Bible in 90 Days

Sacrifices Burned Whole

1 The Lord called to Moses from the Tent of the Lord's presence and gave him the following rules ² for the Israelites to observe when they offer their sacrifices.

When you offer an animal sacrifice, it may be one of your cattle or one of your sheep or goats. ³ If you are offering one of your cattle as a burnt offering, you must bring a bull without any defects. You must present it at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence so that the Lord will accept you. ⁴ You shall put your hand on its head, and it will be accepted as a sacrifice to take away your sins. ⁵ You shall kill the bull there, and the Aaronite priests shall present the blood to the Lord and then throw it against all four sides of the altar located at the entrance of the Tent. ⁶ Then you shall skin the animal and cut it up, ⁷ and the priests shall arrange firewood on the altar and light it. ⁸ They shall put on the fire the pieces of the animal, including the head and the fat. ⁹ You must wash the internal organs and the hind legs, and the officiating priest will burn the whole sacrifice on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁰ If you are offering one of your sheep or goats, it must be a male without any defects. ¹¹ You shall kill it on the north side of the altar, and the priests shall throw its blood on all four sides of the altar. ¹² After you cut it up, the officiating priest shall put on the fire all the parts, including the head and the fat. ¹³ You must wash the internal organs and the hind legs, and the priest will present the sacrifice to the Lord and burn all of it on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁴ If you are offering a bird as a burnt offering, it must be a dove or a pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest shall present it at the altar, wring its neck, and burn its head on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out against the side of the altar. ¹⁶ He shall remove the crop and its contents and throw them away on the east side of the altar where the ashes are put. ¹⁷ He shall take hold of its wings and tear its body open, without tearing the wings off, and then burn it whole on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

Grain Offerings

2 When any of you present an offering of grain to the Lord, you must first grind it into flour. You must put olive oil and incense on it ² and bring it to the Aaronite priests. The officiating priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil and all of the incense and burn it on the altar as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord. ³ The rest of the grain offering belongs to the priests; it is very holy, since it is taken from the food offered to the Lord.

⁴ If the offering is bread baked in an oven, it must be made without yeast. It may be thick loaves made of flour mixed with olive oil or thin cakes brushed with olive oil.

⁵ If the offering is bread cooked on a griddle, it is to be made of flour mixed with olive oil but without yeast. ⁶ Crumble it up and pour the oil on it when you present it as an offering.

⁷ If the offering is bread cooked in a pan, it is to be made of flour and olive oil. ⁸ Bring it as an offering to the Lord and present it to the priest, who will take it to the altar. ⁹ The priest will take part of it as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord, and he will burn it on the altar. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁰ The rest of the offering belongs to the priests; it is very holy, since it is taken from the food offered to the Lord.

¹¹ None of the grain offerings which you present to the Lord may be made with yeast; you must never use yeast or honey in food offered to the Lord. ¹² An offering of the first grain that you harvest each year shall be brought to the Lord, but it is not to be burned on the altar. ¹³ Put salt on every grain offering, because salt represents the covenant between you and God. (You must put salt on all your offerings.) ¹⁴ When you bring to the Lord an offering of the first grain harvested, offer roasted grain or ground meal. ¹⁵ Add olive oil and put incense on it. ¹⁶ The priest will burn that part of the meal and oil that is to serve as a token, and also all the incense, as a food offering to the Lord.

Fellowship Offerings

3 When any of you offer one of your cattle as a fellowship offering, it is to be a bull or a cow without any defects. ² You shall put your hand on the head of the animal and kill it at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. The Aaronite priests shall throw the blood against all four sides of the altar ³ and present the following parts of the animal as a food offering to the Lord: all the fat on the internal organs, ⁴ the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ⁵ The priests shall burn all this on the altar along with the burnt offerings. The odor of this food offering is pleasing to the Lord.

⁶ If a sheep or goat is used as a fellowship offering, it may be male or female, but it must be without any defects. ⁷ If you offer a sheep, ⁸ you shall put your hand on its head and kill it in front of the Tent. The priests shall throw its blood against all four sides of the altar ⁹ and present the following parts of the animal as a food offering to the Lord: the fat, the entire fat tail cut off near the backbone, all the fat covering the internal organs, ¹⁰ the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ¹¹ The officiating priest shall burn all this on the altar as a food offering to the Lord.

