Leviticus 1-3

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR THIS SERMON:

Leviticus 1:1-3:17

1:1 Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When someone among you presents an offering to the Lord, you must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock.

3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Lord. 4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5 Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar, which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 6 Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts, 7 and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 9 Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water, and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering—from the sheep or the goats—he must present a flawless male, 11 and must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood against the altar’s sides. 12 Next, the one presenting the offering must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 13 Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

14 “‘If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, he must present his offering from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons. 15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off its head and offer the head up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar. 16 Then the priest must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail feathers, and throw them to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes, 17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

2:1 “‘When a person presents a grain offering to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar—it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 3 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons—it is most holy from the gifts of the Lord.

4 “‘When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil or unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil. 5 If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened. 6 Crumble it in pieces and pour olive oil on it—it is a grain offering. 7 If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it must be made of choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil.

8 “‘You must bring the grain offering that must be made from these to the Lord. Present it to the priest, and he will bring it to the altar. 9 Then the priest must take up from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar—it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 10 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons—it is most holy from the gifts of the Lord.

11 “‘No grain offering which you present to the Lord can be made with yeast, for you must not offer up in smoke any yeast or honey as a gift to the Lord. 12 You can present them to the Lord as an offering of firstfruit, but they must not go up to the altar for a soothing aroma. 13 Moreover, you must season every one of your grain offerings with salt; you must not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be missing from your grain offering—on every one of your grain offerings you must present salt.

14 “‘If you present a grain offering of first ripe grain to the Lord, you must present your grain offering of first ripe grain as soft kernels roasted in fire—crushed bits of fresh grain. 15 And you must put olive oil on it and set frankincense on it—it is a grain offering. 16 Then the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke—some of its crushed bits, some of its olive oil, in addition to all of its frankincense—it is a gift to the Lord.

3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace-offering sacrifice, if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female. 2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides. 3 Then the one presenting the offering must present a gift to the Lord from the peace-offering sacrifice: He must remove the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that surrounds the entrails, 4 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys). 5 Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the wood in the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

6 “‘If his offering for a peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord is from the flock, he must present a flawless male or female. 7 If he presents a sheep as his offering, he must present it before the Lord. 8 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar’s sides. 9 Then he must present a gift to the Lord from the peace-offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails, 10 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys). 11 Then the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar as a food gift to the Lord.

12 “‘If his offering is a goat, he must present it before the Lord, 13 lay his hand on its head, and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar’s sides. 14 Then he must present from it his offering as a gift to the Lord: the fat which covers the entrails and all the fat on the entrails, 15 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys). 16 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a food gift for a soothing aroma—all the fat belongs to the Lord. 17 This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live: You must never eat any fat or any blood.’”