Sins Requiring a Guilt Offering

¹And the LORD said to Moses,

²“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

³or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit—

⁴once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,

⁵or anything else about which he has sworn falsely.He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value, and pay it to the owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.

⁶Then he must bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock.

⁷In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

The Burnt Offering

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses,

⁹“Command Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth of the altar all night, until morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar.

¹⁰And the priest shall put on his linen robe and linen undergarments, and he shall remove from the altar the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed and place them beside it.

¹¹Then he must take off his garments, put on other clothes, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

¹²The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it must not be extinguished. Every morning the priest is to add wood to the fire, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat portions of the peace offerings on it.

¹³The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not be extinguished.

The Grain Offering

¹⁴Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons shall present it before the LORD in front of the altar.

¹⁵The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil, together with all the frankincense from the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁶Aaron and his sons are to eat the remainder. It must be eaten without leaven in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁷It must not be baked with leaven; I have assigned it as their portion of My food offerings. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

¹⁸Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the food offerings to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will become holy.”

¹⁹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²⁰“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the LORD on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flouras a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

²¹It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle;you are to bring it well-kneaded and present it as a grain offering brokenin pieces, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

²²The priest, who is one of Aaron’s sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. As a permanent portion for the LORD, it must be burned completely.

²³Every grain offering for a priest shall be burned completely; it is not to be eaten.”

The Sin Offering

²⁴And the LORD said to Moses,

²⁵“Tell Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is most holy.

²⁶The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

²⁷Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place.

²⁸The clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled must be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze pot, the pot must be scoured and rinsed with water.

²⁹Any male among the priests may eat it; it is most holy.

³⁰But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it must be burned.

Restrictions against the Unclean

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD.

³Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.

⁴If a descendant of Aaron has a skin diseaseor a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen,

⁵or whoever touches a crawling creature or a person that makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be—

⁶the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.

⁷When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the sacred offerings, for they are his food.

⁸He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.

⁹The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

¹⁰No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.

¹¹But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.

¹²If the priest’s daughter is married to a man other than a priest, she is not to eat of the sacred contributions.

¹³But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.

¹⁴If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest.

¹⁵The priests must not profane the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD

¹⁶by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”

Worthy Offerings

¹⁷Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any foreign resident who presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,

¹⁹must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.

²⁰You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

²¹When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.

²²You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as a food offering to the LORD.

²³You may present as a freewill offering an oxor sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow.

²⁴You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.

²⁵Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”

²⁶Then the LORD said to Moses,

²⁷“When an ox,a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD.

²⁸But you must not slaughter an oxor a sheep on the same day as its young.

²⁹When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, offer it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf.

³⁰It must be eaten that same day. Do not leave any of it until morning. I am the LORD.

³¹You are to keep My commandments and practice them. I am the LORD.

³²You must not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,

³³who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.”

The Two Silver Trumpets

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out.

³When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁴But if only one is sounded, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to gather before you.

⁵When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.

⁶When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out.

⁷To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones.

⁸The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come.

⁹When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.

¹⁰And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

From Sinai to Paran

¹¹On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony,

¹²and the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai, traveling from place to place until the cloud settled in the Wilderness of Paran.

¹³They set out this first time according to the LORD’s command through Moses.

¹⁴First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command.

¹⁵Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar,

¹⁶and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun.

¹⁷Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.

¹⁸Then the divisions of the camp of Reuben set out under their standard, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command.

¹⁹Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon,

²⁰and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad.

²¹Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival.

²²Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command.

²³Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh,

²⁴and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard, serving as the rear guard for all units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command.

²⁶Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher,

²⁷and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali.

²⁸This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out.

²⁹Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuelthe Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.”

³⁰“I will not go,” Hobab replied. “Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people.”

³¹“Please do not leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.

³²If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”

³³So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

³⁴And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,“Rise up, O LORD!May Your enemies be scattered;may those who hate You flee before You.”

³⁶And when it came to rest, he would say:“Return, O LORD,to the countless thousands of Israel.”

The LORD Has Heard My Voice

¹I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy.

²Because He has inclined His ear to me,I will call on Him as long as I live.

³The ropes of death entangled me;the anguish of Sheol overcame me;I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

⁴Then I called on the name of the LORD:“O LORD, deliver my soul!”

⁵The LORD is gracious and righteous;our God is full of compassion.

⁶The LORD preserves the simplehearted;I was helpless, and He saved me.

⁷Return to your rest, O my soul,for the LORD has been good to you.

⁸For You have delivered my soul from death,my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.

⁹I will walk before the LORDin the land of the living.

¹⁰I believed, therefore I said,“I am greatly afflicted.”

¹¹In my alarm I said,“All men are liars!”

¹²How can I repay the LORDfor all His goodness to me?

¹³I will lift the cup of salvationand call on the name of the LORD.

¹⁴I will fulfill my vows to the LORDin the presence of all His people.

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the LORDis the death of His saints.

¹⁶Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant;I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;You have broken my bonds.

¹⁷I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgivingand call on the name of the LORD.

¹⁸I will fulfill my vows to the LORDin the presence of all His people,

¹⁹in the courts of the LORD’s house,in your midst, O Jerusalem.Hallelujah!