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Chronological

Read the Bible in the chronological order in which its stories and events occurred.

Duration: 365 days

Leviticus 5-7

Chapter 5

Special Cases for Purification Offerings.^[a] ¹If a person, either having seen or come to know something, does wrong by refusing as a witness under oath to give information,^(A) that individual shall bear the penalty; ²or if someone, without being aware of it, touches any unclean thing, such as the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or an unclean domestic animal, or an unclean swarming creature,^[b] and thus is unclean and guilty;^(B) ³or if someone, without being aware of it, touches some human uncleanness,^(C) whatever kind of uncleanness this may be, and then subsequently becomes aware of guilt; ⁴or if someone, without being aware of it, rashly utters an oath with bad or good intent,^(D) whatever kind of oath this may be, and then subsequently becomes aware of guilt in regard to any of these matters— ⁵when someone is guilty in regard to any of these matters, that person shall confess the wrong committed, ⁶and make reparation to the Lord for the wrong committed: a female animal from the flock, a ewe lamb or a she-goat, as a purification offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement on the individual’s behalf for the wrong.

⁷If, however, the person cannot afford an animal of the flock,^(E) that person shall bring to the Lord as reparation for the wrong committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸The guilty party shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer the one for the purification offering first.^(F) Wringing its head at the neck, yet without breaking it off, ⁹he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the purification offering against the side of the altar. The rest of the blood shall be drained out against the base of the altar. It is a purification offering. ¹⁰The other bird he shall offer as a burnt offering according to procedure. Thus the priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf for the wrong committed, so that the individual may be forgiven.

¹¹If the person is unable to afford even two turtledoves or two pigeons, that person shall bring as an offering for the wrong committed one tenth of an ephah^[c] of bran flour for a purification offering. The guilty party shall not put oil or place frankincense on it, because it is a purification offering.^(G) ¹²The individual shall bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful as a token of the offering and burn it on the altar with the other oblations for the Lord. It is a purification offering. ¹³Thus the priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf for the wrong committed in any of the above cases, so that the individual may be forgiven. The rest of the offering, like the grain offering, shall belong to the priest.

Reparation Offerings.^[d] ¹⁴The Lord said to Moses: ¹⁵^(H)When a person commits sacrilege by inadvertently misusing any of the Lord’s sacred objects,^(I) the wrongdoer shall bring to the Lord as reparation an unblemished ram from the flock, at the established value^[e] in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel, as a reparation offering. ¹⁶The wrongdoer shall also restore what has been misused of the sacred objects, adding a fifth of its value,^(J) and give this to the priest. Thus the priest shall make atonement for the person with the ram of the reparation offering, so that the individual may be forgiven.

¹⁷If someone does wrong and violates one of the Lord’s prohibitions without realizing it, that person is guilty^(K) and shall bear the penalty. ¹⁸The individual shall bring to the priest an unblemished ram of the flock, at the established value, for a reparation offering. The priest shall then make atonement on the offerer’s behalf for the error inadvertently and unknowingly committed so that the individual may be forgiven. ¹⁹It is a reparation offering. The individual must make reparation to the Lord.

²⁰The Lord said to Moses: ²¹When someone does wrong and commits sacrilege against the Lord by deceiving^(L) a neighbor about a deposit or a pledge or a stolen article, or by otherwise retaining a neighbor’s goods unjustly;^(M) ²²or if, having found a lost article, the person lies about it, swearing falsely about any of the things that a person may do wrong— ²³when someone has thus done wrong and is guilty, that person shall restore the thing that was stolen, the item unjustly retained, the item left as deposit, or the lost article that was found ²⁴or whatever else the individual swore falsely about. That person shall make full restitution of the thing itself, and add one fifth of its value to it, giving it to its owner at the time of reparation. ²⁵Then that person shall bring to the priest as reparation to the Lord an unblemished ram of the flock, at the established value, as a reparation offering. ²⁶The priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf before the Lord, so that the individual may be forgiven for whatever was done to incur guilt.

