Through the Bible – Day 36

_1-3The LORD spoke to Moses from the sacred tent and gave him instructions for the community of Israel to follow when they offered sacrifices.

Sacrifices to please me must be completely burnt on the bronze altar.

Bulls or rams or goats are the animals to be used for these sacrifices. If the animal is a bull, it must not have anything wrong with it. Lead it to the entrance of the sacred tent, and I will let you know if it is acceptable to me. ₄Lay your hand on its head, and I will accept the animal as a sacrifice for taking away your sins.

₅After the bull is killed in my presence, some priests from Aaron's family will offer its blood to me by splattering it against the four sides of the altar.

₆Skin the bull and cut it up, ₇while the priests pile wood on the altar fire to make it start blazing. _8-9Wash the bull's insides and hind legs, so the priests can lay them on the altar with the head, the fat, and the rest of the animal. A priest will then send all of it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

₁₀If you sacrifice a ram or a goat, it must not have anything wrong with it. ₁₁Lead the animal to the north side of the altar, where it is to be killed in my presence. Then some of the priests will splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.

_12-13Cut up the animal and wash its insides and hind legs. A priest will put these parts on the altar with the head, the fat, and the rest of the animal. Then he will send all of it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

₁₄If you offer a bird for this kind of sacrifice, it must be a dove or a pigeon. ₁₅A priest will take the bird to the bronze altar, where he will wring its neck and put its head on the fire. Then he will drain out its blood on one side of the altar, ₁₆remove the bird's craw with what is in it, and throw them on the ash heap at the east side of the altar. ₁₇Finally, he will take the bird by its wings, tear it partially open, and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

₁When you offer sacrifices to give thanks to me, you must use only your finest flour. Put it in a dish, sprinkle olive oil and incense on the flour, ₂and take it to the priests from Aaron's family. One of them will scoop up the incense together with a handful of the flour and oil. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, the priest will lay this part on the bronze altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ₃The rest of this sacrifice is for the priests; it is very holy because it was offered to me.

₄If you bake bread in an oven for this sacrifice, use only your finest flour, but without any yeast. You may make the flour into a loaf mixed with olive oil, or you may make it into thin wafers and brush them with oil.

₅If you cook bread in a shallow pan for this sacrifice, use only your finest flour. Mix it with olive oil, but do not use any yeast. ₆Then break the bread into small pieces and sprinkle them with oil. ₇If you cook your bread in a pan with a lid on it, you must also use the finest flour mixed with oil.

₈You may prepare sacrifices to give thanks in any of these three ways. Bring your sacrifice to a priest, and he will take it to the bronze altar. ₉Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, the priest will lay part of it on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ₁₀The rest of this sacrifice is for the priests; it is very holy because it was offered to me.

₁₁Yeast and honey must never be burnt on the altar, so don't ever mix either of these in a grain sacrifice. ₁₂You may offer either of them separately, when you present the first part of your harvest to me, but they must never be burnt on the altar.

₁₃Salt is offered when you make an agreement with me, so sprinkle salt on these sacrifices.

₁₄Freshly cut grain, either roasted or coarsely ground, must be used when you offer the first part of your grain harvest. ₁₅You must mix in some olive oil and put incense on top, because this is a grain sacrifice. ₁₆A priest will sprinkle all the incense and some of the grain and oil on the altar and send them up in smoke to show that the whole offering belongs to me.

₁When you offer sacrifices to ask my blessing, you may offer either a bull or a cow, but there must be nothing wrong with the animal. ₂Lead it to the entrance of the sacred tent, lay your hand on its head, and have it killed there. A priest from Aaron's family will splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.

₃Offer all the fat on the animal's insides, ₄as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. ₅Some of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke with a smell that pleases me, together with the sacrifice that is offered to please me.

₆Instead of a bull or a cow, you may offer any sheep or goat that has nothing wrong with it. ₇If you offer a sheep, you must present it to me at the entrance to the sacred tent. ₈Lay your hand on its head and have it killed there. A priest will then splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.

₉Offer the fat on the tail, the tailbone, and the insides, ₁₀as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. ₁₁One of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke as a food offering for me.

₁₂If you offer a goat, you must also present it to me ₁₃at the entrance to the sacred tent. Lay your hand on its head and have it killed there. A priest will then splatter its blood against the four sides of the altar.

₁₄Offer all the fat on the animal's insides, ₁₅as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. ₁₆One of the priests will put these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke as a food offering with a smell that pleases me.

All fat belongs to me. ₁₇So you and your descendants must never eat any fat or any blood, not even in the privacy of your own homes. This law will never change.

₁The LORD told Moses ₂to say to the community of Israel:

Offer a sacrifice to ask forgiveness when you sin by accidentally doing something I have told you not to do.

₃When the high priest sins, he makes everyone else guilty too. And so, he must sacrifice a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. ₄The priest will lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, lay his hand on its head, and kill it there. ₅He will take a bowl of the blood inside the tent, ₆dip a finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times towards the sacred chest behind the curtain. ₇Then, in my presence, he will smear some of the blood on each of the four corners of the incense altar, before pouring out the rest at the foot of the bronze altar near the entrance to the tent.

