Beginning

The Burnt Offering

1 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent. The Lord said, ² “Tell the people of Israel: ‘When you bring an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering one of the cattle. Or you may bring one of the sheep or goats.

³ “‘If anyone offers a whole burnt offering from the cattle, it must be a male. It must have nothing wrong with it. The person must take the animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Then the Lord will accept the offering. ⁴ The person must put his hand on the animal’s head. Then the Lord will accept that burnt offering. It will remove the person’s sin so he will belong to God. ⁵ The person must kill the young bull before the Lord. Then the priests must bring its blood to the altar. They must sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. This is the altar at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ⁶ The person will cut the skin from that animal. Then he will cut the animal into pieces. ⁷ The priests must put wood and fire on the altar. ⁸ They must lay the head, the fat and other pieces on the wood. That wood is on the fire on the altar. ⁹ The priest must wash the animal’s inner organs and legs with water. Then the priest must burn all the animal’s parts on the altar. It is a whole burnt offering, an offering made by fire. And its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁰ “‘The burnt offering may be a sheep or goat. It must be a male animal that has nothing wrong with it. ¹¹ The person must kill the animal on the north side of the altar. This is to be before the Lord. Then the priests must sprinkle its blood on the altar. They must sprinkle it on all sides. ¹² The person must cut the animal into pieces. Then the priest must lay the pieces with the head and fat on the wood. The wood is on the fire on the altar. ¹³ The person must wash the animal’s inner organs and legs with water. Then the priest must burn all its parts on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. And its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁴ “‘The whole burnt offering may be a bird. It must be a dove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest will bring the offering to the altar. He will pull off the bird’s head. Then he will burn it on the altar. The bird’s blood must be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶ The priest must remove the bird’s crop^[a] and its contents. He must throw them on the east side of the altar. This is where they put the ashes from the altar. ¹⁷ Then the priest must tear the bird open by its wings. But he must not divide the bird into two parts. Then the priest must burn the bird on the altar. He must place it on the wood which is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

The Grain Offering

2 “‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, it must be made from fine flour. The person must pour oil on it and put incense on it. ² Then he must take it to Aaron’s sons and the priests. The priest must take a handful of the fine flour, with the oil and all the incense. He must burn it on the altar as a memorial portion. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. ³ The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and the priests. This offering is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord.

⁴ “‘If you bring a grain offering that was baked in the oven, it must be made from fine flour. It may be loaves made without yeast and mixed with oil. Or it may be wafers made without yeast. They are to have oil poured over them. ⁵ If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made without yeast. It must be made of fine flour mixed with oil. ⁶ Crumble it and pour oil over it. It is a grain offering. ⁷ If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it must be made from fine flour and oil. ⁸ Bring the grain offering made of these things to the Lord. Give it to the priest. He will take it to the altar. ⁹ He will take out the memorial portion from the grain offering. He will burn it on the altar. This is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁰ The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and the priests. It is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.

¹¹ “‘Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast. You must not burn yeast or honey in an offering made by fire to the Lord. ¹² You may bring yeast and honey to the Lord as an offering from the first harvest. But yeast and honey must not be burned on the altar as a pleasing smell. ¹³ You must also put salt on all your grain offerings. Salt stands for your agreement with God that will last forever. Do not leave it out of your grain offering. You must add salt to all your offerings.

¹⁴ “‘If you bring a grain offering from the first harvest to the Lord, bring crushed heads of new grain. They must be roasted in the fire. ¹⁵ Put oil and incense on the grain. It is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The priest will burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and oil. It will have incense on it. It is an offering by fire to the Lord.

The Fellowship Offering

3 “‘A person’s fellowship offering to the Lord may be from the cattle. It may be a male or female animal. But it must have nothing wrong with it. ² The person must put his hand on the animal’s head. He must kill it at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the priests must sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. ³ This person must make a sacrifice from the fellowship offering. The sacrifice must be made by fire to the Lord. He must offer the fat of the animal’s inner organs. This is both the fat that is in them and that covers them. ⁴ He must also offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. He must also offer the best part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ⁵ Then the priests will burn these parts on the altar. They will put them on the burnt offering that is on the wood on the fire. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

⁶ “‘A person’s fellowship offering to the Lord may be a lamb or a goat. He may offer a male or female animal. But it must have nothing wrong with it. ⁷ If he offers a lamb, he must bring it before the Lord. ⁸ He must put his hand on its head. Then he must kill the animal in front of the Meeting Tent. The priests will sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. ⁹ Then the person must make a sacrifice from the fellowship offering. The sacrifice must be made by fire to the Lord. The person must bring the fat and the whole fat tail. The tail must be cut off close to the backbone. He must also offer the fat of the inner organs. This is both the fat that is in them and that covers them. ¹⁰ He must offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. And he must offer the best part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ¹¹ Then the priest will burn these parts on the altar as food. It will be an offering made by fire to the Lord.