B. Instructions for the Priests

Chapter 6

The Daily Burnt Offering. ¹The Lord said to Moses: ²^[f]^(N)Give Aaron and his sons the following command: This is the ritual^[g] for the burnt offering—the burnt offering that is to remain on the hearth of the altar all night until the next morning, while the fire is kept burning on the altar. ³The priest, clothed in his linen robe and wearing linen pants underneath, shall take away the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar, and lay them at the side of the altar. ⁴Then, having taken off these garments and put on other garments, he shall carry the ashes to a clean place outside the camp. ⁵The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest shall put firewood on it. On this he shall lay out the burnt offering^(O) and burn the fat of the communion offering. ⁶The fire is to be kept burning continuously on the altar; it must not go out.

The Grain Offering.^[h] ⁷This is the ritual of the grain offering. Aaron’s sons shall offer it before the Lord, in front of the altar. ⁸A priest shall then take from the grain offering a handful of bran flour and oil, together with all the frankincense that is on it,^(P) and this he shall burn on the altar as a token of the offering, a sweet aroma to the Lord. ⁹The rest of it Aaron and his sons may eat; but it must be eaten unleavened in a sacred place:^(Q) in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. ¹⁰It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it to them as their portion from the oblations for the Lord; it is most holy,^(R) like the purification offering and the reparation offering. ¹¹Every male of Aaron’s descendants may eat of it perpetually throughout your generations as their rightful due from the oblations for the Lord. Whatever touches the oblations becomes holy.

High Priest’s Daily Grain Offering.^[i] ¹²The Lord said to Moses: ¹³This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall present to the Lord on the day he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of bran flour for the regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. ¹⁴You shall bring it well kneaded and fried in oil on a griddle.^(S) Having broken the offering into pieces, you shall present it as a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁵The anointed priest descended from Aaron who succeeds him shall do likewise. This is the Lord’s due forever. The offering shall be wholly burned.^(T) ¹⁶Every grain offering of a priest shall be a whole offering; it may not be eaten.

Purification Offerings.^[j] ¹⁷The Lord said to Moses: ¹⁸^(U)Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the ritual for the purification offering. At the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, there also, before the Lord, shall the purification offering be slaughtered. It is most holy.^(V) ¹⁹The priest who offers the purification offering shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in a sacred place,^(W) in the court of the tent of meeting. ²⁰Whatever touches its flesh becomes holy. If any of its blood spatters on a garment, the stained part must be washed in a sacred place. ²¹A clay vessel in which it has been boiled shall be broken; if it is boiled in a copper vessel, this shall be scoured afterward and rinsed with water.^(X) ²²Every male of the priestly line may eat it. It is most holy. ²³But no purification offering of which some blood has been brought into the tent of meeting^(Y) to make atonement in the sanctuary shall be eaten; it must be burned with fire.^(Z)

Chapter 7

Reparation Offerings. ¹^[k]^(AA)This is the ritual for the reparation offering. It is most holy. ²At the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the reparation offering shall also be slaughtered.^(AB) Its blood shall be splashed on all the sides of the altar. ³^(AC)All of its fat shall be offered: the fatty tail, the fat that covers the inner organs, and all the fat that adheres to them, ⁴as well as the two kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which is removed with the kidneys. ⁵The priest shall burn these on the altar as an oblation to the Lord. It is a reparation offering. ⁶Every male of the priestly line may eat of it; but it must be eaten in a sacred place.^(AD) It is most holy.^(AE)

⁷Because the purification offering and the reparation offering are alike, both have the same ritual. The reparation offering belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it. ⁸As for the priest who offers someone’s burnt offering, to him belongs the hide of the burnt offering that is offered. ⁹^[l]^(AF)Also, every grain offering that is baked in an oven or made in a pan or on a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it, ¹⁰whereas all grain offerings^(AG) that are mixed with oil or are dry shall belong to all of Aaron’s sons without distinction.

Communion Sacrifices.^[m] ¹¹^(AH)This is the ritual for the communion sacrifice that is offered to the Lord. ¹²^[n]If someone offers it for thanksgiving, that person shall offer it with unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes made of bran flour mixed with oil and well kneaded. ¹³One shall present this offering together with loaves of leavened bread along with the thanksgiving communion sacrifice. ¹⁴From this the individual shall offer one bread of each type of offering as a contribution^[o] to the Lord; this shall belong to the priest who splashes the blood of the communion offering.

