Beginning

Rules for the people's gifts

1 The Lord spoke to Moses from the Tent of Meeting.^[a] He told him the rules that Israel's people must obey. ² The Lord said, ‘Speak to Israel's people. Tell them this. When a person gives an animal to the Lord, it must be a cow or a sheep or a goat. ³ A person may want to give a gift to the Lord. That gift must be a male animal from his group of animals. It must be perfect. He must burn the whole animal as a gift to the Lord. The person must bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting. If he does, the Lord will accept his gift. ⁴ The person must put his hand on the animal's head. Then he must kill it. The animal's death will pay for the person's sins. ⁵ The person must kill the young bull in front of the Lord. The priests who are the sons of Aaron will take the blood. They will throw it onto the sides of the altar. That is the altar near to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ The person must take the skin from the dead animal and then he must cut up the meat. ⁷ The sons of Aaron the priest will light a fire on the altar. Then they will put wood on it. ⁸ The priests will put the pieces of meat on the fire. They will put the head and the fat on the fire with the meat. ⁹ The person must wash the legs and the inside parts with water. Then the priest will burn the whole animal on the altar. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure.^[b]

¹⁰ A person may want to give a sheep or a goat as a gift to God. It must be a male animal. It must be perfect. ¹¹ The person must kill it at the north side of the altar. The priests will throw the blood onto the sides of the altar in front of the Lord. ¹² The person must cut the animal up. The priests will take the pieces of meat, the head and the fat. They will put them on the fire that is burning on the altar. ¹³ The person must wash the legs and the inside parts with water. The priest will burn the whole animal on the altar. It is a burnt offering. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure.

Moses tells Israel's people what to do with gifts that are birds

¹⁴ If a person wants to give a bird to the Lord, it must be a dove or a pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest will bring the bird to the altar. He will tear off the head and he will burn it on the altar. The priest will pour the blood onto the side of the altar. ¹⁶ Then the priest will remove the part of the bird where the food is stored. He will throw it on the east side of the altar, with the ashes. ¹⁷ He will hold the parts that the bird uses to fly. And then he will tear open the body. But he must not tear it completely. He will burn all of it on the fire that is on the altar. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure.

Moses tells Israel's people what to do with gifts that are grain

2 A person may want to give grain as a gift to the Lord. He must make it into flour. He must put oil and incense on the flour. ² He must take it to Aaron's sons, the priests. The priest will take some of the flour and oil and all the incense in his hand. He will burn them on the altar as a gift to the Lord. The smell of them while they are burning will give the Lord pleasure. ³ The flour that he did not burn is for the priests. It is very holy. That is because it is part of an offering to the Lord.

⁴ A person must not use yeast if he bakes his gift of grain. He must make cakes or biscuits with flour and oil. ⁵ He must not use yeast if he cooks his cake on a flat plate. He must make it with flour and oil. ⁶ He must break the cake into pieces. He must pour oil on it. It is a gift to God. ⁷ A person must use flour and oil to cook the cake in a pot. ⁸ He must give the cake to the priest. The priest will take it to the altar. ⁹ He will take a piece of it and he will burn it in the fire. It is a gift to the Lord. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure. ¹⁰ The part of the cake that he did not burn is for the priests. That is because it is most holy, part of a burnt offering to the Lord.

¹¹ A person must not use yeast when he gives a gift of grain to the Lord. He must not give yeast or honey for the priests to burn as gifts to the Lord. ¹² He can give them as the first part of his harvest. He must not burn them on the fire. He cannot use them to give the Lord pleasure. ¹³ A person must put salt in all his gifts of grain. Salt is a mark of God's promise to Israel's people.^[c]

¹⁴ A person may want to give the first part of his harvest to the Lord. He must break the grains into pieces and he must cook them in a fire. ¹⁵ They are a gift, so he must put oil and incense on them. ¹⁶ The priest will burn a part of the grain with all the incense. It is a burnt offering to the Lord.

Moses tells Israel's people what to do with their gifts for the Lord

3 A person might want to give a friendship offering to the Lord. He must take a perfect animal from his group of animals. The animal can be male or female. ² The person must put his hand on the animal's head. Then he must kill it at the door of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron's sons the priests will throw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ³ The person must burn some pieces of the animal as a gift to the Lord. It is a friendship offering. ⁴ He must bring all the fat from inside the animal. And he must bring the kidneys with their fat and the best piece of the liver. ⁵ The priests, Aaron's sons, will take the pieces. They must put them on top of the gift on the altar. The smell of them while they are burning will give the Lord pleasure.^[d]

⁶ If a person wants to give a sheep to the Lord as a friendship offering, it must be perfect. The person can give a male animal or a female animal to the Lord. ⁷ If it is a young sheep he must offer it to the Lord. ⁸ He must put his hand on its head. Then he must kill it at the front of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron's sons will throw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ⁹ The person must cut the tail off the animal. He must give the tail and all the fat from inside the body to the Lord. ¹⁰ He must also give the kidneys and the best piece of the liver. ¹¹ The priest will burn them as food on the altar. They are a burnt offering to the Lord.

