Leviticus 5-7

New International Reader's Version

5 “ ‘Suppose someone has been called as a witness to something they have seen or learned about. Then if they do not tell what they know, they have sinned. And they will be held responsible for it.

² “ ‘Or suppose someone touches something not “clean.” It could be the dead bodies of wild animals or of livestock. Or it could be the dead bodies of creatures that move along the ground. Even though those people are not aware that they touched them, they have become “unclean.” And they are guilty. ³ Or suppose they touch something “unclean” that comes from a human being. It could be anything that would make them “unclean.” Suppose they are not aware that they touched it. When they find out about it, they will be guilty. ⁴ Or suppose someone makes a promise to do something without thinking it through. It does not matter what they promised. It does not matter whether they made the promise without thinking about it carefully. And suppose they are not aware that they did not think it through. When they find out about it, they will be guilty. ⁵ When someone is guilty in any of those ways, they must admit they have sinned. ⁶ They must bring a sin offering to pay for the sin they have committed. They must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock. The priest will sacrifice the animal. That will pay for the person’s sin.

⁷ “ ‘Suppose they can’t afford a lamb. Then they must get two doves or two young pigeons. They must bring them to the Lord to pay for their sin. One of them is for a sin offering. The other is for a burnt offering. ⁸ They must bring them to the priest. The priest will offer the one for the sin offering first. He must twist its head. But he must not twist it off completely. ⁹ Then he must splash some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar. He must empty out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰ Then the priest will offer the other bird as a burnt offering. He must do it in the way the law requires. That will pay for the sin they have committed. And they will be forgiven.

¹¹ “ ‘But suppose they can’t afford two doves or two young pigeons. Then they must bring three and a half pounds of the finest flour as an offering for their sin. It is a sin offering. They must not put olive oil or incense on it. That is because it is a sin offering. ¹² They must bring it to the priest. The priest must take a handful of it. He must burn that part on the altar. It will be a reminder that all good things come from the Lord. The priest must burn it on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. It is a sin offering. ¹³ In that way the priest will pay for any of the sins they have committed. And they will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest. It is the same as in the case of the grain offering.’ ”

Rules for Guilt Offerings

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁵ “Suppose someone is unfaithful to me and sins. And they do it without meaning to. Here is how they sin against me or my priests. They refuse to give the priests one of the holy things set apart for them. Then they must bring me a ram from the flock. It must not have any flaws. It must be worth the required amount of silver. The silver must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The ram is a guilt offering. It will pay for their sin. ¹⁶ They must also pay for the holy thing they refused to give. They must add a fifth of its value to it. They must give all of it to the priest. The priest will pay for their sin with the ram. It is a guilt offering. And they will be forgiven.

¹⁷ “Suppose someone sins by doing something I command them not to do. Even though they do not know it, they are guilty. They will be held responsible for it. ¹⁸ They must bring to the priest a ram from the flock as a guilt offering. It must not have any flaws. And it must be worth the required amount of money. The priest will sacrifice the animal. That will pay for what they have done wrong without meaning to. And they will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering. They have been guilty of doing wrong against me.”

6 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Suppose someone sins by not being faithful to me. They do it by tricking their neighbors. They trick them in connection with something their neighbors have placed in their care. They steal from their neighbors. Or they cheat them. ³ Or they find something their neighbors have lost and then tell a lie about it. Or they go to court. They promise to tell the truth. But instead they tell a lie when they are a witness about it. Or they lie when they are witnesses about any other sin like those sins. ⁴ When they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they stole. They must give back what they took by cheating their neighbors. They must return what their neighbors placed in their care. They must return the lost property they found. ⁵ They must return anything they told a lie about when they were witnesses in court. They must pay back everything in full. They must add a fifth of its value to it. They must give all of it to the owner on the day they bring their guilt offering. ⁶ He must bring their guilt offering to the priest to pay for their sin. It is an offering to me. They must bring a ram from the flock. It must not have any flaws. It must be worth the required amount of money. ⁷ The priest will sacrifice the ram to pay for their sin. He will do it in my sight. And they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.”

