Leviticus 1

Living Bible

1 The Lord now spoke to Moses from the Tabernacle, ^2-3 and commanded him to give the following instructions to the people of Israel: “When you sacrifice to the Lord, use animals from your herds and flocks.

“If your sacrifice is to be an ox given as a burnt offering, use only a bull with no physical defects. Bring the animal to the entrance of the Tabernacle where the priests will accept your gift for the Lord. ⁴ The person bringing it is to lay his hand upon its head, and it then becomes his substitute: the death of the animal will be accepted by God instead of the death of the man who brings it, as the penalty for his sins.^{[a] 5} The man shall then kill the animal there before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the blood before the Lord, sprinkling it upon all sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ^6-7 Then the priests will skin^[b] the animal and quarter it, and build a wood fire upon the altar, ⁸ and put the sections of the animal and its head and fat upon the wood. ⁹ The internal organs and the legs are to be washed, then the priests will burn them upon the altar, and they will be an acceptable burnt offering with which the Lord is pleased.^[c]

¹⁰ “If the animal used as a burnt offering is a sheep or a goat, it too must be a male, and without any blemishes. ¹¹ The man who brings it will kill it before the Lord on the north side of the altar, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will sprinkle its blood back and forth upon the altar. ¹² Then the man will quarter it, and the priests will lay the pieces, with the head and the fat, on top of the wood on the altar. ¹³ But the internal organs and the legs shall first be washed with water. Then the priests shall burn it all upon the altar as an offering to the Lord; for burnt offerings give much pleasure to the Lord.

¹⁴ “If anyone wishes to use a bird as his burnt offering, he may choose either turtledoves or young pigeons. ^15-17 A priest will take the bird to the altar and wring off its head, and the blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar. Then the priest will remove the crop and the feathers and throw them on the east side of the altar with the ashes. Then, grasping it by the wings, he shall tear it apart, but not completely. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, and the Lord will have pleasure in this sacrifice.^[d]