¹² A person may offer a goat to the Lord. ¹³ The person must put his hand on the goat's head. Then he must kill it at the front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron's sons will throw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ¹⁴ The person must take all the fat round the inside parts. He must give it to the Lord for a burnt offering. ¹⁵ He must also give the kidneys with the fat on them and the best piece of the liver. ¹⁶ The priest will burn them as food on the altar. The smell of them while they are burning will give the Lord pleasure.

¹⁷ Israel's people must not eat any fat or drink any blood. This rule is for them and for their children everywhere. They must obey this rule always.’

Offerings for sins that people did not really want to do

4 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Say to Israel's people, “A man may sin, when he did not really want to sin against the Lord. This is what that person must do.

³ The man may be a priest that you have anointed. If that is true, his sins will cause the people to sin. He must bring a young bull as a gift to the Lord. ⁴ The priest must bring the young bull to the door of the Lord's Tent of Meeting. He must put his hand on the animal's head. And then he must kill it in front of the Lord. ⁵ The priest that you have anointed must carry some of the blood into the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ He must put his finger in the blood. He must shake it in front of the holy curtain seven times in front of the Lord. ⁷ He must put some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar in front of the Lord. The priest must pour the blood that he did not use onto the floor in front of the altar. That altar is near the door outside the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ He must cut all the fat from inside the dead animal. ⁹ He must also cut out the kidneys and the best piece of the liver. He must take them from inside the animal. ¹⁰ He must burn the fat on the altar. The priest does this when the people give a friendship offering to God. ¹¹ He must take up the skin and all the meat. He must take the head, the legs and all the inside pieces. He must include the stomach. ¹² The priest must take all the pieces to a clean place outside the camp. He must put them on the ashes and he must burn them on a wood fire.

¹³ All of the people might do bad things when they did not really want to do them. They might not obey some of the Lord's rules. They will have sinned, even if they did not know this. ¹⁴ When they do know about it they must bring a young bull to the Tent of Meeting. The animal is a sin offering. ¹⁵ The leaders of the people must put their hands on the young bull's head. Then they must kill it in front of the Lord. ¹⁶ The priest will take some of the blood into the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁷ He will put his finger in the blood. He must shake it in front of the Lord and the holy curtain seven times. ¹⁸ He will take some of the blood. Then he will put it on the horns of the altar that is in front of the Lord. He will pour the blood that he did not use onto the floor. He must pour it in front of the burnt offering altar. This altar is outside the door of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ The priest will cut all the fat from the dead animal. And he will burn all the fat on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁰ He will do with this bull what he did with the bull for the sin offering. This is how the priest will atone for the sins of the people. God will forgive them when the priest does this. ²¹ The priest will take the dead animal outside the camp. He will put it on the ashes from the altar fire. He will burn the animal as he did the first bull. This is the sin offering for all the people.

²² A leader might do bad things when he did not really want to do them. He has sinned if he does not obey one of the Lord's rules. ²³ People will tell him that he has done wrong things. So then he must give a male goat to God. The animal must be perfect. ²⁴ He must put his hand on the goat's head and then he must kill it. He must do this where they kill animals in front of the Lord for the burnt offering. It is a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest will put his finger in the blood of the dead animal. He will put some of it on the horns of the altar. He will pour the blood that he did not use onto the ground. He will pour it in front of the altar. ²⁶ Then the priest will cut all the fat from the goat. And he will burn it on the altar. He will do this as he did for the friendship offering. This is how the priest will make atonement for the leader's sin. Then God will forgive the leader.

²⁷ One of the people might do bad things when he did not really want to do them. He did not obey one of the Lord's rules. That person has sinned. ²⁸ They will tell him that he has done bad things. Then he must give a female goat to God. The animal must be perfect. ²⁹ He must put his hand on the goat's head. Then he must kill it by the altar of burnt offering. ³⁰ The priest will put his finger in the blood of the goat. He will put some of it on the altar's corners. He will pour out the blood that he did not use. He will pour it onto the ground in front of the altar. ³¹ The priest will cut all the fat from the goat as he did with the friendship offering. And he will burn it on the altar. This will make atonement for the wrong things that the person has done. The smell of it while it is burning will give the Lord pleasure. Then the Lord will forgive the person.

³² If a person wants to give a young sheep to God, it must be a female. It must be perfect. ³³ He must put his hand on the animal's head. He will kill it at the altar of burnt offering. ³⁴ The priest will put his finger in the blood of the sheep. He will take some of it and he will put it on the horns of the altar. He will pour the blood that he did not use on the ground in front of the altar. ³⁵ The priest will cut all the fat from the sheep as he did with the friendship offering. He will burn it on the altar. He must burn it on top of the burnt offerings. This is how the priest will make atonement for the person's sin. Then the Lord will forgive the person.