¹² If you offer a goat, ¹³ you shall put your hand on its head and kill it in front of the Tent. The priests shall throw its blood against all four sides of the altar ¹⁴ and present the following parts as a food offering to the Lord: all the fat on the internal organs, ¹⁵ the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ¹⁶ The priest shall burn all this on the altar as a food offering pleasing to the Lord. All the fat belongs to the Lord. ¹⁷ No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live.

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

4 The Lord commanded Moses ² to tell the people of Israel that anyone who sinned and broke any of the Lord's commands without intending to, would have to observe the following rules.

³ If it is the High Priest who sins and so brings guilt on the people, he shall present a young bull without any defects and sacrifice it to the Lord for his sin. ⁴ He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent, put his hand on its head, and kill it there in the Lord's presence. ⁵ Then the High Priest shall take some of the bull's blood and carry it into the Tent. ⁶ He shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it in front of the sacred curtain seven times. ⁷ Then he shall put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the incense altar in the Tent. He shall pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar used for burning sacrifices, which is at the entrance of the Tent. ⁸ From this bull he shall take all the fat, the fat on the internal organs, ⁹ the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ¹⁰ The priest shall take this fat and burn it on the altar used for the burnt offerings, just as he does with the fat from the animal killed for the fellowship offering. ¹¹ But he shall take its skin, all its flesh, its head, its legs, and its internal organs, including the intestines, ¹² carry it all outside the camp to the ritually clean place where the ashes are poured out, and there he shall burn it on a wood fire.

¹³ If it is the whole community of Israel that sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the Lord's commands without intending to, ¹⁴ then as soon as the sin becomes known, the community shall bring a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it to the Tent of the Lord's presence; ¹⁵ the leaders of the community shall put their hands on its head, and it shall be killed there. ¹⁶ The High Priest shall take some of the bull's blood into the Tent, ¹⁷ dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it in front of the curtain seven times. ¹⁸ He shall put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the incense altar inside the Tent and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar used for burning sacrifices, which is at the entrance of the Tent. ¹⁹ Then he shall take all its fat and burn it on the altar. ²⁰ He shall do the same thing with this bull as he does with the bull for the sin offering, and in this way he shall make the sacrifice for the people's sin, and they will be forgiven. ²¹ Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burns the bull offered for his own sin. This is an offering to take away the sin of the community.

²² If it is a ruler who sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the Lord's commands without intending to, ²³ then as soon as the sin is called to his attention, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without any defects. ²⁴ He shall put his hand on its head and kill it on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is an offering to take away sin. ²⁵ The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the animal, put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ²⁶ Then he shall burn all of its fat on the altar, just as he burns the fat of the animals killed for the fellowship offerings. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin of the ruler, and he will be forgiven.

^27 (A)If any of you people sin and become guilty of breaking one of the Lord's commands without intending to, ²⁸ then as soon as the sin is called to your attention, you shall bring as your offering a female goat without any defects. ²⁹ You shall put your hand on its head and kill it on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. ³⁰ The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the animal, put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ³¹ Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat is removed from the animals killed for the fellowship offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar as an odor pleasing to the Lord. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man's sin, and he will be forgiven.

³² If you bring a sheep as a sin offering, it must be a female without any defects. ³³ You shall put your hand on its head and kill it on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. ³⁴ The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the animal, put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ³⁵ Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat is removed from the sheep killed for the fellowship offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the food offerings given to the Lord. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

Cases Requiring Sin Offerings

5 Sin offerings are required in the following cases.

If you are officially summoned to give evidence in court and do not give information about something you have seen or heard, you must suffer the consequences.

² If you unintentionally touch anything ritually unclean, such as a dead animal, you are unclean and guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

³ If you unintentionally touch anything of human origin that is unclean, whatever it may be, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

⁴ If you make a careless vow, no matter what it is about, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

⁵ When you are guilty, you must confess the sin, ⁶ and as the penalty for your sin you must bring to the Lord a female sheep or goat as an offering. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin.