¹⁵^[p]^(AI)The meat of the thanksgiving communion sacrifice shall be eaten on the day it is offered; none of it may be kept till the next morning.^(AJ) ¹⁶However, if the sacrifice offered is a votive or a voluntary offering,^[q] it shall be eaten on the day the sacrifice is offered, and on the next day what is left over may be eaten.^(AK) ¹⁷But what is left over of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned in the fire. ¹⁸If indeed any of the flesh of the communion sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted; it will not be reckoned to the credit of the one offering it. Rather it becomes a desecrated meat. Anyone who eats of it shall bear the penalty.^[r]

¹⁹^[s]Should the meat touch anything unclean, it may not be eaten, but shall be burned in the fire.^(AL) As for other meat, all who are clean may eat of it. ²⁰If, however, someone in a state of uncleanness eats the meat of a communion sacrifice belonging to the Lord, that person shall be cut off^[t]^(AM) from the people. ²¹Likewise, if someone touches anything unclean, whether it be human uncleanness or an unclean animal or an unclean loathsome creature, and then eats the meat of the communion sacrifice belonging to the Lord, that person, too, shall be cut off from the people.

Prohibition Against Blood and Fat. ²²The Lord said to Moses: ²³Tell the Israelites: You shall not eat the fat of any ox or sheep or goat.^(AN) ²⁴Although the fat of an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild beasts may be put to any other use, you may not eat it.^(AO) ²⁵If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which an oblation is made to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from the people. ²⁶^(AP)Wherever you dwell, you shall not eat any blood, whether of bird or of animal. ²⁷Every person who eats any blood shall be cut off from the people.

Portions from the Communion Sacrifice for Priests. ²⁸The Lord said to Moses: ²⁹Tell the Israelites: The person who offers a communion sacrifice to the Lord shall be the one to bring from it the offering to the Lord. ³⁰The offerer’s own hands shall carry the oblations for the Lord: the person shall bring the fat together with the brisket, which is to be raised as an elevated^(AQ) offering^[u] before the Lord. ³¹The priest shall burn the fat on the altar,^(AR) but the brisket belongs to Aaron and his sons. ³²Moreover, from your communion sacrifices you shall give to the priest the right leg as a contribution. ³³The one among Aaron’s sons who offers the blood and the fat of the communion offering shall have the right leg as his portion, ³⁴for from the communion sacrifices of the Israelites I have taken the brisket that is elevated and the leg that is a contribution, and I have given them to Aaron, the priest, and to his sons as their due from the Israelites forever.^(AS)

³⁵This is the priestly share from the oblations for the Lord, allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were brought forth to be the priests of the Lord, ³⁶which the Lord ordered to be given them from the Israelites on the day they were anointed, as their due throughout their generations forever.

Summary. ³⁷This is the ritual for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the purification offering, the reparation offering, the ordination offering,^(AT) and the communion sacrifice, ³⁸which the Lord enjoined on Moses at Mount Sinai at the time when he commanded the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai to bring their offerings to the Lord.^(AU)

