Leviticus 1-4
GOD’S WORD Translation
1 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites: If any of you bring a sacrifice to the Lord, you must offer an animal from your cattle, sheep, or goats.
Burnt Offerings of Cattle
3 “If you bring a burnt offering from your cattle, you must offer a male that has no defects. Offer it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that the Lord will accept you. 4 Place your hand on the animal’s head. The burnt offering will be accepted to make peace with the Lord. 5 Then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will offer the blood. They will throw it against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 Skin the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. 7 Then the sons of the priest Aaron will start a fire on the altar and lay the wood on the fire. 8 Aaron’s sons, the priests, will also lay the pieces, the head, and the fat on top of the wood burning on the altar. 9 Wash the internal organs and legs. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Burnt Offerings of Sheep or Goats
10 “If your offering is a sheep or goat, you must bring a male that has no defects. 11 Slaughter it in the Lord’s presence on the north side of the altar. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 12 Then cut it into pieces. The priest will lay the head and the fat on the wood burning on the altar. 13 Wash the internal organs and legs. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Burnt Offerings of Birds
14 “If your offering to the Lord is a bird, you must sacrifice a mourning dove or pigeon. 15 The priest must bring it to the altar. He will break its neck and burn the bird on the altar. First, he will drain the blood against the side of the altar. 16 Remove the gizzard with its filth and throw it on the east side of the altar on the place for the ashes. 17 Then pull on the bird’s wings to tear the bird open, but don’t pull the wings off. Then the priest will lay the bird on the wood burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.”
Uncooked Grain Offerings
2 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Now, if any of you bring a grain offering to the Lord, your offering must be flour. Pour olive oil on it, and put incense on it. 2 Then bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. Take from this a handful of flour with olive oil, and all the incense. The priest will burn it on the altar as a reminder. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord. 3 The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from the Lord’s offering by fire.
Cooked Grain Offerings
4 “If you bring a grain offering which has been baked in an oven, it must be rings of unleavened bread made of flour mixed with olive oil or wafers of unleavened bread brushed with olive oil. 5 If your grain offering is prepared in a frying pan, it, too, will be unleavened bread made of flour mixed with olive oil. 6 Break it into pieces and pour olive oil over it. It is a grain offering. 7 If your grain offering is prepared in a skillet, it will be made of flour with olive oil.
8 “Bring the Lord the grain offering prepared in any of these ways. Offer it to the priest who will bring it to the altar. 9 The priest will remove part of the grain offering and burn it as a reminder on the altar. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord. 10 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from the Lord’s offering by fire.
Other Ingredients
11 “Every grain offering that you bring to the Lord must be prepared without yeast. Never burn yeast or honey as an offering to the Lord. 12 You may bring them to the Lord as offerings of your first products. But they must never be placed on the altar to make a soothing aroma. 13 Also put salt on each of your grain offerings. The salt of God’s promise [a] must never be left out of your grain offerings. Put salt on all your offerings.
Offering the First Grain Harvested
14 “If you bring a grain offering to the Lord from the first grain you harvest, roast the cracked grain over fire. 15 Put olive oil on it, and place incense on it. It is a grain offering. 16 The priest will burn the flour, olive oil, and all the incense as a reminder. It is an offering by fire to the Lord.”
Fellowship Offerings of Cattle
3 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of cattle in the Lord’s presence, it must be a male or female animal that has no defects. 2 Place your hand on the animal’s head. Then slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 3 From your offering remove the fat that covers the internal organs 4 and the two kidneys with the fat on them and offer them by fire to the Lord. Also cut off the lobe of the liver along with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons will lay them on top of the burnt offering on the burning wood. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Fellowship Offerings of Sheep
6 “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of sheep to the Lord, you must bring a male or female animal that has no defects. 7 If your offering is a lamb, you must bring it to the Lord. 8 Place your hand on the animal’s head. Slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 9 Then take the fat from the fellowship offering and offer it by fire to the Lord. Remove all the fat from the tail and the fat that covers the internal organs. 10 Also remove the two kidneys with the fat on them along with the lobe of the liver. 11 Then the priest will burn the fellowship offering on the altar. It is food, an offering by fire to the Lord.
Fellowship Offerings of Goats
12 “If your offering is a goat, you must bring it to the Lord. 13 Place your hand on its head. Slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 14 Then bring the fat that covers the internal organs 15 and the two kidneys with the fat on them as an offering by fire to the Lord. Also remove the lobe of the liver along with the kidneys. 16 Then the priest will burn them on the altar. It is food, an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a soothing aroma. All the fat belongs to the Lord. 17 This is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live: Never eat any fat or blood.”
Offerings for Unintentional Wrongdoing
4 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the Lord’s commands—this is what he must do.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Chief Priest
3 “If the anointed priest does something wrong and brings guilt on the people, he must bring a bull that has no defects as an offering for sin to the Lord. 4 He must bring the bull into the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will place his hand on the bull’s head. He will then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence. 5 Then the anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. 6 The priest will dip his finger in it and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the Lord’s presence facing the canopy in the holy place. 7 Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for sweet-smelling incense in the Lord’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the bull’s blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He will remove all of the fat from the bull that is the offering for sin, the fat that covers the internal organs, 9 and the two kidneys with the fat on them. He will also remove the lobe of the liver and the kidneys 10 the same way they were removed from the bull used for the fellowship offering. The priest will lay them on the altar for burnt offerings. 11 Then he will take the entire bull (the skin, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and excrement) 12 to a clean [b] place outside the camp where the ashes are dumped. He will burn it there on a wood fire.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Whole Congregation
13 “If the whole congregation of Israel unintentionally does something wrong, without the assembly being aware of it, if they do even one thing that is forbidden by any of the Lord’s commands, they will be guilty. 14 When the wrong they have done becomes known, the congregation must sacrifice a bull as an offering for sin. They must bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15 The leaders of the congregation will place their hands on the bull’s head in the Lord’s presence. One of them will slaughter it in the Lord’s presence. 16 Then the anointed priest will bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 17 The priest will dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the Lord’s presence facing the canopy. 18 He will also put some blood on the horns of the altar in the Lord’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 He will remove all the fat and burn it on the altar. 20 He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then he will take the bull outside the camp and will burn it the same way he burned the first bull. It is an offering for sin for the community.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Leader
22 “When a leader unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the commands of the Lord his God—he will be guilty. 23 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a male goat that has no defects as his offering. 24 He will place his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it in the Lord’s presence where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. It is an offering for sin. 25 Then the priest will take some of the blood of the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. 26 He will burn all the fat on the altar the same way the fat of the fellowship offering is burned. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what the leader did wrong, and the leader will be forgiven.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Common Person—Goats
27 “If a common person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing forbidden by the Lord’s commands—he will be guilty. 28 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a female goat that has no defects as his offering for what he has done wrong. 29 He will place his hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it where animals for burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30 The priest will take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. 31 He will remove all the fat the same way it is removed from the fellowship offering. The priest will burn it on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for that person, and that person will be forgiven.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Common Person—Lambs
32 “If someone brings a lamb as his offering for sin, he must bring a female that has no defects. 33 He will place his hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. 34 Then the priest will take some of the blood from the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. 35 He will remove all the fat the same way the fat of the lamb is removed from the fellowship offerings. Then the priest will burn it on the altar with the offering by fire to the Lord. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what that person did wrong, and that person will be forgiven.”
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