Leviticus 5; Leviticus 6; Leviticus 7

1 " 'Suppose a person has been called as a witness to something he has seen or learned about. Then if he does not tell what he knows, he has sinned. And he will be held accountable for it.

2 " 'Or suppose a person touches something that is 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 he is not aware that he touched them, he has become "unclean." And he is guilty.

3 " 'Or suppose he touches something "unclean" that comes from a human being. It could be anything that would make him "unclean." Suppose he is not aware that he touched it. When he finds out about it, he will be guilty.

4 " 'Or suppose a person takes an oath and makes a promise to do something without thinking it through. It does not matter what he promised. It does not matter whether he took the oath without thinking about it carefully. And suppose he is not aware that he did not think it through. When he finds out about it, he will be guilty.

5 " 'When someone is guilty in any of those ways, he must admit he has sinned.

6 He must bring a sin offering to pay for the sin he has committed. He 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 he can't afford a lamb. Then he must get two doves or two young pigeons. He must bring them to the LORD to pay for his sin. One of them is for a sin offering. The other is for a burnt offering.

8 " 'He 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 sprinkle 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 the person has committed. And he will be forgiven.

11 " 'But suppose he can't afford two doves or two young pigeons. Then he must bring eight cups of fine flour as an offering for his sin. It is a sin offering. He must not put olive oil or incense on it. That is because it is a sin offering.

12 " 'He 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 offerings that are made to the LORD with fire. It is a sin offering.

13 " 'In that way the priest will pay for any of the sins the person has committed. And he 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.' "

14 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

15 "Suppose a person sins by breaking the law. And he does it without meaning to. He sins against me or my priests by refusing to give them one of the holy things that are set apart for them. "Then he must bring me a ram from the flock. It must not have any flaws. It must be worth the required amount of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. It is a guilt offering. It will pay for his sin.

16 "He must also pay for the holy thing he refused to give. He must add a fifth of its value to it. He must give all of it to the priest. The priest will pay for the person's sin with the ram. It is a guilt offering. And he will be forgiven.

17 "Suppose a person sins by doing something I command him not to do. Even though he does not know it, he is guilty. He will be held accountable for it.

18 "He 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 the person has done wrong without meaning to. And he will be forgiven.

19 It is a guilt offering. He has been guilty of doing wrong against me."

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

2 "Suppose a person sins by not being faithful to me. He does it by tricking his neighbors. He tricks them in connection with something they have placed in his care. He steals from them. Or he cheats them.

3 Or he finds something they have lost and then tells a lie about it. Or he goes to court. He takes an oath and tells a lie when he witnesses about it. Or he commits any other sin like those sins.

4 "When he sins in any of those ways, he becomes guilty. He must return what he stole. He must give back what he took by cheating his neighbors. He must return what they placed in his care. He must return the lost property he found.

5 He must return anything he told a lie about when he witnessed in court. He must pay back everything in full. He must add a fifth of its value to it. He must give all of it to the owner on the day he brings his guilt offering.

6 "He must bring his guilt offering to the priest to pay for his sin. It is an offering to me. He 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 the person's sin. He will do it in my sight. And the person will be forgiven for any of the things he did that made him guilty."

8 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

9 "Give Aaron and the priests who are 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 place that is "clean."

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.

14 " 'Here are some more rules for grain offerings. The priests who are 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 fine flour and olive oil. He must add to it all of the incense that is on the grain offering. He must burn that part on the altar. It will remind him that all good things come from the Lord. It gives a smell that is pleasant to the Lord.

16 " 'Aaron and the priests who are in his family line will eat the rest of it. But they must eat it without yeast in a holy place. They must eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

17 It must not be baked with yeast. The LORD has given it to the priests as their share of the offerings that are made to him with fire. It is very holy, just like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

18 " 'Any priests who are in Aaron's family line can eat it. It is their regular share of the offerings that are made to the LORD with fire. It is their share for all time to come. Anyone who touches those offerings will become holy.' "

19 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

20 "On the day each high priest who is in Aaron's family line is anointed, he must bring an offering to me. He must bring eight cups of fine 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. Grill it on a metal plate. Break it in pieces. Bring it as a grain offering. It gives a smell that is pleasant to me.