⁷ If you cannot afford a sheep or a goat, you shall bring to the Lord as the payment for your sin two doves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸ You shall bring them to the priest, who will first offer the bird for the sin offering. He will break its neck without pulling off its head ⁹ and sprinkle some of its blood against the side of the altar. The rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering to take away sin. ¹⁰ Then he shall offer the second bird as a burnt offering, according to the regulations. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

¹¹ If you cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, you shall bring two pounds of flour as a sin offering. You shall not put any olive oil or any incense on it, because it is a sin offering, not a grain offering. ¹² You shall bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of it as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord, and he will burn it on the altar as a food offering. It is an offering to take away sin. ¹³ In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven. The rest of the flour belongs to the priest, just as in the case of a grain offering.

Repayment Offerings

¹⁴ The Lord gave the following regulations to Moses. ¹⁵ If any of you sin unintentionally by failing to hand over the payments that are sacred to the Lord, you shall bring as your repayment offering to the Lord a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ¹⁶ You must make the payments you have failed to hand over and must pay an additional 20 percent. You shall give it to the priest, and the priest shall offer the animal as a sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

¹⁷ If any of you sin unintentionally by breaking any of the Lord's commands, you are guilty and must pay the penalty. ¹⁸ You must bring to the priest as a repayment offering a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin which you committed unintentionally, and you will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a repayment offering for the sin you committed against the Lord.

6 ^(B)The Lord gave the following regulations to Moses. ² An offering is to be made if any of you sin against the Lord by refusing to return what another Israelite has left as a deposit or by stealing something from him or by cheating him ³ or by lying about something that has been lost and swearing that you did not find it. ^4-5 When you sin in any of these ways, you must repay whatever you got by dishonest means. On the day you are found guilty, you must repay the owner in full, plus an additional 20 percent. ⁶ You shall bring to the priest as your repayment offering to the Lord a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ⁷ The priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

Sacrifices Burned Whole

⁸ The Lord commanded Moses ⁹ to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for burnt offerings. A burnt offering is to be left on the altar all night long, and the fire is to be kept burning. ¹⁰ Then the priest, wearing his linen robe and linen shorts, shall remove the greasy ashes left on the altar and put them at the side of the altar. ¹¹ Then he shall change his clothes and take the ashes outside the camp to a ritually clean place. ¹² The fire on the altar must be kept burning and never allowed to go out. Every morning the priest shall put firewood on it, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat of the fellowship offering. ¹³ The fire must always be kept burning on the altar and never allowed to go out.

Grain Offerings

¹⁴ The following are the regulations for grain offerings. An Aaronite priest shall present the grain offering to the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵ Then he shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and the incense on it, and burn it on the altar as a token that all of it has been offered to the Lord. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. ^16-17 The priests shall eat the rest of it. It shall be made into bread baked without yeast and eaten in a holy place, the courtyard of the Tent of the Lord's presence. The Lord has given it to the priests as their part of the food offerings. It is very holy, like the sin offerings and the repayment offerings. ¹⁸ For all time to come any of the male descendants of Aaron may eat it as their continuing share of the food offered to the Lord. Anyone else who touches a food offering will be harmed by the power of its holiness.

¹⁹ The Lord gave Moses the following regulations ²⁰ for the ordination of an Aaronite priest. On the day he is ordained, he shall present as an offering to the Lord two pounds of flour (the same amount as the daily grain offering), half in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ It is to be mixed with oil and cooked on a griddle and then crumbled and presented as a grain offering, an odor pleasing to the Lord. ²² For all time to come this offering is to be made by every descendant of Aaron who is serving as High Priest. It shall be completely burned as a sacrifice to the Lord. ²³ No part of a grain offering that a priest makes may be eaten; all of it must be burned.

Sin Offerings

²⁴ The Lord commanded Moses ²⁵ to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for sin offerings. The animal for a sin offering shall be killed on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is a very holy offering. ²⁶ The priest who sacrifices the animal shall eat it in a holy place, the courtyard of the Tent of the Lord's presence. ²⁷ Anyone or anything that touches the flesh of the animal will be harmed by the power of its holiness. If any article of clothing is spattered with the animal's blood, it must be washed in a holy place. ²⁸ Any clay pot in which the meat is boiled must be broken, and if a metal pot is used, it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. ²⁹ Any male of the priestly families may eat this offering; it is very holy. ³⁰ But if any of the blood is brought into the Tent and used in the ritual to take away sin, the animal must not be eaten; it must be burned.

