Voluntary Sacrifices and Offerings

1 ^[a] So the Lord called out to Moses from inside the Meeting Tent and said, ² “Tell the Israelites: When you bring an offering to the Lord, the offering must be one of your tame animals—it can be a sheep, a goat, or one of your cattle.

³ “If you offer one of your cattle as a burnt offering, it must be a bull that has nothing wrong with it. You must take the animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent where the Lord will accept the offering. ⁴ You must put your hand on the animal’s head while it is being killed. So the Lord will accept it as your burnt offering to make you pure.

⁵ “You^[b] must kill the young bull in front of the Lord. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will bring the blood to the altar that is near the entrance of the Meeting Tent. He will splash the blood on all four sides of the altar. ⁶ You must remove the skin from that animal and then cut the animal into pieces. ⁷ Aaron’s sons, the priests, will put the fire on the altar and arrange the wood on the fire. ⁸ They will lay the pieces of the animal, including the head and fat, on top of the burning wood. ⁹ You must wash the legs and inner parts of the animal with water. Then the priest will bring all these parts to the altar to be offered as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

¹⁰ “If you offer a sheep or a goat as a burnt offering, it must be a male that has nothing wrong with it. ¹¹ You must kill the animal on the north side of the altar in front of the Lord. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will splash the animal’s blood on all four sides of the altar. ¹² You must cut the animal into pieces and remove the head and the fat. The priest will then lay them on the wood that is on the fire of the altar. ¹³ You must wash the legs and inner parts of the animal with water. Then the priest will bring all these parts to the altar to be offered as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

¹⁴ “If you offer a bird as a burnt offering to the Lord, that bird must be a dove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest will bring the offering to the altar. There the priest will remove the bird’s head, drain out the blood on the side of the altar, and burn the bird on the altar. ¹⁶ He will remove the bird’s tail and inner parts^[c] and throw them onto the pile of ashes east of the altar. ¹⁷ Then the priest will tear the bird open by its wings, but he must not divide it completely into two parts. So he will bring the bird to the altar to be offered as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

Grain Offerings

2 “When you give a grain offering to the Lord, your offering must be made from fine flour. You must pour oil on this flour and put frankincense on it. ² Then you must bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. One of them will take a handful of the fine flour with oil and frankincense in it. He will bring this part, which represents the whole grain offering, to the altar. There it will be burned up as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ³ The rest of that grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons. This gift to the Lord is very holy.

Baked Grain Offerings

⁴ “If you give a grain offering that was baked in the oven, it must be unleavened bread made from fine flour mixed with oil, or it must be wafers with oil poured over them. ⁵ If you bring a grain offering cooked in a baking pan, it must be made from fine flour without yeast and mixed with oil. ⁶ You must break it into pieces and pour oil over it. It is a grain offering. ⁷ If you bring a grain offering cooked in a frying pan, it must be made from fine flour mixed with oil.

⁸ “When you bring grain offerings made from these things to the Lord, you must give them to the priest, and he will take them to the altar. ⁹ Then the priest will take part of the grain offering and lift it up as a memorial offering. He will bring it to the altar to be burned up as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ¹⁰ The rest of that grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons. This gift to the Lord is very holy.

¹¹ “You must not give any grain offering to the Lord that has yeast in it. You must not burn yeast or honey as a gift to the Lord. ¹² You may bring yeast and honey to the Lord as an offering from the first harvest, but they must not be put on the altar to be burned as a sweet smell. ¹³ Also, you must put salt on every grain offering you bring. You must not forget to add salt, because it represents God’s agreement with you. Always put salt on these offerings.

Grain Offerings From the First Harvest

¹⁴ “If you bring a grain offering from the first harvest to the Lord, you must bring roasted heads of grain. They must be crushed heads of fresh grain. This will be your grain offering from the first harvest. ¹⁵ You must put oil and frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The priest must burn part of the crushed grain, the oil, and all the frankincense on it as a memorial offering. It is a gift to the Lord.

Fellowship Offerings

3 “If you offer one of your cattle as a fellowship offering, it can be a bull or a cow. But the animal you offer to the Lord must have nothing wrong with it. ² You must put your hand on the animal’s head and kill the animal at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will splash the blood on all four sides of the altar. ³ The priest will take a part of that fellowship offering as a gift to the Lord. He will take the fat that is over and around the inner parts. ⁴ He will take the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscle. He will also remove the fat part of the liver that is near the kidneys. ⁵ Then Aaron’s sons will bring the fat to the altar and put it on the burnt offering that is on the wood on the fire. It is a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

⁶ “If you offer a sheep or a goat as a fellowship offering to the Lord, whether it is a male or a female, it must have nothing wrong with it. ⁷ If you bring a lamb as an offering to the Lord, ⁸ you must put your hand on the animal’s head and kill it in front of the Meeting Tent. Then Aaron’s sons will splash the animal’s blood on all four sides of the altar. ⁹ The priest will take part of the fellowship offering to the altar as a gift to the Lord. The priest must cut off the tail close to the backbone. Then he will offer the tail with all its fat and the fat that is over and around the animal’s inner parts. ¹⁰ He will also offer the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscles. He will also offer the fat part of the liver. He must remove it with the kidneys. ¹¹ Then the priest will take that part to the altar to be burned up as food, a gift to the Lord.

