Offerings

A burnt offering from the herd was to be a male without a flaw. The one who brought it was to offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, so that the Lord would accept him. He was to lay his hand on its head, and it would be accepted to make atonement for him.

Then he was to kill the bull in the Lord’s presence. Aaron’s sons, the priests, were to bring its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar by the door of the tent. The one who brought the bull was to skin it and cut it into pieces.

Aaron’s sons were to put fire on the altar and stack wood on it, then lay the pieces on the wood, with the head and the fat. The insides and the legs were to be washed with water. Then the priest was to burn all of it on the altar. It was a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, with a smell that pleased the Lord.

A burnt offering from the flock, a sheep or a goat, was also to be a male without a flaw. It was to be killed in the Lord’s presence, on the altar’s north side, and offered the same way as the bull. The priest was to burn the whole animal on the altar.

A burnt offering of birds was to be turtledoves or young pigeons. The priest was to bring the bird to the altar and twist off its head, and its blood was to drain out down the side of the altar. He was to take away its feathers and its crop, which is a pouch in its throat. He was to throw them beside the altar on the east side, where the ashes were put. Then he was to tear the bird by its wings, without tearing it all the way in two, and burn it on the altar.

“When you bring a meal offering baked in an oven,” the Lord said, “make it without yeast: unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. A meal offering made on a griddle is to be fine flour mixed with oil, with no yeast. Cut it into pieces and pour oil on it. One made in a pan is to be fine flour with oil. Bring it to the Lord, and it will be given to the priest. He will take it to the altar, take out its memorial, and burn it there.

“Don’t make any meal offering for the Lord with yeast. Don’t burn any yeast or any honey as an offering to the Lord. You may bring them as an offering of first fruits, the first of a harvest, but they are not to be burned on the altar. Season every meal offering with salt. Never leave out the salt of your God’s covenant. Offer salt with all your offerings.

“If you bring the Lord a meal offering of first fruits, bring fresh heads of grain, roasted in the fire and crushed. Put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. The priest will burn part of the crushed grain and part of the oil, with all the frankincense, as its memorial. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.”

He was to take away the fat from it: all the fat that covers the insides and is on them, and the two kidneys with their fat, near the lower back. He was to take away the covering of the liver too, along with the kidneys. Aaron’s sons were to burn it on the altar. It was to go on the burnt offering, which lay on the wood over the fire. It was an offering made by fire, with a smell that pleased the Lord.

A peace offering from the flock, a lamb or a goat, could also be a male or a female, but it was to be without a flaw. The one who brought it was to lay his hand on its head, then kill it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons were to sprinkle its blood around on the altar. The same fat was to be taken away. From a lamb, the whole fat tail was to be taken too, cut off close to the backbone. The priest was to burn the fat on the altar. It was the food of the offering made by fire to the Lord. All the fat belonged to the Lord.

“This is a rule forever, for every generation to come, wherever you live,” the Lord said. “Don’t eat any fat or any blood.”

If it was the anointed priest who sinned, bringing guilt on the people, he was to bring the Lord a young bull without a flaw as a sin offering. He was to bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, lay his hand on its head, and kill it in the Lord’s presence.

Then he was to take some of its blood into the tent. He was to dip his finger in it and sprinkle it seven times in front of the veil, the curtain inside the tent, there in the Lord’s presence. He was to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense, which stood inside the tent too. Then he was to pour out the rest at the base of the altar of burnt offering, by the door.

He was to take out the same fat as from a peace offering, and the priest was to burn it on the altar of burnt offering. But he was to carry the rest of the bull outside the camp: its skin and meat, its head and legs, its insides and dung. There, in a clean place where the ashes were poured out, he was to burn it all on a wood fire.

If the whole community of Israel sinned by doing something the Lord had commanded people not to do, they were guilty, even if the assembly didn’t know it. When the sin became known, the assembly was to bring a young bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting as a sin offering.

The elders of the community were to lay their hands on the bull’s head in the Lord’s presence, and it was to be killed there. Then the anointed priest was to do everything with this bull that he did with his own: inside the tent, at the altar and outside the camp. “The priest will make atonement for them,” the Lord said, “and they will be forgiven.” It was the sin offering for the assembly.

A ruler might sin without meaning to. When he found out about his sin, he was to bring a male goat without a flaw. He was to lay his hand on its head and kill it in the Lord’s presence, in the place where the burnt offerings were killed. The priest was to put some of its blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, pour out the rest at its base, and burn all its fat on the altar. The priest would make atonement for his sin, and he would be forgiven.

One of the ordinary people might sin without meaning to. When he found out about his sin, he was to bring a female goat or a female lamb, without a flaw. It was to be offered the same way as the ruler’s goat. Its fat was to be burned on the altar, with a smell that pleased the Lord. The priest would make atonement for him, and he would be forgiven.

Or he might touch something unclean without knowing it: the dead body of an unclean animal, of unclean livestock, or of an unclean creature that creeps along the ground. Or he might touch some uncleanness that came from a person, without knowing it. Or he might swear an oath without thinking, to do something bad or something good, and not realize it. In each case, when he found out, he would be guilty.

Whoever was guilty in one of these ways was to confess the wrong he had done. Then he was to bring the Lord a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. The priest would make atonement for him for his sin.

If he couldn’t afford a lamb, he could bring the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering. He was to give them to the priest. The priest was to offer the bird for the sin offering first. He was to twist its head at the neck, without pulling it all the way off. He was to sprinkle some of its blood on the side of the altar and let the rest drain out at the base. Then he was to offer the second bird as a burnt offering, the way the law said. The priest would make atonement for the one who brought them, and he would be forgiven.