Repayment Offerings

7 The following are the regulations for repayment offerings, which are very holy. ² The animal for this offering is to be killed on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed, and its blood is to be thrown against all four sides of the altar. ³ All of its fat shall be removed and offered on the altar: the fat tail, the fat covering the internal organs, ⁴ the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ⁵ The priest shall burn all the fat on the altar as a food offering to the Lord. It is a repayment offering. ⁶ Any male of the priestly families may eat it, but it must be eaten in a holy place, because it is very holy.

⁷ There is one regulation that applies to both the sin offering and the repayment offering: the meat belongs to the priest who offers the sacrifice. ⁸ The skin of an animal offered as a burnt offering belongs to the priest who offers the sacrifice. ⁹ Every grain offering that has been baked in an oven or prepared in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who has offered it to God. ¹⁰ But all uncooked grain offerings, whether mixed with oil or dry, belong to all the Aaronite priests and must be shared equally among them.

Fellowship Offerings

¹¹ The following are the regulations for the fellowship offerings presented to the Lord. ¹² If you make this offering as a thanksgiving offering to God, you shall present, together with the animal to be sacrificed, an offering of bread made without yeast: either thick loaves made of flour mixed with olive oil or thin cakes brushed with olive oil or cakes made of flour mixed with olive oil. ¹³ In addition, you shall offer loaves of bread baked with yeast. ¹⁴ You shall present one part of each kind of bread as a special contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who takes the blood of the animal and throws it against the altar. ¹⁵ The flesh of the animal must be eaten on the day it is sacrificed; none of it may be left until the next morning.

¹⁶ If you bring a fellowship offering as fulfillment of a vow or as your own freewill offering, not all of it has to be eaten on the day it is offered, but any that is left over may be eaten on the following day. ¹⁷ Any meat that still remains on the third day must be burned. ¹⁸ If any of it is eaten on the third day, God will not accept your offering. The offering will not be counted to your credit but will be considered unclean, and whoever eats it will suffer the consequences. ¹⁹ If the meat comes into contact with anything ritually unclean, it must not be eaten, but must be burned.

Any of you that are ritually clean may eat the meat, ²⁰ but if any of you who are not clean eat it, you shall no longer be considered one of God's people. ²¹ Also, if you eat the meat of this offering after you have touched anything ritually unclean, whether from a person or an animal, you shall no longer be considered one of God's people.

²² The Lord gave Moses the following regulations ²³ for the people of Israel. No fat of cattle, sheep, or goats shall be eaten. ²⁴ The fat of an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by a wild animal must not be eaten, but it may be used for any other purpose. ²⁵ Anyone who eats the fat of an animal that may be offered as a food offering to the Lord will no longer be considered one of God's people. ^26 (C)No matter where the Israelites live, they must never use the blood of birds or animals for food. ²⁷ Anyone who breaks this law will no longer be considered one of God's people.

²⁸ The Lord gave Moses the following regulations ²⁹ for the people of Israel. When any of you offer a fellowship offering you must bring part of it as a special gift to the Lord, ³⁰ bringing it with your own hands as a food offering. You shall bring the fat of the animal with its breast and present it as a special gift to the Lord. ³¹ The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall belong to the priests. ³² The right hind leg of the animal shall be given as a special contribution ³³ to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the fellowship offering. ³⁴ The breast of the animal is a special gift, and the right hind leg is a special contribution that the Lord has taken from the people of Israel and given to the priests. This is what the people of Israel must give to the priests for all time to come. ³⁵ This is the part of the food offered to the Lord that was given to Aaron and his sons on the day they were ordained as priests. ³⁶ On that day the Lord commanded the people of Israel to give them this part of the offering. It is a regulation that the people of Israel must obey for all time to come.

³⁷ These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, the sin offerings, the repayment offerings, the ordination offerings, and the fellowship offerings. ³⁸ There on Mount Sinai in the desert, the Lord gave these commands to Moses on the day he told the people of Israel to make their offerings.

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons^(D)

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of my presence and bring the priestly garments, the anointing oil, the young bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. ³ Then call the whole community together there.”

⁴ Moses did as the Lord had commanded, and when the community had assembled, ⁵ he said to them, “What I am now about to do is what the Lord has commanded.”