¹² “If the offering is a goat, you must bring it before the Lord. ¹³ You must put your hand on the goat’s head and kill it in front of the Meeting Tent. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, must splash the goat’s blood on all four sides of the altar. ¹⁴ The priest will give part of the fellowship offering as a gift to the Lord. He will offer the fat that is over and around the animal’s inner parts. ¹⁵ He will offer the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscle. He will also offer the fat part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ¹⁶ Then the priest will bring that food as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. The fat belongs to the Lord. ¹⁷ This rule will continue forever through all your generations. Wherever you live, you must never eat fat or blood.”

Offerings for Accidental Sins

4 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ² “Tell the Israelites this: A person might sin without meaning to and do something that the Lord commanded should not be done. For example:

³ “If the anointed priest^[d] makes a mistake that leaves the people guilty for their sin, he must offer a young bull to the Lord as a sin offering. The bull must have nothing wrong with it. ⁴ The anointed priest must bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent in front of the Lord. He must put his hand on the bull’s head and kill the bull in front of the Lord. ⁵ Then the anointed priest must get some of the blood from the bull and take it into the Meeting Tent. ⁶ He must put his finger in the blood and sprinkle the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain of the Most Holy Place. ⁷ The priest must put some of the blood on the corners of the incense altar. (This altar is in the Meeting Tent, in front of the Lord.) He must pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. (This altar is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.) ⁸ Then the priest must take all the fat from the bull of the sin offering. He must take the fat that is on and around the inner parts. ⁹ He must take the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscle. He must also take the fat part of the liver. He must remove it with the kidneys. ¹⁰ The priest must lift up these things and burn them on the altar for burnt offerings, just as he does for the fellowship offering.^{[e] 11-12} But the priest must carry out the bull’s skin, inner parts and body waste, and all the meat, including the head and legs. He must carry those parts outside the camp to the special place where the ashes are poured out. He must put those parts on the wood and burn them there on the ash pile.

¹³ “The whole nation of Israel might sin without knowing it. They might break one of the commands of the Lord and become guilty of doing something he said must not be done. ¹⁴ When they learn about that sin, the community of Israel must offer a young bull as a sin offering for the whole nation. They must bring the bull to the Meeting Tent. ¹⁵ The elders of the people must put their hands on the bull’s head in front of the Lord. Then they must kill the bull in front of the Lord. ¹⁶ The anointed priest must get some of the bull’s blood and take it into the Meeting Tent. ¹⁷ He must put his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in front of the curtain before the Lord. ¹⁸ He must put some of the blood on the corners of the altar. (This altar is inside the Meeting Tent, in front of the Lord.) He must then pour out all the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. (This altar is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.) ¹⁹ Then he must take all the fat from the animal and bring it to the altar. ²⁰ He must offer these parts, just as he offered the bull of the sin offering. In this way the priest will make the people pure, and God will forgive them. ²¹ The priest must carry this bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burned the other bull. This is the sin offering for the whole community.

²² “A ruler might sin without meaning to and break one of the commands of the Lord. He might do something that his God said must not be done. ²³ If he learns about his sin, he must bring a male goat that has nothing wrong with it as his offering. ²⁴ The ruler must put his hand on the goat’s head and kill the goat at the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord. The goat is a sin offering. ²⁵ The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ²⁶ The priest will burn all the goat’s fat on the altar, just as he does for the fellowship offerings. In this way the priest will make the ruler pure, and God will forgive him.

²⁷ “Finally, one of you common people might sin without meaning to. You might break one of the commands of the Lord and become guilty of doing something he said must not be done. ²⁸ If you learn about that sin, you must bring a female goat that has nothing wrong with it as your sin offering. ²⁹ You must put your hand on the animal’s head and kill it at the place for the burnt offering. ³⁰ Then the priest will take some of the goat’s blood on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He will pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. ³¹ The priest will then remove all of its fat, just as he does for the fellowship offerings. Then he will bring it to the altar as a sweet smell to the Lord. The priest will do this to make you pure, and God will forgive you.

³² “If you bring a lamb as your sin offering, then you must bring a female lamb that has nothing wrong with it. ³³ You must put your hand on the animal’s head and kill it as a sin offering in the place where people kill the burnt offering. ³⁴ The priest will take some of the blood from the sin offering on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He will pour out the rest of the lamb’s blood at the base of the altar. ³⁵ He will then remove all the lamb’s fat, just as he does for the fellowship offerings. Then he will bring it to the altar as a gift to the Lord. The priest will do this to make you pure, and God will forgive you.