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15 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you, and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock— then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah[a] of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin[b] of oil. You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

“‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah[c] of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil; and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah[d] of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; 10 and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. 11 Thus it shall be done for each bull, for each ram, for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats. 12 According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number.

13 “‘All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. 14 If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, as you do, so he shall do. 15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before Yahweh. 16 One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’”

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you, 19 then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it. 21 Of the first of your dough, you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations.

22 “‘When you err, and don’t observe all these commandments which Yahweh has spoken to Moses— 23 even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment and onward throughout your generations— 24 then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh, with its meal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25 The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error. 26 All the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, as well as the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for with regard to all the people, it was done unwittingly.

27 “‘If a person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. 28 The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs when he sins unwittingly before Yahweh. He shall make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven. 29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.

30 “‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, blasphemes Yahweh. That soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised Yahweh’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”

32 While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

35 Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.” 36 All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

37 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes[e] on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe[f] of each border a cord of blue. 39 It shall be to you for a fringe,[g] that you may see it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute; 40 so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God.”

Footnotes

  1. 15:4 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
  2. 15:4 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons.
  3. 15:6 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
  4. 15:9 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
  5. 15:38 or, tassels (Hebrew צִיצִ֛ת)
  6. 15:38 or, tassel
  7. 15:39 or, tassel

Laws concerning Offerings

15 Then the Lord told Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“When you finally settle in the land I am giving you, you will offer special gifts as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. These gifts may take the form of a burnt offering, a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, a voluntary offering, or an offering at any of your annual festivals, and they may be taken from your herds of cattle or your flocks of sheep and goats. When you present these offerings, you must also give the Lord a grain offering of two quarts[a] of choice flour mixed with one quart[b] of olive oil. For each lamb offered as a burnt offering or a special sacrifice, you must also present one quart of wine as a liquid offering.

“If the sacrifice is a ram, give a grain offering of four quarts[c] of choice flour mixed with a third of a gallon[d] of olive oil, and give a third of a gallon of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

“When you present a young bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the Lord, you must also give a grain offering of six quarts[e] of choice flour mixed with two quarts[f] of olive oil, 10 and give two quarts of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

11 “Each sacrifice of a bull, ram, lamb, or young goat should be prepared in this way. 12 Follow these instructions with each offering you present. 13 All of you native-born Israelites must follow these instructions when you offer a special gift as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 14 And if any foreigners visit you or live among you and want to present a special gift as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, they must follow these same procedures. 15 Native-born Israelites and foreigners are equal before the Lord and are subject to the same decrees. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation. 16 The same instructions and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigners living among you.”

17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“When you arrive in the land where I am taking you, 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. 21 Throughout the generations to come, you are to present a sacred offering to the Lord each year from the first of your ground flour.

22 “But suppose you unintentionally fail to carry out all these commands that the Lord has given you through Moses. 23 And suppose your descendants in the future fail to do everything the Lord has commanded through Moses. 24 If the mistake was made unintentionally, and the community was unaware of it, the whole community must present a young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It must be offered along with its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering and with one male goat for a sin offering. 25 With it the priest will purify the whole community of Israel, making them right with the Lord,[g] and they will be forgiven. For it was an unintentional sin, and they have corrected it with their offerings to the Lord—the special gift and the sin offering. 26 The whole community of Israel will be forgiven, including the foreigners living among you, for all the people were involved in the sin.

27 “If one individual commits an unintentional sin, the guilty person must bring a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering. 28 The priest will sacrifice it to purify[h] the guilty person before the Lord, and that person will be forgiven. 29 These same instructions apply both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

30 “But those who brazenly violate the Lord’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the Lord, and they must be cut off from the community. 31 Since they have treated the Lord’s word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his command, they must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt.”

Penalty for Breaking the Sabbath

32 One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. 34 They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp.” 36 So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Tassels on Clothing

37 Then the Lord said to Moses, 38 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. 39 When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. 40 The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!”

Footnotes

  1. 15:4a Hebrew 1⁄10 of an ephah [2.2 liters].
  2. 15:4b Hebrew 1⁄4 of a hin [1 liter]; also in 15:5.
  3. 15:6a Hebrew 2⁄10 of an ephah [4.4 liters].
  4. 15:6b Hebrew 1⁄3 of a hin [1.3 liters]; also in 15:7.
  5. 15:9a Hebrew 3⁄10 of an ephah [6.6 liters].
  6. 15:9b Hebrew 1⁄2 of a hin [2 liters]; also in 15:10.
  7. 15:25 Or will make atonement for the whole community of Israel.
  8. 15:28 Or to make atonement for.