Leviticus 1-4

Living Bible

1 The Lord now spoke to Moses from the Tabernacle, ^2-3 and commanded him to give the following instructions to the people of Israel: “When you sacrifice to the Lord, use animals from your herds and flocks.

“If your sacrifice is to be an ox given as a burnt offering, use only a bull with no physical defects. Bring the animal to the entrance of the Tabernacle where the priests will accept your gift for the Lord. ⁴ The person bringing it is to lay his hand upon its head, and it then becomes his substitute: the death of the animal will be accepted by God instead of the death of the man who brings it, as the penalty for his sins.^{[a] 5} The man shall then kill the animal there before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the blood before the Lord, sprinkling it upon all sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ^6-7 Then the priests will skin^[b] the animal and quarter it, and build a wood fire upon the altar, ⁸ and put the sections of the animal and its head and fat upon the wood. ⁹ The internal organs and the legs are to be washed, then the priests will burn them upon the altar, and they will be an acceptable burnt offering with which the Lord is pleased.^[c]

¹⁰ “If the animal used as a burnt offering is a sheep or a goat, it too must be a male, and without any blemishes. ¹¹ The man who brings it will kill it before the Lord on the north side of the altar, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will sprinkle its blood back and forth upon the altar. ¹² Then the man will quarter it, and the priests will lay the pieces, with the head and the fat, on top of the wood on the altar. ¹³ But the internal organs and the legs shall first be washed with water. Then the priests shall burn it all upon the altar as an offering to the Lord; for burnt offerings give much pleasure to the Lord.

¹⁴ “If anyone wishes to use a bird as his burnt offering, he may choose either turtledoves or young pigeons. ^15-17 A priest will take the bird to the altar and wring off its head, and the blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar. Then the priest will remove the crop and the feathers and throw them on the east side of the altar with the ashes. Then, grasping it by the wings, he shall tear it apart, but not completely. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, and the Lord will have pleasure in this sacrifice.^[d]

2 “Anyone who wishes to sacrifice a grain offering to the Lord is to bring fine flour and is to pour olive oil and incense upon it. ² Then he is to take a handful, representing the entire amount,^[e] to one of the priests to burn, and the Lord will be fully pleased. ³ The remainder of the flour is to be given to Aaron and his sons as their food; but all of it is counted as a holy burnt offering to the Lord.

⁴ “If bread baked in the oven is brought as an offering to the Lord, it must be made from finely ground flour, baked with olive oil but without yeast. Wafers made without yeast and spread with olive oil may also be used as an offering. ⁵ If the offering is something from the griddle, it shall be made of finely ground flour without yeast, and mingled with olive oil. ⁶ Break it into pieces and pour oil upon it—it is a form of grain offering. ⁷ If your offering is cooked in a pan, it too shall be made of fine flour mixed with olive oil.

⁸ “However it is prepared—whether baked, fried, or grilled—you are to bring this grain offering to the priest and he shall take it to the altar to present it to the Lord.

⁹ “The priests are to burn only a representative portion^[f] of the offering, but all of it will be fully appreciated by the Lord. ¹⁰ The remainder belongs to the priests for their own use, but it is all counted as a holy burnt offering to the Lord.

¹¹ “Use no yeast with your offerings of flour; for no yeast or honey is permitted in burnt offerings to the Lord. ¹² You may offer yeast bread and honey as thanksgiving offerings at harvest time, but not as burnt offerings.^[g]

¹³ “Every offering must be seasoned with salt,^[h] because the salt is a reminder of God’s covenant.

¹⁴ “If you are offering from the first of your harvest, remove the kernels from a fresh ear, crush and roast them, then offer them to the Lord. ¹⁵ Put olive oil and incense on the offering, for it is a grain offering. ¹⁶ Then the priests shall burn part of the bruised grain mixed with oil and all of the incense as a representative portion before the Lord.

3 “When anyone wants to give an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, he may use either a bull or a cow, but the animal must be entirely without defect if it is to be offered to the Lord! ² The man who brings the animal shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the door of the Tabernacle. Then Aaron’s sons shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar ^3-5 and shall burn before the Lord the fat that covers the inward parts, the two kidneys and the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder. And it will give the Lord much pleasure.