22 "The son of Aaron who will become the next high priest after him will prepare the grain offering. It is my regular share. It must be completely burned up.

23 Every grain offering a high priest offers must be completely burned up. It must not be eaten."

24 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

25 "Speak to Aaron and the priests who are 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 a holy place. 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 a holy place.

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 can 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.

1 " 'Here are some more rules for guilt offerings. The guilt offering is very holy.

2 You must kill the animal for the guilt offering in the same place where you kill the animal for the burnt offering. Sprinkle its blood against every side of the altar.

3 " 'Offer all of 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 covering of the liver. Remove all of it together with the kidneys.

5 The priest must burn all of it on the altar. It is an offering that is made to the LORD with fire. It is a guilt offering.

6 " 'Any male in a priest's family can eat it. But he must eat it in a holy place. 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 that is baked in an oven belongs to the priest who offers it. So does every grain offering that is cooked in a pan or grilled on a metal plate.

10 Every grain offering belongs equally to all of the priests who are in Aaron's family line. That is true whether it is mixed with olive oil or it is dry.

11 " 'Here are some more rules for friendship offerings a person may bring to the Lord.

12 " 'Suppose he offers a friendship offering to show he is thankful. Then together with the thank offering he must offer flat cakes of bread. He must make them without yeast. He must mix them with olive oil. Or he must offer wafers that are made without yeast. He must spread oil on them. Or he must offer flat cakes that are made out of fine flour. He must add oil to it. He must work the flour and mix it well.

13 " 'He must bring another friendship offering along with his thank offering. It should be flat cakes of bread that are made with yeast.

14 He 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 sprinkles the blood of the friendship offerings.

15 " 'The person must eat the meat from his thank offering on the day he offers it. He must not leave any of it until morning.

16 " 'But suppose he brings a friendship offering to keep a promise he has made. Or suppose he brings an offering he chooses to give. Then he must eat the sacrifice on the day he offers it. But if anything is left over, he may eat it the next day.

17 " 'He must burn up any meat from the sacrifice that is left over until the third day.

18 Suppose he eats 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 that person. It is not pure. If the person eats any of it, he will be held accountable for it.

19 " 'He must not eat meat that touches anything that is "unclean." He must burn it up. Anyone who is "clean" may eat any other meat.

20 " 'But suppose a person is not "clean" and eats any meat from the friendship offering that belongs to the Lord. Then that person will be cut off from his people.

21 " 'Suppose a person touches something that is not "clean." It does not matter whether it comes from a human being who is not "clean." It does not matter whether it comes from an animal that is not "clean." It does not matter whether it comes from something that is hated and is not "clean." And suppose the person eats any of the meat from the friendship offering that belongs to the Lord. Then that person will be cut off from his people.' "

22 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

23 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats.

24 Do not eat the fat of any animal that is 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 an offering that is made to the LORD with fire. No one may eat its fat. If he does, he will be cut off from his people.

26 " 'No matter where you live, do not eat the blood of any bird or animal.

27 If anyone does, he will be cut off from his people.' "

28 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

29 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Suppose a person brings a friendship offering to the Lord. Then he must bring part of it as his special gift to the Lord.

30 He must bring it with his own hands. It is an offering that is made to the LORD with fire. He must bring the fat together with the breast. He 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 who are 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 people of Israel. And I have given them to the priest Aaron and the priests who are in his family line. The offerings are their regular share from the people of Israel.' "

35 That is the part of the offerings that are made to the LORD with fire and given to Aaron and the priests who are 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 people of Israel to give that part to them. For all time to come, it will be the regular share of Aaron and the priests who are in his family line.

37 Those 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 people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord. That took place in the Sinai Desert.