Historical

The Law of Burnt Offerings

1 The Lord ^[a]called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, ² “Speak to the ^[b]children of Israel and say to them, ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of [domestic] animals from the herd (cattle, oxen) or from the flock (sheep, goats). ³ If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting so that he may be accepted before the Lord.^{(A) 4} He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], that it may be ^[c]accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.^{(B) 5} He shall kill the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. ⁶ Then he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. ⁷ The sons of Aaron the [high] priest shall put fire on the altar [of burnt offering] and arrange wood on the fire. ⁸ Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the fat, on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. ⁹ But he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.^(C)

¹⁰ ‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, as a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish. ¹¹ He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ¹² He shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. ¹³ But he shall wash the entrails and legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it, and offer it up in smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

¹⁴ ‘But if his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring turtledoves or young pigeons as his offering. ¹⁵ The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶ He shall remove its ^[d]crop with its feathers and throw it next to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes. ¹⁷ Then he shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.

The Law of Grain Offerings

2 ‘When ^[e]anyone presents a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour [olive] oil over it and put frankincense on it. ² He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. Out of it he shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall offer this up in smoke on the altar [of burnt offering] as the memorial portion of it. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ³ What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

⁴ ‘When you bring an offering of grain baked in the oven, it shall be ^[f]unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. ⁵ If your offering is grain baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine unleavened flour, mixed with oil. ⁶ You are to break it into pieces, and you shall pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. ⁷ Now if your offering is grain cooked in a lidded pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. ⁸ When you bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar [of burnt offering]. ⁹ The priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁰ What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

¹¹ ‘No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven [which symbolizes the spread of sin] or any honey [which, like leaven, is subject to fermentation] in any offering by fire to the Lord.^{(D) 12} As an offering of first fruits you may offer them [leaven and honey] to the Lord, but they shall not go up [in smoke] on the altar as a sweet and soothing aroma. ¹³ You shall season every grain offering with salt so that the salt (preservation) of the covenant of your God will not be missing from your grain offering. You shall offer salt with all your offerings.^(E)

¹⁴ ‘If you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the Lord, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, crushed grain of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things. ¹⁵ You shall put oil on it and lay incense on it; it is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of the crushed grain and part of its oil with all its incense; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

The Law of Peace Offerings

3 ‘If a man’s offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. ² He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. ³ From the sacrifice of the peace offerings, an offering by fire to the Lord, he shall present the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, ⁴ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the ^[g]lobe of the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys. ⁵ Aaron’s sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar [placing it] on the burnt offering which is on the wood that is on the fire. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁶ If his peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer the animal without blemish. ⁷ If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall present it before the Lord, ⁸ and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ⁹ From the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall bring as an offering by fire to the Lord, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, ¹⁰ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. ¹¹ The priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire to the Lord.

¹² ‘If his offering is a goat, he shall present it before the Lord, ¹³ and he shall lay his hand on its head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ¹⁴ Then he shall present from it as his offering, an offering by fire to the Lord: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, ¹⁵ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma; all the fat is the Lord’s. ¹⁷ It is a permanent statute for your generations wherever you may be, that you shall not eat any fat or any blood.’”

The Law of Sin Offerings

4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them— ³ if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer to the Lord a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.^{(F) 4} He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, and shall lay his hand on the bull’s head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill the bull before the Lord. ⁵ Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting; ⁶ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil (curtain) of the sanctuary. ⁷ The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. All the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of the burnt offering which is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸ He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, ⁹ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys ¹⁰ (just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings), and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. ¹¹ But the hide of the bull and all its meat, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its refuse, ¹² that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on a fire of wood. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.^(G)

¹³ ‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they have done any one of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty; ¹⁴ when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the congregation shall offer a young bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵ Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord [to transfer symbolically the congregation’s guilt to the sacrifice], and they shall kill the bull before the Lord. ¹⁶ The anointed priest is to bring some of the bull’s blood to the Tent of Meeting, ¹⁷ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil [which screens off the Holy of Holies and the ark of the covenant]. ¹⁸ He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar [of incense] which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ He shall remove all its fat from the bull and offer it up in smoke on the altar. ²⁰ He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; that is what he shall do with this. So the priest shall make atonement for [the sin of] the people, and they will be forgiven. ²¹ Then the priest is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the congregation.

²² ‘When a ruler or leader sins and unintentionally does any one of the things the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, ²³ if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring a goat, a male without blemish as his offering. ²⁴ He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶ And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat from the sacrifice of peace offerings; so the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.

²⁷ ‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the things the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, ²⁸ if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring a goat, a female without blemish as his offering for the sin which he has committed. ²⁹ He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it at the place of the burnt offering. ³⁰ The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and shall pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. ³¹ Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

³² ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. ³³ He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. ³⁴ The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and all the rest of the blood of the lamb he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.^(H)