusting uncleanness and still eat the Lord’s fellowship offering must be excluded from the people.”

No Fat or Blood May Be Eaten

²² The Lord spoke to Moses, ²³ “Tell the Israelites: Never eat any fat from bulls, sheep, or goats. ²⁴ The fat from an animal that dies naturally or is killed by wild animals you may use for any other purpose, but you must never eat it. ²⁵ Those who eat the fat from an animal which they sacrificed by fire to the Lord must be excluded from the people.

²⁶ “Never eat the blood of any bird or animal no matter where you live. ²⁷ Those who eat any blood must be excluded from the people.”

Dividing the Fellowship Offering between the People and the Priests

²⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses, ²⁹ “Tell the Israelites: Anyone who offers the Lord a fellowship offering must bring a part of that sacrifice as a gift to the Lord. ³⁰ Bring the sacrifices by fire made to the Lord yourself. Bring the fat with the breast. Take the breast and present it to the Lord.

³¹ “The priest will burn the fat on the altar. However, the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. ³² You will also give the priest the right thigh as a contribution. ³³ When any of Aaron’s sons offer the blood and fat of the fellowship offering, the right thigh will belong to him as his share. ³⁴ From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that was presented ⌞to me⌟ and the thigh from the contribution offering. I have given them to the priest Aaron and his sons. This is a permanent law for generations to come.

³⁵ “This is the share for Aaron and his sons from the sacrifices by fire made to the Lord. It was given to them on the day Moses ordained them to serve the Lord as priests. ³⁶ The Lord commanded the Israelites to give it to them on the day he anointed them. This is a permanent law for generations to come.”

Summary of Offerings

³⁷ These are the instructions for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the offering for sin, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the fellowship offering. ³⁸ On Mount Sinai the Lord gave Moses commands about these offerings at the same time that he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to him in the Sinai Desert.