If he couldn’t afford two birds, he could bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, a little over two quarts, as a sin offering. He was to put no oil or frankincense on it, because it was a sin offering. He was to bring it to the priest, who would take a handful of it as its memorial and burn it on the altar. The priest would make atonement for him, and he would be forgiven. The rest belonged to the priest, as with a meal offering.

Anyone who did something the Lord had commanded people not to do was still guilty, even if he didn’t know it, and he would carry his own guilt. He too was to bring the priest a ram without a flaw, valued the same way, as a trespass offering. The priest would make atonement for him for the wrong he hadn’t known about, and he would be forgiven. “It is a trespass offering,” the Lord said. “He really is guilty in the Lord’s eyes.”

The Lord spoke to Moses again. Someone might sin and do wrong against the Lord, and be dishonest with his neighbor. He might lie about something his neighbor gave him to keep, or about a deal. He might rob him or take advantage of him. Or he might find something his neighbor lost, lie about it, and swear to a lie.

If he had sinned in any of these ways and was guilty, he was to give back whatever he had taken or kept, or had lied about under oath. He was to pay it back in full, plus a fifth more, and give it to its owner on the day he was found guilty.

He was to bring the priest a ram without a flaw, valued the same way, as his trespass offering to the Lord. “The priest will make atonement for him in the Lord’s presence,” the Lord said, “and he will be forgiven for whatever he did that made him guilty.”

The priest was to put on his linen clothes and his linen pants. He was to take up the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire had burned on the altar, and set them down beside the altar. After that he was to change into other clothes and carry the ashes out of the camp to a clean place.

Every morning the priest was to burn wood on the fire. He was to lay out the burnt offering on the wood, and burn the fat of the peace offerings on it too. “Keep the fire burning on the altar always,” the Lord said. “It must not go out.”

Next came the law of the meal offering. Aaron’s sons were to offer it in the Lord’s presence, in front of the altar. One of them was to take a handful of its fine flour and oil, with all its frankincense, and burn it on the altar as its memorial, with a smell that pleased the Lord. Aaron and his sons were to eat what was left, with no yeast in it. They were to eat it in a holy place, which was the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

“It must not be baked with yeast,” the Lord said. “I have given it to them as their share of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering.” All of Aaron’s male descendants were to eat it, as their share forever. Whoever touched these offerings would be holy.

Aaron and his sons were to bring the Lord an offering on the day he was anointed: a meal offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour. It was to be offered always, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. It was to be made with oil on a griddle. When it was soaked, it was to be brought in and offered in baked pieces.

The son who would be anointed priest in his father’s place was to offer it. This was a rule forever: it was to be burned whole for the Lord. Every meal offering of a priest was to be burned whole, not eaten.

Whatever touched its meat would be holy. If any of its blood was sprinkled on clothing, the clothing was to be washed in a holy place. If the meat was boiled in a clay pot, the pot was to be broken. If it was boiled in a bronze pot, the pot was to be scrubbed and rinsed with water.

Every male among the priests was to eat it; it was most holy. But a sin offering was not to be eaten if any of its blood had been taken into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place. Instead, it was to be burned.

This was the law of the trespass offering. It was most holy too. It was to be killed where the burnt offering was killed, and its blood sprinkled all around on the altar. All its fat was to be offered: the fat tail, and the same fat that was taken from a peace offering. The priest was to burn it on the altar as an offering made by fire to the Lord. Every male among the priests could eat it. It was to be eaten in a holy place.

The sin offering and the trespass offering followed the same law: each belonged to the priest who made atonement with it. The priest who offered someone’s burnt offering was to keep its skin. Every meal offering baked in the oven, and everything made in the pan and on the griddle, went to the priest who offered it. Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belonged to all of Aaron’s sons alike.

The meat of a thanksgiving offering was to be eaten the day it was offered. None of it was to be left until morning. The meat of an offering for a vow, or one given freely, could be eaten that day and the next, but anything left on the third day was to be burned. If any of it was eaten on the third day, the offering would not be accepted. It would not count for the one who brought it. It would be a disgusting thing, and whoever ate it would carry his own guilt.

Meat that touched anything unclean was to be burned, not eaten. Anyone who was clean could eat the meat. But anyone who ate meat from the Lord’s peace offerings while he was unclean was to be cut off from his people. The same was true for anyone who touched something unclean and then ate that meat, whether the uncleanness came from a person, an unclean animal or any unclean and disgusting thing.

The Lord gave Moses a message for the Israelites: “Don’t eat any fat from a bull, a sheep or a goat. If an animal dies by itself, or is torn apart by animals, you may use its fat for anything else, but you must never eat it. Whoever eats the fat of an animal offered to the Lord by fire is to be cut off from his people. Don’t eat any blood, whether from a bird or from an animal, anywhere you live. If anyone eats any blood, that person is to be cut off from his people.”

The Lord gave Moses another message for the Israelites. “Whoever brings the Lord a peace offering is to bring part of it to the Lord with his own hands, as an offering made by fire: the fat, along with the breast. The breast is to be waved in the Lord’s presence as a wave offering. The fat is for the priest to burn on the altar. The breast goes to Aaron and his sons.

“Give the right thigh to the priest as a heave offering. It belongs to whichever of Aaron’s sons offers the peace offering’s blood and fat. I have taken the waved breast and the heaved thigh from the Israelites’ peace offerings and given them to Aaron the priest and his sons. They are theirs forever.”

This was the share set apart for Aaron and his sons from the Lord’s offerings made by fire, on the day they were brought to serve as the Lord’s priests. The Lord commanded the Israelites to give them this share when they were anointed, and it was theirs forever. These were the laws for the burnt, meal, sin, trespass and peace offerings, and for setting the priests apart. The Lord gave them to Moses at Mount Sinai, in the wilderness of Sinai, when he commanded the Israelites to bring him their offerings.