⁶ “If a goat or sheep is used as a thank offering to the Lord, it must have no defect and may be either a male or female.

^7-8 “If it is a lamb, the man who brings it shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar, ^9-11 and shall offer upon the altar the fat, the tail removed close to the backbone, the fat covering the internal organs, the two kidneys with the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder, as a burnt offering to the Lord.

¹² “If anyone brings a goat as his offering to the Lord, ¹³ he shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The priest shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar, ¹⁴ and shall offer upon the altar, as a burnt offering to the Lord, the fat that covers the insides, ^15-16 the two kidneys and the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder. This burnt offering is very pleasing to the Lord. All the fat is Jehovah’s. ¹⁷ This is a permanent law throughout your land, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.”

4 Then the Lord gave these further instructions to Moses:

² “Tell the people of Israel that these are the laws concerning anyone who unintentionally breaks any of my commandments. ³ If a priest sins unintentionally and so brings guilt upon the people, he must offer a young bull without defect as a sin offering to the Lord. ⁴ He shall bring it to the door of the Tabernacle, and shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it there before Jehovah. ⁵ Then the priest shall take the animal’s blood into the Tabernacle, ⁶ and shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil that bars the way to the Holy of Holies. ⁷ Then the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the incense altar before the Lord in the Tabernacle; the remainder of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, at the entrance to the Tabernacle. ⁸ Then he shall take all the fat on the entrails, ⁹ the two kidneys and the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder, ¹⁰ and shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering, just as in the case of a bull or cow sacrificed as a thank offering. ^11-12 But the remainder of the young bull—the skin, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and intestines—shall be carried to a ceremonially clean place outside the camp—a place where the ashes are brought from the altar—and burned there on a wood fire.

¹³ “If the entire nation of Israel sins without realizing it and does something that Jehovah has said not to do, all the people are guilty. ¹⁴ When they realize it, they shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, bringing it to the Tabernacle ¹⁵ where the leaders^[i] of the nation shall lay their hands upon the animal’s head and kill it before the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the priest shall bring its blood into the Tabernacle, ¹⁷ and shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil. ¹⁸ Then he shall put blood upon the horns of the altar there in the Tabernacle before the Lord, and all the remainder of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the burnt offering altar, at the entrance to the Tabernacle. ¹⁹ All the fat shall be removed and burned upon the altar. ²⁰ He shall follow the same procedure as for a sin offering; in this way the priest shall make atonement for the nation, and everyone will be forgiven. ²¹ The priest shall then cart the young bull outside the camp and burn it there, just as though it were a sin offering for an individual, only this time it is a sin offering for the entire nation.

²² “If one of the leaders sins without realizing it and is guilty of disobeying one of God’s laws, ²³ as soon as it is called to his attention he must bring as his sacrifice a male goat without any physical defect. ²⁴ He shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the place where the burnt offerings are killed, and present it to the Lord. This is his sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest shall take some of the blood of this sin offering and place it with his finger upon the horns of the altar of burnt offerings, and the rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar. ²⁶ All the fat shall be burned upon the altar, just as if it were the fat of the sacrifice of a thank offering;^[j] thus the priest shall make atonement for the leader concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

²⁷ “If any one of the common people sins and doesn’t realize it, he is guilty. ²⁸ But as soon as he does realize it, he is to bring as his sacrifice a female goat without defect to atone for his sin. ²⁹ He shall bring it to the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed, and there lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and kill it. ³⁰ And the priest shall take some of the blood with his finger and smear it upon the horns of the burnt offering altar. Then the priest shall pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar. ³¹ All the fat shall be taken off, just as in the procedure for the thank offering sacrifice, and the priest shall burn it upon the altar; and the Lord will appreciate it. Thus the priest shall make atonement for that man, and he shall be forgiven.

³² “However, if he chooses to bring a lamb as his sin offering, it must be a female without physical defect. ³³ He shall bring it to the place where the burnt offerings are killed, and lay his hand upon its head and kill it there as a sin offering. ³⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood with his finger and smear it upon the horns of the burnt offering altar, and all the rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ The fat shall be used just as in the case of a thank offering lamb—the priest shall burn the fat on the altar as in any other sacrifice made to Jehovah by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for the man, and his sin shall be forgiven.