Study Desk

"When someone sins in any of these ways: If he has seen, heard, or known about something he has witnessed, and did not respond to a public call to testify, he is responsible for his sin.^(a)

Or if someone touches anything unclean^(b)—a carcass of an unclean wild animal,^(c) or unclean livestock, or an unclean swarming creature^[a](d)—without being aware of it, he is unclean and guilty.^(e)

Or if he touches human uncleanness^(f)—any uncleanness by which one can become defiled^(g)—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he is guilty.

Or if someone swears rashly^(h) to do what is good or evil—concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.^[b]

If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess⁽ⁱ⁾ he has committed that sin.

He must bring his restitution^(j) for the sin he has committed to the Lord : a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement^(k) on his behalf for his sin.

"But if he cannot afford an animal from the flock, then he may bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons^(l) as restitution for his sin—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

He is to bring them to the priest, who will first present the one for the sin offering. He must twist its head at the back of the neck without severing it.^(m)

Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar;⁽ⁿ⁾ it is a sin offering.

He must prepare the second bird as a burnt offering according to the regulation.^(o) In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

"But if he cannot afford^[c] two turtledoves or two young pigeons,^(p) he may bring two quarts^[d] of fine^[e] flour^[f](q) as an offering for his sin. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.

He is to bring it to the priest, who will take a handful from it as its memorial portion^(r) and burn it on the altar along with the fire offerings to the Lord ; it is a sin offering.

In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf concerning the sin he has committed in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the priest, like the grain offering."^(s)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

"If someone offends^(t) by sinning unintentionally^(u) in regard to any of the Lord 's holy things,^[g] he must bring his restitution offering to the Lord : an unblemished ram from the flock (based on your assessment of its value in silver shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel^(v)) as a restitution offering.

He must make restitution^(w) for his sin regarding any holy^(x) thing, adding a fifth of its value to it,^(y) and give it to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the ram of the restitution offering, and he will be forgiven.^(z)

"If someone sins and without knowing it violates any of the Lord 's commands concerning anything prohibited, he bears the consequences of his guilt.

He must bring an unblemished ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a restitution offering to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the error he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven.

It is a restitution offering; he is indeed guilty before the Lord ."

^[a]The Lord spoke to Moses:

"When someone sins and offends the Lord by deceiving^(a) his neighbor in regard to a deposit,^(b) a security,^[b] or a robbery;^(c) or defrauds^(d) his neighbor;

or finds something lost and lies about it;^(e) or swears falsely^(f) about any of the sinful things a person may do—

once he has sinned^(g) and acknowledged his guilt^(h)—he must return what he stole or defrauded, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost item he found,

or anything else about which he swore falsely. He must make full restitution for it and add a fifth of its value to it.⁽ⁱ⁾ He is to pay it to its owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.^(j)

Then he must bring his restitution offering^(k) to the Lord : an unblemished^(l) ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a restitution offering to the priest.

In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord , and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt."^(m)

^[c]The Lord spoke to Moses:

"Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar's hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it.

The priest is to put on his linen robe and linen undergarments.^[d](n) He is to remove the ashes of the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar, and place them beside the altar.

Then he must take off his garments, put on other clothes,^(o) and bring the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest will burn wood on the fire. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat portions from the fellowship offerings^(p) on it.

Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not go out.

"Now this is the law of the grain offering:^(q) Aaron's sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar.

The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord .

Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it.^(r) It is to be eaten in the form of unleavened bread^(s) in a holy place;^(t) they are to eat it in the courtyard^(u) of the tent of meeting.

It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion^(v) from My fire offerings.^(w) It is especially holy, like the sin offering^(x) and the restitution offering.

Any male among Aaron's descendants^(y) may eat it. It is a permanent portion^[e](z) throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the Lord . Anything that touches the offerings will become holy."^(aa)

The Lord spoke to Moses:

"This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the Lord on the day that he is anointed: two quarts^[f] of fine flour as a regular^[g] grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

It is to be prepared with oil on a griddle; you are to bring it well-kneaded. You must present it as a grain offering of baked pieces,^[h] a pleasing aroma to the Lord .

