Sacrifices and Offerings

1 The Lord God called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent.* The Lord said, ²“Tell the people of Israel: When you bring an offering to the Lord, the offering must be one of your tame animals—it can be a cow, a sheep, or a goat. ³“When a person offers one of his cows as a burnt offering, then that animal must be a bull that has nothing wrong with it. The person must take the animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent.* Then the Lord will accept the offering. ⁴The person must put his hand on the animal’s head {while it is being killed}. The Lord will accept that burnt offering as payment to make that person pure.* ⁵“The person must kill the young bull in front of the Lord. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, must bring the blood to the altar* near the entrance of the Meeting Tent* and sprinkle the blood on the altar, all around it. ⁶The priest must cut the skin from that animal and then cut the animal into pieces. ⁷Aaron’s sons, the priests, must put fire on the altar and then stack wood on the fire. ⁸Aaron’s sons, the priests, must lay the pieces (the head and the fat) on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. ⁹The priest must wash the legs and inside parts of the animal with water. Then the priest must burn all the animal’s parts on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. ¹⁰“When a person offers a sheep or a goat as a burnt offering, then that animal must be a male animal that has nothing wrong with it. ¹¹The person must kill the animal on the north side of the altar* in front of the Lord. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, must sprinkle the animal’s blood on the altar, all around it. ¹²Then the priest must cut the animal into pieces. The priest must lay the pieces (the head and the fat) on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. ¹³The priest must wash the legs and inside parts of the animal with water. Then the priest must offer all the animal’s parts. He must burn the animal on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. ¹⁴“When a person offers a bird as a burnt offering to the Lord, then that bird must be a dove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵The priest must bring the offering to the altar.* The priest must pull off the bird’s head and burn the bird on the altar. The bird’s blood must be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶The priest must remove the bird’s crop* and feathers and throw them on the east side of the altar. This is the place where they put the ashes from the altar. ¹⁷Then the priest must tear the bird by its wings, but he must not divide the bird {into two parts}. The priest must burn the bird on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord.

Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. make ... pure Or, “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means “to cover,” “to hide,” or “to erase sins.” altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. crop A small bag inside a bird’s throat. When a bird eats, its food goes into this bag first to be made soft.

Grain Offerings

2 “When a person gives a grain offering to the Lord God, his offering must be made from fine flour. The person must pour oil on this flour and put frankincense* on it. ²Then he must bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He must take a handful of the fine flour with the oil and frankincense in it. Then the priest must burn this memorial offering on the altar.* It is an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. ³The grain offering that is left will belong to Aaron and his sons. This offering made by fire to the Lord is very holy.

Baked Grain Offerings

⁴“When a person gives a grain offering that was baked in the oven, then it must be unleavened bread* made from fine flour mixed with oil or wafers* with oil poured over them. ⁵If you bring a grain offering cooked in a baking pan, then it must be made from fine flour mixed with oil but without yeast. ⁶You must break it into pieces and pour oil over it. It is a grain offering. ⁷If you bring a grain offering cooked in a frying pan, then it must be made from fine flour mixed with oil. ⁸“You must bring grain offerings made from these things to the Lord. You must take those things to the priest, and he will put them on the altar.* ⁹Then the priest will take {part of the grain offering} and burn this memorial offering on the altar. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. ¹⁰The grain offering that is left will belong to Aaron and his sons. This offering made by fire 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 an offering made by fire to the Lord. ¹²You may bring yeast and honey to the Lord as an offering from the first harvest. But yeast and honey must not be burned to go up as a sweet smell on the altar.* ¹³You must also put salt on every grain offering you bring. You must not let the salt of God’s Agreement be missing from your grain offering. You must bring salt with all your offerings.

Grain Offerings from First Harvest

¹⁴“When 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. ¹⁵You must put oil and frankincense* on it. It is a grain offering. ¹⁶The priest must burn part of the crushed grain, the oil, and all the frankincense on it as the memorial offering. It is an offering by fire to the Lord.

frankincense Very special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweet-smelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. unleavened bread Bread made without yeast. wafers A thin bread, like crackers, made without yeast.

Fellowship Offerings

3 “When a person gives a sacrifice as a fellowship offering, the animal can be a cow and the animal can be a male or a female. But the animal must have nothing wrong with it. ²The person must put his hand on the animal’s head and kill the animal at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.* Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, must sprinkle the blood on the altar,* all around it. ³The fellowship offering is an offering made by fire to the Lord. The priest must offer the fat that is in and around the animal’s inside parts. ⁴The person must offer the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscle. He must also offer the fat part of the liver. He must remove it with the kidneys. ⁵Then Aaron’s sons will burn the fat on the altar. They will put it on the burnt offering that is on the wood on the fire. It is an offering by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. ⁶“When a person gives a sheep or a goat as a fellowship offering to the Lord, the animal can be a male or a female animal. But it must have nothing wrong with it. ⁷If he brings a lamb as his offering, then he must bring it before the Lord. ⁸He must put his hand on the animal’s head and kill the animal in front of the Meeting Tent.* Then Aaron’s sons must sprinkle the animal’s blood on the altar,* all around it. ⁹The person must give part of the fellowship offering as an offering made by fire to the Lord. The person must offer the fat, the whole fat tail, and the fat that is on and around the animal’s inside parts. (He must cut off the tail close to the backbone.) ¹⁰The person must offer the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscles. He must also offer the fat part of the liver. He must remove it with the kidneys. ¹¹Then the priest must burn them on the altar. The fellowship offering is an offering made by fire to the Lord. But it will also be food {for the people}.