More Rules for Burnt Offerings

⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁹ “Give Aaron and the priests in his family line a command. Tell them, ‘Here are some more rules for burnt offerings. The burnt offering must remain on the altar through the whole night. The fire on the altar must be kept burning until morning. ¹⁰ The priest must put on his linen clothes. He must put on linen underwear next to his body. He must remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has burned up on the altar. He must place them beside the altar. ¹¹ Then he must take his clothes off and put others on. He must carry the ashes outside the camp to a “clean” place. ¹² The fire on the altar must be kept burning. It must not go out. Every morning the priest must add more wood to the fire. He must place the burnt offering on the fire. He must burn the fat of the friendship offerings on it. ¹³ The fire must be kept burning on the altar all the time. It must not go out.

More Rules for Grain Offerings

¹⁴ “ ‘Here are some more rules for grain offerings. The priests in Aaron’s family line must bring the grain offering to the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵ The priest must take a handful of the finest flour and olive oil. He must add to it all the incense on the grain offering. He must burn that part on the altar. It will remind him that all good things come from the Lord. Its smell pleases the Lord. ¹⁶ Aaron and the priests in his family line will eat the rest of it. But they must eat it without yeast in the holy area. They must eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ¹⁷ It must not be baked with yeast added to it. The Lord has given it to the priests as their share of the food offerings presented to him. It is very holy, just like the sin offering and the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Any priests in Aaron’s family line can eat it. It is their share of the food offerings presented to the Lord. It is their share for all time to come. Anyone who touches these offerings will become holy.’ ”

¹⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁰ “On the day each high priest in Aaron’s family line is anointed, he must bring an offering to me. He must bring three and a half pounds of the finest flour as a regular grain offering. He must bring half of it in the morning. He must bring the other half in the evening. ²¹ Mix it with olive oil. Cook it on a metal plate. Break it in pieces. Bring it as a grain offering. Its smell pleases the Lord. ²² The son of Aaron who will become the next high priest after him will prepare the grain offering. It is the share that must be given to the Lord for all time to come. It must be completely burned up. ²³ Every grain offering a high priest offers must be completely burned up. It must not be eaten.”

More Rules for Sin Offerings

²⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁵ “Speak to Aaron and the priests in his family line. Tell them, ‘Here are some more rules for sin offerings. You must kill the animal for the sin offering in the sight of the Lord. Kill it in the place where the burnt offering is killed. It is very holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it will eat it. He must eat it in the holy area. He must eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ²⁷ Anyone who touches any of its meat will become holy. Suppose some of the blood is spilled on someone’s clothes. Then you must wash them in the holy area. ²⁸ Break the clay pot the meat is cooked in. But suppose you cook it in a bronze pot. Then you must scrub the pot and rinse it with water. ²⁹ Any male in a priest’s family may eat the meat. It is very holy. ³⁰ But suppose some of the blood of a sin offering is brought into the tent of meeting. And that blood is brought into the Holy Room to pay for sin. Then that sin offering must not be eaten. It must be burned up.

More Rules for Guilt Offerings

7 “ ‘Here are some more rules for guilt offerings. The guilt offering is very holy. ² You must kill the animal for the guilt offering where you kill the animal for the burnt offering. Splash its blood against the sides of the altar. ³ Offer all its fat. It must include the fat tail and the fat that covers the inside parts. ⁴ It must include both kidneys with the fat on them next to the lower back muscles. It must also include the long part of the liver. Remove all of it together with the kidneys. ⁵ The priest must burn all of it on the altar. It is a food offering presented to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. ⁶ Any male in a priest’s family can eat it. But he must eat it in the holy area. It is very holy.

⁷ “ ‘The same law applies to the sin offering and the guilt offering. Both of them belong to the priest who offers them to pay for sin. ⁸ The priest who offers a burnt offering for anyone can keep its hide for himself. ⁹ Every grain offering baked in an oven belongs to the priest who offers it. So does every grain offering cooked in a pan or on a metal plate. ¹⁰ Every grain offering belongs equally to all the priests in Aaron’s family line. That is true whether it is mixed with olive oil or it is dry.