⁶ Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and had them take a ritual bath. ⁷ He put the shirt and the robe on Aaron and the sash around his waist. He put the ephod^[a] on him and fastened it by putting its finely woven belt around his waist. ⁸ He put the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim^[b] in it. ⁹ He placed the turban on his head, and on the front of it he put the gold ornament, the sacred sign of dedication, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil and put it on the Tent of the Lord's presence and everything that was in it, and in this way he dedicated it all to the Lord. ¹¹ He took some of the oil and sprinkled it seven times on the altar and its equipment and on the basin and its base, in order to dedicate them to the Lord. ¹² He ordained Aaron by pouring some of the anointing oil on his head. ¹³ Next, Moses brought the sons of Aaron forward and put shirts on them, put sashes around their waists, and tied caps on their heads, just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁴ Then Moses brought the young bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁵ Moses killed it and took some of the blood, and with his finger put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, in order to dedicate it. He then poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. In this way he dedicated it and purified it. ¹⁶ Moses took all the fat on the internal organs, the best part of the liver, and the kidneys with the fat on them, and burned it all on the altar. ¹⁷ He took the rest of the bull, including its skin, flesh, and intestines, and burned it outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁸ Next, Moses brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁹ Moses killed it and threw the blood on all four sides of the altar. ^20-21 He cut the ram in pieces, washed the internal organs and the hind legs with water, and burned the head, the fat, and all the rest of the ram on the altar, just as the Lord had commanded. This burnt offering was a food offering, and its odor was pleasing to the Lord.

²² Then Moses brought the second ram, which was for the ordination of priests, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ²³ Moses killed it and took some of the blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Then he brought Aaron's sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Moses then threw the rest of the blood on all four sides of the altar. ²⁵ He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat covering the internal organs, the best part of the liver, the kidneys with the fat on them, and the right hind leg. ²⁶ Then he took one loaf of bread from the basket of unleavened bread dedicated to the Lord, one loaf made with oil, and one thin cake, and he put them on top of the fat and the right hind leg. ²⁷ He put all of this food in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they presented it as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸ Then Moses took the food from them and burned it on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as an ordination offering. This was a food offering, and its odor was pleasing to the Lord. ²⁹ Then Moses took the breast and presented it as a special gift to the Lord. It was Moses' part of the ordination ram. Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded.

³⁰ Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his sons and on their clothes. In this way he consecrated them and their clothes to the Lord.

³¹ Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Take the meat to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence, boil it, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, just as the Lord commanded. ³² Burn up any meat or bread that is left over. ³³ You shall not leave the entrance of the Tent for seven days, until your ordination rites are completed. ³⁴ The Lord commanded us to do what we have done today, in order to take away your sin. ³⁵ You must stay at the entrance of the Tent day and night for seven days, doing what the Lord has commanded. If you don't, you will die. This is what the Lord has commanded me.” ³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Aaron Offers Sacrifices

9 The day after the ordination rites were completed, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. ² He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull and a ram without any defects and offer them to the Lord, the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering. ³ Then tell the people of Israel to take a male goat for a sin offering, a one-year-old calf, and a one-year-old lamb without any defects for a burnt offering, ⁴ and a bull and a ram for a fellowship offering. They are to sacrifice them to the Lord with the grain offering mixed with oil. They must do this because the Lord will appear to them today.”

⁵ They brought to the front of the Tent everything that Moses had commanded, and the whole community assembled there to worship the Lord. ⁶ Moses said, “The Lord has commanded you to do all this, so that the dazzling light of his presence can appear to you.” ^7 (E)Then he said to Aaron, “Go to the altar and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering to take away your sins and the sins of the people. Present this offering to take away the sins of the people, just as the Lord commanded.”

⁸ Aaron went to the altar and killed the young bull which was for his own sin offering. ⁹ His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it, put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and poured out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ¹⁰ Then he burned on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the best part of the liver, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹ But he burned the meat and the skin outside the camp.

¹² He killed the animal which was for his own burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ¹³ They handed him the head and the other pieces of the animal, and he burned them on the altar. ¹⁴ Then he washed the internal organs and the hind legs and burned them on the altar on top of the rest of the burnt offering.

¹⁵ After that, he presented the people's offerings. He took the goat that was to be offered for the people's sins, killed it, and offered it, as he had done with his own sin offering. ¹⁶ He also brought the animal for the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. ¹⁷ He presented the grain offering and took a handful of flour and burned it on the altar. (This was in addition to the daily burnt offering.) ^18 (F)He killed the bull and the ram as a fellowship offering for the people. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ¹⁹ Aaron put the fat parts of the bull and the ram ²⁰ on top of the breasts of the animals and carried it all to the altar. He burned the fat on the altar ²¹ and presented the breasts and the right hind legs as the special gift to the Lord for the priests, as Moses had commanded.