A Goat as a Fellowship Offering

¹²“If the offering is a goat, then the person must bring it before the Lord. ¹³The person must put his hand on the goat’s head and kill it in front of the Meeting Tent.* Then Aaron’s son must sprinkle the goat’s blood on the altar,* all around it. ¹⁴The person must give part of the fellowship offering as an offering made by fire to the Lord. The person must offer the fat that is on and around the animal’s inside parts. ¹⁵The person must offer the two kidneys and the fat covering them near the lower back muscle. He must also offer the fat part of the liver. He must remove it with the kidneys. ¹⁶Then the priest must burn them on the altar. The fellowship offering is an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. It is also food {for the people}—but the best parts* belong to the Lord. ¹⁷This rule will continue forever through all your generations. Wherever you live, you must never eat fat or blood.”

Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. best parts Literally, “fat.”

Offerings for Accidental Sins

4 The Lord spoke to Moses. The Lord said, ²“Tell the people of Israel: If any person sins by accident and does any of the things the Lord said must not be done, then that person must do these things: ³“If the anointed priest* makes a mistake in a way that leaves the people guilty for their sin, then the priest must make an offering to the Lord for his sin. The priest must offer a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. He must offer the young bull to the Lord as a sin offering. ⁴The 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. ⁵Then the anointed priest* must get some of the blood from the bull and take it into the Meeting Tent. ⁶The priest 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.* ⁷The 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.) The priest must pour out all of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. (This altar is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.) ⁸And he must take all the fat from the bull of the sin offering. He must take the fat that is on and around the inside parts. ⁹He 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. ¹⁰The priest must offer these parts just like they are offered from the bull of the fellowship offering.* The priest must burn the animal parts on the altar of burnt offering. ^11–12But the priest must carry out the bull’s skin, inside parts and body waste, and all the meat on its head and legs. The priest must carry those parts outside the camp to the special place where the ashes are poured out. The priest must put those parts there on the wood and burn them. The bull must be burned where the ashes are poured out. ¹³“It may happen that the whole nation of Israel sins without knowing it. They might have done any of the things that the Lord has commanded them not to do. If this happens, they will become guilty. ¹⁴If they learn about that sin, then they must offer a young bull as a sin offering for the whole nation. They must bring the bull to the Meeting Tent.* ¹⁵The elders (leaders) of the people must put their hands on the bull’s head in front of the Lord, and then a person must kill the bull in front of the Lord. ¹⁶Then the anointed priest* must get some of the bull’s blood and take it into the Meeting Tent. ¹⁷The priest must put his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in front of the curtain before the Lord. ¹⁸Then the priest must put some of the blood on the corners of the altar.* (This altar is in the Meeting Tent, in front of the Lord.) The priest must pour out all the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. (This altar is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.) ¹⁹Then the priest must take all the fat from the animal and burn it on the altar. ²⁰The priest must offer these parts just like he offered the bull of the sin offering.* In this way, the priest will make the people pure.* And God will forgive the people of Israel. ²¹The priest must carry this bull outside the camp and burn it, just like he burned the other bull. This is the sin offering for the whole community. ²²“A ruler might sin by accident and do one of the things the Lord his God said must not be done. The ruler will be guilty {of doing wrong}. ²³If the ruler learns about his sin, then he must bring a male goat that has nothing wrong with it. That will be his offering. ²⁴The 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. ²⁵The priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar* of burnt offering. The priest must pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ²⁶And the priest must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar. He must burn it like he burns the fat of the sacrifice of fellowship offerings. In this way, the priest will make the ruler pure.* And God will forgive the ruler. ²⁷“One of the common people might sin by accident and do one of the things that the Lord said must not be done. ²⁸If that person learns about his sin, then he must bring a female goat that has nothing wrong with it. That will be the person’s sin offering. He must bring this goat for the sin that he has done. ²⁹He must put his hand on the animal’s head and kill it at the place for the burnt offering. ³⁰Then the priest must take some of the goat’s blood on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar* of burnt offering. Then the priest must pour out the rest of the goat’s blood at the base of the altar. ³¹The priest must offer all the goat’s fat, just like the fat is offered from the fellowship offerings. The priest must burn it on the altar as a sweet smell to the Lord. In this way, the priest will make that person pure.* And God will forgive that person. ³²“If that person brings a lamb as his sin offering, then he must bring a female lamb that has nothing wrong with it. ³³The person must put his hand on the animal’s head and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. ³⁴The priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar* of burnt offering. Then the priest must pour out all the lamb’s blood at the base of the altar. ³⁵The priest must offer all the lamb’s fat, just like the fat of the lamb is offered from the fellowship offerings. The priest must burn it on the altar, just like any offering made by fire to the Lord. In this way, the priest will make that person pure* from the sin he did. And God will forgive that person.

anointed priest The priest chosen to serve at a particular time. The priests took turns. Special oil was poured on the one chosen to show that God chose him to serve. Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. Most Holy Place Most important room in the Holy Tent. The Holy Box with the Cherub Angels on it was in this room. It was like God’s throne. incense Special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweetsmelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. just like … fellowship offering See Lev. 3:1–5. Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. like ... sin offering See Lev. 4:3–12. make ... pure Or, “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means “to cover,” “to hide,” or “to erase sins.”