Chronological

Parashat Vayikra

Offerings Without Defect

1 Now Adonai called to Moses and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying: ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, and tell them: When anyone of you brings an offering^[a] to Adonai, you may present your offering of livestock, from the herd or from the flock.

³ “If his sacrifice is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present a male without blemish. He is to offer it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, so that he may be accepted before Adonai. ⁴ He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. ⁵ He is to slaughter the bull before Adonai. Then Aaron’s sons, the kohanim, are to present the blood and splash it around on the altar that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. ⁷ The sons of Aaron the kohen are to place fire on the altar and arrange wood upon the fire. ⁸ Then Aaron’s sons, the kohanim, shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat upon the wood that is on the fire which is atop the altar. ⁹ But its innards and its legs he is to wash with water. The kohen should burn it all up as smoke on the altar, for a burnt offering made by fire—a soothing aroma to Adonai.

¹⁰ “If his sacrifice is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he should bring a male without blemish. ¹¹ He is to slaughter it on the north side of the altar before Adonai. Aaron’s sons, the kohanim, are to splash its blood around on the altar. ¹² He is to cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat. The kohen should then arrange them upon the wood that is on the fire that is atop the altar, ¹³ but the innards and the legs he is to wash with water. The kohen is to offer it all, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, made by fire—a soothing aroma to Adonai.

¹⁴ “If his sacrifice to Adonai is a burnt offering of birds, then he should bring his offering of turtledoves or young pigeons. ¹⁵ The kohen is to bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. Then its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶ Also he is to cut out its digestive tract with its filth, and cast it beside the altar on the east side, into the place of the fat ashes. ¹⁷ He should tear it by its wings, but not divide it up. The kohen should burn it upon the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, made by fire—a soothing aroma to Adonai.

Matzah Flour Offerings

2 “When anyone brings a sacrifice offering of grain to Adonai, his offering should be of fine flour, and he is to pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. ² He is to bring it to Aaron’s sons, the kohanim, and he shall take from there his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense. Then the kohen shall burn up as smoke its memorial portion on the altar, an offering made by fire—a soothing aroma to Adonai. ³ What is left of the grain offering is for Aaron and his sons, a most holy portion of the offerings to Adonai made by fire.

⁴ “When you bring a sacrifice offering of grain baked in the oven, it is to consist of matzah cakes of fine flour mixed with oil or matzah wafers anointed with oil. ⁵ If your sacrifice is a grain offering from the pan, it is to consist of fine flour, mixed with oil, matzah. ⁶ You should cut it in pieces and pour oil on it. It is a grain offering.

⁷ “Now if your sacrifice is a grain offering of the pan, it is to be made of fine flour with oil. ⁸ When you bring the grain offering that is made of these things to Adonai, it is to be presented to the kohen and he is to bring it to the altar. ⁹ The kohen is to take from the grain offering its memorial portion, and burn it up as smoke on the altar, an offering made by fire—a soothing aroma to Adonai. ¹⁰ What is left of the grain offering is for Aaron and his sons, a most holy portion of the offerings to Adonai made by fire.

¹¹ “Every grain offering which you present to Adonai should be made without hametz, for you are not to burn up as smoke any hametz nor any honey as a sacrifice made by fire to Adonai. ¹² As a gift of firstfruits you may offer them to Adonai, but they are not to ascend for a soothing aroma on the altar. ¹³ Also you are to season with salt every sacrifice of your grain offering. You are never to allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your sacrifices you must offer salt.

¹⁴ “If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to Adonai, you are to present for the grain offering of your firstfruits of fresh ears of barley, scorched with fire—crushed grain of fresh ears. ¹⁵ You are then to put oil and frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The kohen shall burn up as its memorial portion part of its crushed grain and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense. It is an offering made by fire to Adonai.

Shalom Offerings

3 “Now if his offering is a sacrifice of fellowship offerings, if from the herd, whether male or female, he is to offer one without blemish before Adonai. ² He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the kohanim are to splash the blood around on the altar. ³ He is to bring from the sacrifice of fellowship offerings an offering made by fire to Adonai, the fat that covers the innards, all the fat that is on the entrails, ⁴ as well as the two kidneys and the fat that is on them which is by the loins, plus the cover on the liver that he must remove with the kidneys. ⁵ Aaron’s sons are to burn it up as smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is over the wood that is on the fire. It is an offering made by fire—a soothing aroma to Adonai.