^22 (G)When Aaron had finished all the sacrifices, he raised his hands over the people and blessed them, and then stepped down. ²³ Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Suddenly the Lord sent a fire, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they all shouted and bowed down with their faces to the ground.

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. ² Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, ‘All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.’”^[c] But Aaron remained silent.

⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, “Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp.” ⁵ So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. ⁷ Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord.” So they did as Moses said.

Rules for Priests

⁸ The Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. ¹⁰ You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. ¹¹ You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses.”

^12 (H)Moses said to Aaron and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the food offered to the Lord, make unleavened bread with it and eat it beside the altar, because this offering is very holy. ¹³ Eat it in a holy place; it is the part that belongs to you and your sons from the food offered to the Lord. That is what the Lord commanded me. ^14 (I)But you and your families may eat the breast and the hind leg that are presented as the special gift and the special contribution to the Lord for the priests. You may eat them in any ritually clean place. These offerings have been given to you and your children as the part that belongs to you from the fellowship offerings of the people of Israel. ¹⁵ They shall bring the hind leg and the breast at the time the fat is presented as a food offering to the Lord. These parts belong to you and your children forever, just as the Lord commanded.”

¹⁶ Moses asked about the goat for the sin offering and learned that it had already been burned. This made him angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, and he demanded, ^17 (J)“Why didn't you eat the sin offering in a sacred place? It is very holy, and the Lord has given it to you in order to take away the sin of the community. ¹⁸ Since its blood was not brought into the sacred Tent, you should have eaten the sacrifice there, as I commanded.”

¹⁹ Aaron answered, “If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved? The people presented their sin offering to the Lord today, and they brought their burnt offering, but still these terrible things have happened to me.” ²⁰ When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

Animals That May Be Eaten^(K)

11 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations ² for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal ³ that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, ^4-6 but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. ⁷ Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. ⁸ Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean.

⁹ You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, ¹⁰ but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. ¹¹ Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. ¹² You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.

^13-19 You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants;^[d] hoopoes; or bats.

²⁰ All winged insects are unclean, ²¹ except those that hop. ²² You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. ²³ But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean.

^24-28 If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening.

^29-30 Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. ³¹ Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ³² And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. ³³ And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. ³⁴ Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. ³⁵ Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, ³⁶ but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. ³⁷ If one of them falls on seed that is going to be planted, the seed remains clean. ³⁸ But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean.

³⁹ If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰ And if any of you eat any part of the animal, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening; any of you who carry the dead body must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, ⁴² whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. ^44 (L)I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. ⁴⁵ I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.

⁴⁶ This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. ⁴⁷ You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

The Purification of Women after Childbirth

12 The Lord gave Moses the following regulations ² for the people of Israel. For seven days after a woman gives birth to a son, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. ^3 (M)On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then it will be thirty-three more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; she must not touch anything that is holy or enter the sacred Tent until the time of her purification is completed.

⁵ For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. Then it will be sixty-six more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood.

⁶ When the time of her purification is completed, whether for a son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. ⁷ The priest shall present her offering to the Lord and perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean. This, then, is what a woman must do after giving birth.

^8 (N)If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean.

Laws concerning Skin Diseases

13 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron these regulations. ² If any of you have a sore on your skin or a boil or an inflammation which could develop into a dreaded skin disease, you shall be brought to the Aaronite priest. ³ The priest shall examine the sore, and if the hairs in it have turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the surrounding skin, it is a dreaded skin disease, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean. ⁴ But if the sore is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin around it and the hairs have not turned white, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. ⁵ The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if in his opinion the sore looks the same and has not spread, he shall isolate you for another seven days. ⁶ The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if the sore has faded and has not spread, he shall pronounce you ritually clean; it is only a sore. You shall wash your clothes and be ritually clean. ⁷ But if the sore spreads after the priest has examined you and pronounced you clean, you must appear before the priest again. ⁸ The priest will examine you again, and if it has spread, he shall pronounce you unclean; it is a dreaded skin disease.

