Laws for Grain Offerings

¹“When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it,

²and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

³The remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD.

⁴Now if you bring an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must consist of fine flour, either unleavened cakes mixed with oil or unleavened wafers coated with oil.

⁵If your offering is a grain offering prepared on a griddle,it must be unleavened bread made of fine flour mixed with oil.

⁶Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.

⁷If your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan,it must consist of fine flour with oil.

⁸When you bring to the LORD the grain offering made in any of these ways, it is to be presented to the priest, and he shall take it to the altar.

⁹The priest is to remove the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁰But the remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD.

¹¹No grain offering that you present to the LORD may be made with leaven, for you are not to burn any leaven or honey as a food offering to the LORD.

¹²You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of firstfruits, but they must not go up on the altar as a pleasing aroma.

¹³And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.

¹⁴If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer crushed heads of new grain roasted on the fire.

¹⁵And you are to put oil and frankincense on it; it is a grain offering.

¹⁶The priest shall then burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all its frankincense, as a food offering to the LORD.

Aaron’s First Offerings

¹On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.

²He said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the LORD.

³Then speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without blemish—for a burnt offering,

⁴an oxand a ram for a peace offering to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the LORD will appear to you.’”

⁵So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the whole congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.

⁶And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

⁷Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to make atonement for yourself and for the people. And sacrifice the people’s offering to make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.”

⁸So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.

⁹The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. And he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹⁰On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹¹But he burned up the flesh and the hide outside the camp.

¹²Then Aaron slaughtered the burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it on all sides of the altar.

¹³They brought him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar.

¹⁴He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them atop the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵Aaron then presented the people’s offering. He took the male goat for the people’s sin offering, slaughtered it, and offered it for sin like the first one.

¹⁶He presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the ordinance.

¹⁷Next he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering.

¹⁸Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram as the people’s peace offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it on all sides of the altar.

¹⁹They also brought the fat portions from the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver—

²⁰and placed these on the breasts. Aaron burned the fat portions on the altar,

²¹but he waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded.

²²Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having made the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down.

²³Moses and Aaron then entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

²⁴Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

¹Observe the month of Abiband celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

²You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.

³You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

⁴No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.

⁵You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you.

⁶You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.

⁷And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.

⁸For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.

The Feast of Weeks

⁹You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.

¹⁰And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeksto the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,

¹¹and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹²Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles

¹³You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernaclesfor seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

¹⁴And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹⁵For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

¹⁶Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread,the Feast of Weeks,and the Feast of Tabernacles.No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

¹⁷Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

Judges and Justice

¹⁸You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

¹⁹Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

²⁰Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Forbidden Forms of Worship

²¹Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

²²and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.

The Selfishness of the Unfriendly

¹He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires;he rebels against all sound judgment.

²A fool does not delight in understanding,but only in airing his opinions.

³With a wicked man comes contempt as well,and shame is accompanied by disgrace.

⁴The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

⁵Showing partialityto the wicked is not good,nor is depriving the innocent of justice.

⁶A fool’s lips bring him strife,and his mouth invites a beating.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin,and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁸The words of a gossip are like choice morselsthat go down into the inmost being.

⁹Whoever is slothful in his workis brother to him who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower;the righteous run to itand are safe.

¹¹A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city;it is like a high wall in his imagination.

¹²Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,but humility comes before honor.

¹³He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.

¹⁴The spirit of a man can endure his sickness,but who can survive a broken spirit?

¹⁵The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,and the ear of the wise seeks it out.

¹⁶A man’s gift opens doors for him,and brings him before great men.

¹⁷The first to state his case seems rightuntil another comes and cross-examines him.

¹⁸Casting the lot ends quarrelsand separates strong opponents.

¹⁹An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city,and disputes are like the bars of a castle.

²⁰From the fruit of his mouth a man’s belly is filled;with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

²¹Life and death are in the power of the tongue,and those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²He who finds a wife finds a good thingand obtains favor from the LORD.

²³The poor man pleads for mercy,but the rich man answers harshly.

²⁴A man of many companions may come to ruin,but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.