⁶ “If his gift for a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Adonai is from the flock, he is to offer a male or female without blemish. ⁷ If he is bringing a lamb for his offering, he should present it before Adonai. ⁸ He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it before the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons are to splash its blood around on the altar. ⁹ From the sacrifice of fellowship offerings he should bring a gift made by fire to Adonai. Its fat—the entire tail fat cut away close to the backbone, along with the fat that covers the innards and all the fat that is on the entrails, ¹⁰ as well as the two kidneys and the fat that is over them which is by the loins, plus the cover on the liver that he is to remove with the kidneys. ¹¹ The kohen is to burn it up as smoke on the altar—as a food offering made by fire to Adonai.

¹² “If his offering is a goat then he should present it before Adonai. ¹³ He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons are to splash its blood around on the altar. ¹⁴ From it he is to offer as his sacrifice an offering made by fire to Adonai, the fat that covers the innards, all the fat that is on the entrails, ¹⁵ the two kidneys and the fat that is over them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, which he must remove with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The kohen is to burn them on the altar. It is the food of the offering made by fire, for a soothing aroma. All fat is for Adonai.

¹⁷ “It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you must eat neither fat nor blood.”

Sacrifices for Unintentional Sins

4 Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael, saying: If anyone sins unintentionally in any of Adonai’s mitzvot that are not to be done, and commits any one of them ³ —or if the anointed kohen sins so as to bring guilt on the people—then let him offer for his sin which he has committed, a young bull without blemish to Adonai for a sin offering. ⁴ He is to bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before Adonai, lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter it before Adonai. ⁵ The anointed kohen should take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ The kohen is to dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Adonai, before the curtain of the Sanctuary. ⁷ The kohen should put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Adonai, which is in the Tent of Meeting, and he is to pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ He is to take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it, the fat that covers the innards, all the fat that is on the entrails, ⁹ the two kidneys and the fat that is over them which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys, ¹⁰ just as it is removed from the bull of the sacrifice of fellowship offerings. The kohen should burn them up as smoke on the altar of burnt offering. ¹¹ The bull’s hide, all its flesh, with its head, along with its legs, its innards and its dung— ¹² the entire bull—he is to carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the fat ashes are poured out, and burn it over wood in the fire. It is to be burned on top of the place of pouring fat ashes.

¹³ “Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins, but the deed is hidden from the eyes of the community, yet they have done one of Adonai’s mitzvot that are not to be done, then they are guilty. ¹⁴ When the sin that they committed becomes known, then the community is to offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵ The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the head of the bull before Adonai, and the bull is to be slaughtered before Adonai. ¹⁶ The anointed kohen should bring some of the blood from the bull to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁷ Then the kohen is to dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Adonai, before the curtain. ¹⁸ He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before Adonai, in the Tent of Meeting, and the rest of the blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ He is to take all its fat from it, and burn it up as smoke on the altar. ²⁰ He is also to do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering—he must do the same with it. So the kohen shall make atonement for them—and they will be forgiven. ²¹ Then he is to carry the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the community.

²² “When a ruler sins and unwittingly does one of the mitzvot of Adonai his God that are not to be done, then he is guilty. ²³ When his sin that he committed is made known to him, he is to bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish. ²⁴ He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering before Adonai. It is a sin offering. ²⁵ The kohen should take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He is to pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶ He is to burn all its fat on the altar, just like the fat of the sacrifice of fellowship offerings. So the kohen shall make atonement for him concerning his sin—and he will be forgiven.

²⁷ “When anyone of the common people sins unwittingly by doing one of Adonai’s mitzvot that are not to be done, then he is guilty. ²⁸ When his sin that he committed is made known to him, then he is to bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin that he committed. ²⁹ He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and then slaughter it at the place of burnt offering. ³⁰ The kohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He is to pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ³¹ He is to take away all its fat, just like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of fellowship offerings. And the kohen should burn it on the altar for a soothing aroma to Adonai. So the kohen is to make atonement for him—and he will be forgiven.

Sin Offerings

³² “Now if he brings a lamb as his sacrifice for a sin offering, he is to bring a female without blemish. ³³ He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter the burnt offering. ³⁴ The kohen should take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. Then all the rest of its blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ He must remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of fellowship offerings. Then the kohen is to burn them on the altar, on Adonai’s offerings by fire. So the kohen shall make atonement for him over the sin that he committed—and he will be forgiven.