More Rules for Friendship Offerings

¹¹ “ ‘Here are some more rules for friendship offerings anyone may bring to the Lord.

¹² “ ‘Suppose they offer a friendship offering to show they are thankful. Then together with the thank offering they must offer thick loaves of bread. They must make them without yeast. They must mix them with olive oil. Or they must offer thin loaves of bread made without yeast. They must spread olive oil on them. Or they must offer thick loaves of bread made out of the finest flour. They must add olive oil to it. They must work the flour and prepare it well. ¹³ They must bring another friendship offering along with their thank offering. It should be thick loaves of bread made with yeast. ¹⁴ They must bring one of each kind of bread as an offering. One kind is made with yeast. The other is not. Both of them are a gift to the Lord. They belong to the priest who splashes the blood of the friendship offering against the altar. ¹⁵ The person must eat the meat from their thank offering on the day they offer it. They must not leave any of it until morning.

¹⁶ “ ‘But suppose they bring a friendship offering to keep a promise they have made. Or suppose they bring an offering they choose to give. Then they must eat the sacrifice on the day they offer it. But if anything is left over, they may eat it the next day. ¹⁷ They must burn up any meat from the sacrifice left over until the third day. ¹⁸ Suppose they eat any meat from the friendship offering on the third day. Then the Lord will not accept the offering. He will not accept it as a gift from them. It is not pure. If they eat any of it, they will be held responsible for it.

¹⁹ “ ‘They must not eat meat that touches anything “unclean.” They must burn it up. Anyone “clean” may eat any other meat. ²⁰ But suppose an “unclean” person eats any meat from the friendship offering that belongs to the Lord. Then they will be separated from their people. ²¹ Suppose someone touches something “unclean.” It does not matter whether it comes from a human being who is not “clean.” It does not matter whether it comes from an “unclean” animal. It does not matter whether it comes from something hated and “unclean.” And suppose they eat any of the meat from the friendship offering that belongs to the Lord. Then they will be separated from their people.’ ”

Israel Must Not Eat Fat or Blood

²² The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²³ “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats. ²⁴ Do not eat the fat of any animal found dead. Do not eat the fat of an animal that wild animals have torn apart. But you can use the fat for any other purpose. ²⁵ Suppose an animal has been sacrificed as a food offering to the Lord. No one may eat its fat. If they do, they will be separated from their people. ²⁶ No matter where you live, do not eat the blood of any bird or animal. ²⁷ Anyone who eats blood must be separated from their people.’ ”

The Share That Belongs to the Priests

²⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁹ “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Suppose someone brings a friendship offering to the Lord. Then they must bring part of it as their special gift to the Lord. ³⁰ They must bring it with their own hands. It is a food offering presented to the Lord. They must bring the fat together with the breast. They must lift the breast up and wave it in front of the Lord as a wave offering. ³¹ The priest will burn the fat on the altar. But the breast belongs to Aaron and the priests in his family line. ³² Give the right thigh from your friendship offerings to the priest as a gift. ³³ The priest who offers the blood and fat from the friendship offering must be given the right thigh. It is his share. ³⁴ I, the Lord, have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh that is given. I have taken them from the friendship offerings of the Israelites. And I have given them to Aaron the priest and the priests in his family line. The offerings will be their share from the Israelites for all time to come.’ ”

³⁵ That is the part of the food offerings presented to the Lord. It is given to Aaron and the priests in his family line. It was given to Aaron and his sons on the day they were set apart to serve the Lord as priests. ³⁶ On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded the Israelites to give that part to them. For all time to come, it will be the share of Aaron and the priests in his family line.

³⁷ These are the rules for burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings and friendship offerings. They are also the rules for the offerings that are given when priests are being prepared to serve the Lord. ³⁸ They are the rules the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai. He gave them on the day he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to the Lord. That took place in the Sinai Desert.