The Law of Burnt Offerings
1 The Lord [a]called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the [b]children of Israel and say to them, ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of [domestic] animals from the herd (cattle, oxen) or from the flock (sheep, goats). 3 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting so that he may be accepted before the Lord.(A) 4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], that it may be [c]accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.(B) 5 He shall kill the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 6 Then he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the [high] priest shall put fire on the altar [of burnt offering] and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the fat, on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. 9 But he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering. It is an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.(C)
10 ‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, as a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish. 11 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 12 He shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. 13 But he shall wash the entrails and legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it, and offer it up in smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
14 ‘But if his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring turtledoves or young pigeons as his offering. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He shall remove its [d]crop with its feathers and throw it next to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes. 17 Then he shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 1:1 Before this God had spoken to Moses from the mountain, but now God dwelt among His people in fellowship with them and talked with His servant Moses “from the Tent of Meeting.” The people were entering into a new relationship with God.
- Leviticus 1:2 In general, sons (children) of Israel or Israel or Israelites refers to all the people (males and females) of the various tribes descended from the twelve sons (Gen 35:23-26) of Jacob (later renamed Israel by God). In verses concerning things such as warfare or circumcision sons of Israel or Israel or Israelites usually refers only to the males. Tribes of ancient people were identified by the name of their founding ancestor. Therefore, this same general rule applies when referring to individual tribal groups, e.g. sons of Reuben, Reuben, Reubenites and so throughout.
- Leviticus 1:4 By laying his hands on the head of the sacrifice the offerer identified himself with it and through its death it became an atonement or covering for his sin. Because the unblemished sacrifice “covered” his sin it placed the offerer in a right relationship with God, just as later under the new covenant the perfection and sacrifice of the Christ would cover the imperfection and sin of those who identified with Him and accepted Him as Savior.
- Leviticus 1:16 An enlargement of the gullet that serves as a receptacle for food.