Footnotes

5:1–13 This differs from the prescriptions for purification offerings in chap. 4 by listing four specific wrongs for which a purification offering is brought and allowing the substitution of birds and grain offerings in the case of poverty.
5:2 Swarming creature: a rather imprecise categorization that includes various small creatures in the seas, such as fish that go about in large groups or swarms (Gn 1:20; Lv 11:10); or, similarly, various winged insects that mass in the skies (Lv 11:20; Dt 14:19); and, finally, various small creatures that move in swarms on land, whether crawlers, quadrupeds, or of the multilegged variety (Lv 11:41–42). According to 11:29–30, even various rodents and lizards can be included in this category.
5:11 Ephah: see note on Is 5:10.
5:14–26 This last half of the chapter deals with a distinct sacrifice, the reparation offering (Heb. ’asham). The Hebrew root for this term has a basic meaning of “be guilty.” The noun can have a consequential sense of “that which is due from guilt,” i.e., “compensation, indemnification, reparation”; hence the translation “reparation offering,” rather than the alternatives “guilt offering” or “trespass offering.” This offering is brought most often in cases of sacrilege.
5:15 At the established value: the Hebrew term ‘erkĕkā, which in context means “(established) value,” may indicate that a person could bring the monetary equivalent of a ram instead of an actual animal. See vv. 18, 25.
6:2–6 This passage may have reference to the burnt offering that is offered in the morning and late afternoon each day (cf. Ex 29:38–42; Nm 28:3–8).
6:2 Ritual: Hebrew torah, which also has the broader meaning of “instruction.” The treatment of sacrifices in chaps. 6–7 recapitulates the offerings treated in 1–5 but now with more emphasis on priestly duties and prerogatives.
6:7–11 The passage is apparently concerned with the raw grain offering of 2:1–3.
6:12–16 This seems to refer to a grain offering offered twice daily by the high priest, perhaps identical to the regular grain offering in Nm 4:16 (cf. Neh 10:34). This offering is distinct from the grain offering that accompanies the daily burnt offering.
6:17–23 There are two types of purification offering: one whose blood is used inside the tent sanctuary (4:1–12, 13–21) and another whose blood was only used at the outer sacrificial altar (4:22–26, 27–31, 32–35). The carcasses of the former, as well as of purification offerings brought by the priests themselves (cf. 8:14–17; 9:8–11), are not eaten by priests but disposed of at the ash heap outside the camp, which itself is set up around the sanctuary (Ex 29:14; Lv 4:11–12, 21; 6:23; 8:17; 9:11; 16:27). The Letter to the Hebrews compares Jesus’ suffering “outside the gate” to the disposal of purification offering carcasses outside the camp (Hb 13:11–13).
7:1–6 These prescriptions may appear here rather than in 5:14–26 where this offering is first treated because the monetary equivalent of the offering might have been brought instead of an actual animal. See note on 5:15.
7:9–10 For the distinction between uncooked and cooked grain offerings, see 2:1–10 and note on 2:1. The contradiction between v. 9 and 2:10 may reflect a development in custom, with the distribution in v. 9 coming from earlier times, when sanctuary personnel was more limited.
7:11–36 This section discusses three types of communion sacrifice: the thanksgiving offering (vv. 12–15), a votive offering, and a voluntary offering (vv. 16–18). The latter two are similar and are thus mentioned together. Verses 19–36 apply to all types of communion sacrifice.
7:12–13 Four types of breads accompany the thanksgiving offering. Three types are cooked grain offerings comparable to those in 2:4–10. Also required are loaves of leavened bread (see 2:11).
7:14 Contribution: Hebrew terumah. This does not indicate a particular ritual action. The word simply means “gift, something set apart.”
7:15–18 Sacrifices must be properly consumed for them to be effective (cf. also 19:5–8; 22:30). Similar rules obtain for the Passover offering (Ex 12:10; Nm 9:12; cf. Ex 23:18; 34:25; Dt 16:4) and the ordination offering (Ex 29:34; Lv 8:32).
7:16 Votive or a voluntary offering: these are not specific types of offerings but rather motivations for bringing the communion sacrifice (cf. 22:18). A votive offering is brought as the consequence of a promise (vow) made to God. A voluntary offering is a spontaneous gift to God independent of a prior promise. See note on 27:2–13.
7:18 Bear the penalty: this refers in many cases to punishment by God (cf. 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; Nm 18:1, 23; 30:16).
7:19–21 For ritual impurity, see note on 11:1–15:33.
7:20 Cut off: a common term in the Priestly source that cannot always be reduced to a simple English equivalent, since its usage appears to involve a number of associated punishments, some or all of which may come into play in any one instance (see Ex 12:15 and note). All the same, as a punishment from God, to be “cut off” (from one’s people) frequently appears to refer to termination of the offender’s family line (and perhaps in some cases an early death); see Lv 20:2–3, 20–21; Ru 4:10; Ps 109:13; Mal 2:12.
7:30 Raised as an elevated offering: these portions of the sacrifices were specially dedicated by lifting them in presentation before God’s abode. The sanctifying effect of this action is clearly seen in 23:17–20; Nm 6:19–20.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.