¹² “‘A person’s fellowship offering may be a goat. He is to offer it before the Lord. ¹³ He must put his hand on the goat’s head. And he must kill it in front of the Meeting Tent. Then the priests must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. ¹⁴ From this fellowship offering the person must make a sacrifice. It will be an offering by fire to the Lord. The person must offer all the fat of the goat’s inner organs. This is both the fat that is in them and that covers them. ¹⁵ He must offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. And he must offer the best part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The priest will burn these parts on the altar as food. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. All the fat belongs to the Lord.

¹⁷ “‘This law will continue for people from now on, wherever you live: you must not eat fat or blood.’”

The Sin Offering

4 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel this: ‘A person might sin by accident. He might do some things the Lord has commanded not to be done. If so, that person must do these things:

³ “‘It may be the appointed priest who has sinned. If so, he has brought guilt on the people. So he must offer a young bull to the Lord. It must have nothing wrong with it. This will be a sin offering for the sin he has done. ⁴ He will bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. He must bring it in front of the Lord. Then he will put his hand on the bull’s head. And he will kill the bull before the Lord. ⁵ Then the appointed priest must bring some of the bull’s blood into the Meeting Tent. ⁶ The priest is to dip his finger into the blood. He must sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain. This curtain is in front of the Most Holy Place. ⁷ The priest must also put some of the blood on the corners of the altar of incense. It stands before the Lord in the Meeting Tent. Then the priest must pour out the rest of the bull’s blood. It must be poured at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. That altar is at the door of the Meeting Tent. ⁸ He must remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering. He must remove the fat on and around the inner organs. ⁹ He must remove both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. He must remove the best part of the liver with the kidneys. ¹⁰ He must do this in the same way the fat is removed from the bull of the fellowship offering. Then the priest must burn the animal parts on the altar of burnt offering. ^11-12 But the priest must carry out the skin of the bull and all its meat. He must take these with the rest of the bull—its head, legs, intestines and other inner organs. He must take it outside the camp to the special clean place where the ashes are poured out. He must burn it on a wood fire on the pile of ashes.

¹³ “‘The whole nation of Israel might sin without knowing it. They might do something the Lord has commanded not to be done. If this happens, they are guilty. ¹⁴ When they learn about the sin they have done, a young bull must be offered. It is a sin offering for the whole nation. They must bring it and give it before the Meeting Tent. ¹⁵ The elders of the group of people must put their hands on the bull’s head. It must be done before the Lord. And the bull must be killed before the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the appointed priest must bring some of the bull’s blood into the Meeting Tent. ¹⁷ The priest will dip his finger in the blood. He must sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain. ¹⁸ Then he must put some of the blood on the corners of the altar. The altar is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent. The priest must pour out the rest of the blood. He must pour it at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. That altar is at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹⁹ The priest must remove all the fat from the animal. And he must burn it on the altar. ²⁰ He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the first bull of the sin offering. In this way the priest removes the sins of the people so they will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive them. ²¹ Then the priest must carry the bull outside the camp and burn it. He must do this just as he did with the first bull. This is the sin offering for the whole community.

²² “‘A ruler might sin by accident. He might do something the Lord his God has commanded must not be done. If he does, he is guilty. ²³ When he learns about his sin, he must bring a male goat. It must have nothing wrong with it. That will be his sin offering. ²⁴ The ruler must put his hand on the goat’s head and kill it. This must be done where they kill the whole burnt offering before the Lord. The goat is a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger. He must put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶ He must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar. He must burn it in the same way he burns the fat of the fellowship offerings. In this way the priest removes the ruler’s sin so he belongs to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.

²⁷ “‘A person in the community might sin by accident. He might do something which the Lord has commanded must not be done. He is guilty of sin. ²⁸ When the person learns about his sin, he must bring a female goat. It must have nothing wrong with it. That will be his sin offering. ²⁹ He must put his hand on the animal’s head. He must kill it at the place of the whole burnt offering. ³⁰ Then the priest must take some of the goat’s blood on his finger. He must put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He must pour out the rest of the goat’s blood at the bottom of the altar. ³¹ Then the priest must remove all the goat’s fat. He must do it in the same way the fat is removed from the fellowship offerings. He must burn it on the altar. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. In this way the priest will remove that person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.

³² “‘This person may bring a lamb as his sin offering. If he does, he must bring a female. It must have nothing wrong with it. ³³ The person must put his hand on the animal’s head. He must kill it as a sin offering. He must kill it where they kill the whole burnt offering. ³⁴ The priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering on his finger. He must put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. Then he must pour out the rest of the lamb’s blood at the bottom of the altar. ³⁵ The priest must remove all the lamb’s fat. He must do it in the same way that the lamb’s fat is removed from the fellowship offerings. He must burn the pieces on the altar. They go on top of the offerings made by fire for the Lord. In this way the priest will remove that person’s sins so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.