_8-10The priest will remove the fat from the bull, just as he does when he sacrifices a bull to ask my blessing. This includes the fat on the insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. He will then send it all up in smoke.

_11-12The skin and flesh of the bull, together with its legs, insides, and the food still in its stomach, are to be taken outside the camp and burnt on a wood fire near the ash heap.

₁₃When the nation of Israel disobeys me without meaning to, the whole nation is still guilty. ₁₄Once you realize what has happened, you must sacrifice a young bull to ask my forgiveness. Lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, ₁₅where your tribal leaders will lay their hands on its head, before having it killed in my presence.

₁₆The priest will take a bowl of the animal's blood inside the sacred tent, ₁₇dip a finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times towards the sacred chest behind the curtain. ₁₈Then, in my presence, he must smear some of the blood on each of the four corners of the incense altar, before pouring out the rest at the foot of the bronze altar near the entrance to the tent. _19-21After this, the priest will remove the fat from the bull and send it up in smoke on the altar. Finally, he will burn its remains outside the camp, just as he did with the other bull. By this sacrifice the sin of the whole nation will be forgiven.

₂₂Any tribal leader who disobeys me without meaning to is still guilty. ₂₃As soon as the leader realizes what has happened, he must sacrifice a goat that has nothing wrong with it. ₂₄This is a sacrifice for sin. So he will lay his hand on the animal's head, before having it killed in my presence at the north side of the bronze altar. ₂₅The priest will dip a finger in the blood, smear some of it on each of the four corners of the altar, and pour out the rest at the foot of the altar. ₂₆Then he must send all the fat up in smoke, just as he does when a sacrifice is offered to ask my blessing. By this sacrifice the leader's sin will be forgiven.

₂₇When any of you ordinary people disobey me without meaning to, you are still guilty. ₂₈As soon as you realize what you have done, you must sacrifice a female goat that has nothing wrong with it. ₂₉Lead the goat to the north side of the bronze altar and lay your hand on its head, before having it killed. ₃₀Then a priest will dip a finger in the blood; he will smear some of it on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest at the foot of the altar. ₃₁After this, the priest will remove all the fat, just as he does when an animal is sacrificed to ask my blessing. The priest will then send the fat up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. This animal is sacrificed so that I will forgive you ordinary people when you sin.

₃₂If you offer a lamb instead of a goat as a sacrifice for sin, it must be a female that has nothing wrong with it. ₃₃Lead the lamb to the altar and lay your hand on its head, before having it killed. ₃₄The priest will dip a finger in the blood, smear some of it on each of the four corners of the altar, and pour out the rest at the foot of the altar. ₃₅After this, all the fat must be removed, just as when an animal is sacrificed to ask my blessing. Then the priest will send it up in smoke to me, together with a food offering, and your sin will be forgiven.

₁If you refuse to testify in court about something you saw or know has happened, you have sinned and can be punished.

₂You are guilty and unfit to worship me, if you accidentally touch the dead body of any kind of unclean animal.

₃You are guilty if you find out that you have accidentally touched any waste that comes from a human body.

₄You are guilty the moment you realize that you have made a hasty promise to do something good or bad.

₅As soon as you discover that you have committed any of these sins, you must confess what you have done. ₆Then you must bring a female sheep or goat to me as the price for your sin. A priest will sacrifice the animal, and you will be forgiven.

₇If you are poor and cannot afford to bring an animal, you may bring two doves or two pigeons. One of these will be a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, and the other will be a sacrifice to please me.

₈Give both birds to the priest, who will offer one as a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness. He will wring its neck without tearing off its head, ₉splatter some of its blood on one side of the bronze altar, and drain out the rest at the foot of the altar. ₁₀Then he will follow the proper rules for offering the other bird as a sacrifice to please me.

You will be forgiven when the priest offers these sacrifices as the price for your sin.

₁₁If you are so poor that you cannot afford doves or pigeons, you may bring one kilogramme of your finest flour. This is a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, so don't sprinkle olive oil or sweet-smelling incense on it. ₁₂Give the flour to a priest, who will scoop up a handful and send it up in smoke together with the other offerings. This is a reminder that all the flour belongs to me. ₁₃By offering this sacrifice, the priest pays the price for any of these sins you may have committed. The priest gets the rest of the flour, just as he does with grain sacrifices.

_14-15The LORD told Moses what the people must do to make things right when they find out they have cheated the LORD without meaning to:

If this happens, you must either sacrifice a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay the price of a ram with the official money used by the priests. ₁₆In addition, you must pay what you owe plus a fine of twenty per cent. Then the priest will offer the ram as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.

_17-19If you break any of my commands without meaning to, you are still guilty, and you can be punished. When you realize what you have done, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.

₁Once again Jesus used stories to teach the people:

₁₅The Pharisees got together and planned how they could trick Jesus into saying something wrong. ₁₆They sent some of their followers and some of Herod's followers to say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. ₁₇Tell us what you think! Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”

₁₈Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said, “Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs! ₁₉Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes.” They brought him a silver coin, ₂₀and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”

₂₁“The Emperor's,” they answered.

Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” ₂₂His answer surprised them so much that they walked away.