⁹ If any of you have a dreaded skin disease, you shall be brought to the priest, ¹⁰ who will examine you. If there is a white sore on your skin which turns the hairs white and is full of pus, ¹¹ it is a chronic skin disease. The priest shall pronounce you unclean; there is no need to isolate you, because you are obviously unclean. ¹² If the skin disease spreads and covers you from head to foot, ¹³ the priest shall examine you again. If he finds that it actually has covered the whole body, he shall pronounce you ritually clean. If your whole skin has turned white, you are ritually clean. ¹⁴ But from the moment an open sore appears, you are unclean. ¹⁵ The priest shall examine you again, and if he sees an open sore, he shall pronounce you unclean. An open sore means a dreaded skin disease, and you are unclean. ¹⁶ But when the sore heals and becomes white again, you shall go to the priest, ¹⁷ who will examine you again. If the sore has turned white, you are ritually clean, and the priest shall pronounce you clean.

¹⁸ If any of you have a boil that has healed ¹⁹ and if afterward a white swelling or a reddish-white spot appears where the boil was, you shall go to the priest. ²⁰ The priest shall examine you, and if the spot seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it have turned white, he shall pronounce you unclean. It is a dreaded skin disease that has started in the boil. ²¹ But if the priest examines it and finds that the hairs in it have not turned white and that it is not deeper than the surrounding skin, but is light in color, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. ²² If the spot spreads, the priest shall pronounce you unclean; you are diseased. ²³ But if it remains unchanged and does not spread, it is only the scar left from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce you ritually clean.

²⁴ In case any of you have been burned, if the raw flesh becomes white or reddish-white, ²⁵ the priest shall examine you. If the hairs in the spot have turned white and it appears deeper than the surrounding skin, it is a dreaded skin disease that has started in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean. ²⁶ But if the hairs in it have not turned white and it is not deeper than the surrounding skin, but is light in color, the priest shall isolate you for seven days. ²⁷ The priest shall examine you again on the seventh day, and if it is spreading, it is a dreaded skin disease, and the priest shall pronounce you unclean. ²⁸ But if the spot remains unchanged and does not spread and is light in color, it is not a dreaded skin disease. The priest shall pronounce you ritually clean, because it is only a scar from the burn.

²⁹ When any of you, male or female, have a sore on your head or chin, ³⁰ the priest shall examine it. If it seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it are yellowish and thin, it is a dreaded skin disease, and he shall pronounce you unclean. ³¹ If, when the priest examines you, the sore does not appear to be deeper than the surrounding skin, but there are still no healthy hairs in it, he shall isolate you for seven days. ³² The priest shall examine the sore again on the seventh day, and if it has not spread and there are no yellowish hairs in it and it does not seem to be deeper than the surrounding skin, ³³ you shall shave the head except the area around the sore. The priest shall then isolate you for another seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day the priest shall again examine the sore, and if it has not spread and does not seem to be deeper than the surrounding skin, he shall pronounce you ritually clean. You shall wash your clothes, and you will be clean. ³⁵ But if the sore spreads after you have been pronounced clean, ³⁶ the priest shall examine you again. If the sore has spread, he need not look for yellowish hairs; you are obviously unclean. ³⁷ But if in the priest's opinion the sore has not spread and healthy hairs are growing in it, the sore has healed, and the priest shall pronounce you ritually clean.

³⁸ When any of you, male or female, have white spots on the skin, ³⁹ the priest shall examine you. If the spots are dull white, it is only a blemish that has broken out on the skin; you are ritually clean.

^40-41 If you lose your hair at the back or the front of your head, this does not make you unclean. ⁴² But if a reddish-white sore appears on the bald spot, it is a dreaded skin disease. ⁴³ The priest shall examine you, and if there is a reddish-white sore, ⁴⁴ the priest shall pronounce you unclean, because of the dreaded skin disease on your head.

⁴⁵ If you have a dreaded skin disease, you must wear torn clothes, leave your hair uncombed, cover the lower part of your face, and call out, “Unclean, unclean!” ⁴⁶ You remain unclean as long as you have the disease, and you must live outside the camp, away from others.

