ויקרא

In the desert, the Israelites camped around the Tent of Meeting, the Mishkan (God’s special meeting place). From there, God called to Moses and told him to speak to the people about bringing offerings.

If someone brought a burnt offering from the herd, it had to be a male with no blemish. The person brought it to the entrance, laid a hand on its head, and it was slaughtered before God. Aaron’s sons, the priests, dashed the blood against all sides of the altar. The animal was skinned and cut into pieces; fire and wood were placed on the altar, and the pieces, with the head and fat, were arranged. The entrails and legs were washed, and the whole offering was turned into smoke.

Burnt offerings could also come from sheep or goats, and even from birds like turtledoves or pigeons, prepared by the priest at the altar.

God also described grain offerings. A person could bring choice flour, pour oil on it, and place frankincense on top. The priest took a handful as a token portion and burned it on the altar; the rest became food for Aaron and his sons.

Grain offerings could be baked as unleavened cakes or wafers, cooked on a griddle, or made in a pan, always without leaven. Each grain offering had to be seasoned with salt, “the salt of the covenant,” and no leaven or honey could be burned on the altar. For first fruits, people brought fresh grain, new ears parched by fire, with oil and frankincense, and again only a token portion was burned.

God also taught about well-being offerings. From herd or flock, male or female without blemish could be brought. The offerer laid a hand on the animal, and the priests dashed the blood on the altar. Certain fats were turned into smoke on the altar. All fat and all blood belonged to God, so the people were not to eat them.

Next, God explained offerings for sins done by mistake, called a chatat, a special offering brought when someone realized they had done something wrong without meaning to. If the anointed priest sinned, he brought a bull without blemish. Some of its blood was brought into the Tent of Meeting and sprinkled seven times in front of the curtain; blood was also put on the horns of the incense altar, and the rest poured at the base of the burnt-offering altar. The fat was burned on the altar, but the rest of the bull was carried outside the camp to the ash heap and burned.

If the whole community sinned without noticing, the elders brought a bull and did the same. A chieftain brought a male goat; an ordinary person brought a female goat or sheep. Blood was placed on the horns of the altar and poured out at its base.

For certain guilt, touching impurity, failing to testify, or making a careless oath, someone confessed and brought a sheep or goat. If they were poor, they brought two birds, or even a small flour offering without oil or frankincense.

God also spoke about reparation: if someone misused sacred things, or cheated another with a deposit, robbery, fraud, or a lost object, they repaid what was taken plus a fifth, then brought a ram as a reparation offering.