The priest, who is one of Aaron's sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. It must be completely burned as a permanent portion for the Lord .

Every grain offering for a priest will be a whole burnt offering;^(ab) it is not to be eaten."

The Lord spoke to Moses:

"Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering.^(ac) The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the Lord at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

The priest who offers it as a sin offering is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place,^(ad) in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of its blood spatters on a garment, then you must wash that garment^[i] in a holy place.

A clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled must be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it must be scoured and rinsed with water.

Any male among the priests may eat it; it is especially holy.

But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned up.

"Now this is the law of the restitution offering;^(a) it is especially holy.

The restitution offering must be slaughtered at the place where the burnt offering^(b) is slaughtered, and the priest is to sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

The offerer must present all the fat from it: the fat tail,^(c) the fat surrounding the entrails,^[a]

and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver^(d) with the kidneys.

The priest will burn them on the altar as a fire offering^(e) to the Lord ; it is a restitution offering.

Any male among the priests may eat it.^(f) It is to be eaten in a holy place;^(g) it is especially holy.^(h)

"The restitution offering is like the sin offering;⁽ⁱ⁾ the law is the same for both. It belongs to the priest^(j) who makes atonement^(k) with it.

As for the priest who presents someone's burnt offering, the hide of the burnt offering he has presented belongs to him; it is the priest's.

Any grain offering^(l) that is baked in an oven or prepared in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who presents it; it is his.

But any grain offering, whether dry or mixed with oil, belongs equally^[b] to all of Aaron's sons.

"Now this is the law of the fellowship sacrifice^(m) that someone may present to the Lord :

If he presents it for thanksgiving, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice,^[c](n) he is to present unleavened cakes^(o) mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers^(p) coated with oil, and well-kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil.

He is to present as his offering cakes of leavened bread^[d] with his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship.

From the cakes he must present one portion of each offering as a contribution^(q) to the Lord . It will belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offering; it is his.

The meat of his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship must be eaten on the day he offers it;^(r) he may not leave any of it until morning.^(s)

"If the sacrifice he offers is a vow^[e](t) or a freewill offering,^[f](u) it is to be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and what is left over may be eaten on the next day.

But what remains of the sacrificial meat by the third day must be burned up.^(v)

If any of the meat of his fellowship sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted.^(w) It will not be credited to the one who presents it; it is repulsive.^(x) The person who eats any of it will be responsible for his sin.^[g]

"Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned up. Everyone who is clean may eat any other meat.

But the one who eats meat from the Lord 's fellowship sacrifice while he is unclean,^[h] that person must be cut off from his people.^(y)

If someone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, detestable^[i](z) creature, and eats meat from the Lord 's fellowship sacrifice, that person must be cut off from his people."

The Lord spoke to Moses:

"Tell the Israelites: You are not to eat any fat^(aa) of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.

The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is mauled by wild beasts^[j](ab) may be used for any purpose, but you must not eat it.^(ac)

If anyone eats animal fat from a fire offering presented to the Lord , the person who eats it must be cut off from his people.

Wherever you live, you must not eat the blood^(ad) of any bird or animal.

Whoever eats any blood, that person must be cut off from his people."

The Lord spoke to Moses:

"Tell the Israelites: The one who presents a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord must bring an offering to the Lord from his sacrifice.

His own hands will bring the fire offerings to the Lord . He will bring the fat together with the breast. The breast is to be waved as a presentation offering^(ae) before the Lord .

The priest is to burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons.

You are to give the right thigh^(af) to the priest as a contribution from your fellowship sacrifices.

The son of Aaron who presents the blood of the fellowship offering and the fat will have the right thigh as a portion.

I have taken from the Israelites the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, and have assigned them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent portion^[k](ag) from the Israelites."

This is the portion from the fire offerings to the Lord for Aaron and his sons^(ah) since the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests.

The Lord commanded this to be given to them by the Israelites on the day He anointed them.^(ai) It is a permanent portion^[l] throughout their generations.

This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the restitution offering, the ordination offering,^(aj) and the fellowship sacrifice,

which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai^(ak) on the day He^[m] commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.^(al)