Laws concerning Mildew

⁴⁷ When there is mildew^[e] on clothing, whether wool or linen, ⁴⁸ or on any piece of linen or wool cloth or on leather or anything made of leather, ⁴⁹ if it is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ The priest shall examine it and put the object away for seven days. ⁵¹ He shall examine it again on the seventh day, and if the mildew has spread, the object is unclean. ⁵² The priest shall burn it, because it is a spreading mildew which must be destroyed by fire.

⁵³ But if, when he examines it, the priest finds that the mildew has not spread on the object, ⁵⁴ he shall order that it be washed and put away for another seven days. ⁵⁵ Then he shall examine it, and if the mildew has not changed color, even though it has not spread, it is still unclean; you must burn the object, whether the rot is on the front or the back. ⁵⁶ But if, when the priest examines it again, the mildew has faded, he shall tear it out of the clothing or leather. ⁵⁷ Then, if the mildew reappears, it is spreading again, and the owner shall burn the object. ⁵⁸ If he washes the object and the spot disappears, he shall wash it again, and it will be ritually clean.

⁵⁹ This, then, is the law about mildew on clothing, whether it is wool or linen, or on linen or wool cloth or on anything made of leather; this is how the decision is made as to whether it is ritually clean or unclean.

Purification after Having Skin Diseases

14 The Lord gave Moses ^2 (O)the following regulations about the ritual purification of those of you cured of a dreaded skin disease. On the day you are to be pronounced clean, you shall be brought to the priest, ³ and the priest shall take you outside the camp and examine you. If the disease is healed, ⁴ the priest shall order that two ritually clean birds be brought, along with a piece of cedar wood, a red cord, and a sprig of hyssop. ⁵ Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over a clay bowl containing fresh spring water. ⁶ He shall take the other bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the red cord, and the hyssop, in the blood of the bird that was killed. ⁷ He shall sprinkle the blood seven times on the one of you who is to be purified from your skin disease, and then he shall pronounce you clean. He shall let the live bird fly away over the open fields. ⁸ You shall wash your clothes, shave off all your hair, and take a bath; you will then be ritually clean. You may enter the camp, but you must live outside your tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day you shall again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body; you shall wash your clothes and take a bath, and then you will be ritually clean.

¹⁰ On the eighth day you shall bring two male lambs and one female lamb a year old that are without any defects, five pounds of flour mixed with olive oil, and half a pint of olive oil. ¹¹ The priest shall take you and these offerings to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. ¹² Then the priest shall take one of the male lambs and together with the half pint of oil he shall offer it as a repayment offering. He shall present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. ¹³ He shall kill the lamb in the holy place where the animals for the sin offerings and the burnt offerings are killed. He must do this because the repayment offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest and is very holy. ¹⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the lamb and put it on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one of you to be declared ritually clean. ¹⁵ The priest shall take some of the olive oil and pour it in the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶ dip a finger of his right hand in it, and sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. ¹⁷ He shall take some of the oil that is in the palm of his hand and some of the blood of the lamb and put them on the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one of you to be declared ritually clean. ¹⁸ He shall put the rest of the oil that is in the palm of his hand on your head. In this way he shall perform the ritual of purification.

¹⁹ Then the priest shall offer the sin offering and perform the ritual of purification. After that, he shall kill the animal for the burnt offering ²⁰ and offer it with the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification, and you will be ritually clean.

²¹ If you are poor and cannot afford any more, you shall bring for your purification only one male lamb as your repayment offering, a special gift to the Lord for the priest. You shall bring only two pounds of flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering and half a pint of olive oil. ²² You shall also bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the sin offering and one for the burnt offering. ²³ On the eighth day of your purification you shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent. ²⁴ The priest shall take the lamb and the olive oil and present them as a special gift to the Lord for the priest. ²⁵ He shall kill the lamb and take some of the blood and put it on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. ²⁶ The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand ²⁷ and with a finger of his right hand sprinkle some of it seven times there in the Lord's presence. ²⁸ He shall put some of the oil on the same places he put the blood: on the lobe of your right ear, on the thumb of your right hand, and on the big toe of your right foot. ²⁹ The rest of the oil that is in his palm he shall put on your head and in this way perform the ritual of purification. ³⁰ Then he shall offer one of the doves or pigeons ³¹ as the sin offering and the other as the burnt offering with the grain offering. In this way the priest shall perform the ritual of purification. ³² This is the law for those who have a dreaded skin disease but who cannot afford the normal offerings required for his purification.