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Leviticus 1

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And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

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Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

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If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.

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And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

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And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

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And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

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And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

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But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

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And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

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And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

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And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

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But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

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And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

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And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:

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And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:

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And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

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Leviticus 1

Leviticus opens with God speaking from the tent of meeting — the tabernacle now fully installed — to give Moses the burnt offering regulations. The burnt offering (olah) is the offering of total consecration: the entire animal is consumed on the altar, nothing withheld. Three categories of animals are permitted — cattle, sheep or goats, and birds — with the quality standard (male without defect) consistent across all, while the cost scales downward to ensure that every Israelite, regardless of wealth, can participate. The offerer lays hands on the animal, identifying with it before slaughtering it; the priests splash the blood on the altar. The pleasing aroma formula closes each category, communicating that the completeness of the offering — not the cost — is what produces the Lord's acceptance. Hebrews 10:10 says Christ's total self-offering fulfills what the burnt offering could only foreshadow.

Leviticus 1:1

The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. The opening verse of Leviticus is a hinge point in the Pentateuch: Exodus ended with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle so completely that Moses could not enter; now God calls Moses in, speaking from within the sanctuary He just filled. The tent of meeting is now the primary site of divine speech, replacing the mountain. Hebrews 9:5 says the tabernacle is a shadow of heavenly things — the God who spoke from the mountain now speaks from the shadow of His own heavenly throne room. The call to Moses from the tent establishes the pattern for all of Leviticus: the entire book is divine speech delivered from the place of God's dwelling among His people.

Leviticus 1:2

Speak to the Israelites and say to them: when anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. The instruction is addressed to anyone among you — the covenant community collectively but approached individually. The offering is not imposed but brought: the Hebrew qorban comes from the root qarav, to draw near. The sacrificial system is framed from the outset as an act of approach, a drawing near to God. Psalm 73:28 says it is good to be near God — the qorban that Israel brings is the liturgical expression of the desire for nearness to the God who called them out of Egypt and now dwells in their midst.

Leviticus 1:3

If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. The burnt offering from the herd requires a male without defect — the best available, without blemish. The location is the entrance to the tent of meeting, the threshold of the sacred space where sacrifice makes approach possible. The purpose is acceptability before the Lord — the offering must meet the standard of what is pleasing to God. 1 Peter 1:19 describes Christ as a lamb without blemish or defect — the unblemished male of the burnt offering is the type of the one spotless sacrifice that the entire Levitical system foreshadows.

Leviticus 1:4

You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. The hand-laying that was established in the ordination of the priests (Exodus 29:10) is now required of every Israelite offerer: the worshipper lays their hand on the animal's head in an act of identification and transfer. The animal that will be consumed on the altar is the animal with which the worshipper has identified. The substitutionary principle is stated explicitly: accepted on your behalf, to make atonement for you. Romans 5:11 says we have received atonement through Christ — the hand-laying of Leviticus 1:4 is the Old Testament gesture for the faith-union that Romans describes.

Leviticus 1:5

You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The offerer slaughters the animal — the death is performed by the worshipper, not the priest. The priests' role begins after the death: they receive the blood and splash it against the altar's sides. The offerer who identified with the animal by laying on hands is the one who kills it; the priest who mediates applies the blood that makes the sacrifice effective. Hebrews 9:22 says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness — the blood that the priests splash against the altar is the covenant's most fundamental material.

Leviticus 1:6

You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. After the slaughter, the offerer skins and cuts up the animal — complete preparation before the priests take over. The skinning and cutting exposes every part for inspection and for the fire. The burnt offering that is to be completely consumed requires complete preparation: no portion left intact that might be withheld from the altar. Romans 12:1 says offer your bodies as a living sacrifice — the burnt offering's total consumption is the Old Testament form of the total consecration Paul calls every believer to.

Leviticus 1:7

The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. The priests arrange the fire on the altar — the fire that will consume the sacrifice is prepared and maintained by the priestly ministry. Leviticus 6:12–13 will later specify that the fire on the altar must never go out; the priests' responsibility for the altar fire is permanent and continuous. The fire that the priests kindle is the fire that God will later send from His presence to consume the first official sacrifice in Leviticus 9:24 — the divine fire that ratifies the altar consecrates the ongoing ministry sustained by priestly care.

Leviticus 1:8

Then Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. The arrangement of the pieces on the altar is a priestly act of order and intention: each piece — the head, the fat, and the body — is placed deliberately. The fat that is consistently designated as the Lord's portion throughout Leviticus (3:16) is arranged with the head — both placed on the altar fire. The careful arrangement communicates that the burnt offering is not simply destruction by fire but an ordered presentation: the animal that was living has been prepared and is now arranged before God with the same care with which the tabernacle furniture was arranged.

Leviticus 1:9

You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. The washing of the internal organs and legs — the parts that contain the body's waste — is required before the animal is placed on the altar. Even the hidden, functional, least glamorous parts of the sacrifice must be clean. The completed offering — washed, arranged, and burning — is an aroma pleasing to the Lord, the same language used for Noah's sacrifice in Genesis 8:21 and for Christ's sacrifice in Ephesians 5:2. The fragrance of the burnt offering is the fragrance of complete, willing consecration.

Leviticus 1:10

If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. The burnt offering regulation is extended to include animals from the flock: sheep or goats rather than cattle. The same standard applies — male, without defect — though the animal is smaller and less costly. The extension of the burnt offering to the flock recognizes the economic diversity of the covenant community: those who cannot bring a bull from the herd can bring a sheep or goat. Leviticus 1:14 will further extend the offering to birds. The graduated scale ensures that the covenant's most fundamental offering is accessible to every Israelite regardless of wealth.

Leviticus 1:11

You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. The north side of the altar is the designated location for slaughtering burnt offerings from the flock — a specific spatial regulation that orders the courtyard's worship. The precision of the location communicates the ordered nature of the covenant's approach to God: not any place, but this place. Ezekiel 40:39–43 describes the future temple's slaughtering tables at the north gate, maintaining the same spatial orientation. The blood splashed against the altar's sides by the priests is the same act as in verse 5.

Leviticus 1:12

You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. The cutting and arrangement of the flock animal's pieces follows the same procedure as the bull offering of verses 6–8. The head and the fat — the extremity and the richness of the animal — are specifically arranged on the altar fire. Romans 12:1 says present your bodies as a living sacrifice — the arranged pieces on the altar fire are the physical form of the total self-presentation that Paul calls the reasonable act of worship.

Leviticus 1:13

You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. The washing of the internal organs and legs — identical to the requirement for the bull offering in verse 9 — applies the same standard of cleanliness to the smaller animal. The pleasing aroma that concludes the regulation for the flock burnt offering is the same descriptor as for the bull. The God who accepts the bull's total offering accepts the sheep's total offering with the same pleasure: the worth of the offering is measured not by the animal's market value but by the completeness and the heart behind it.

Leviticus 1:14

If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The third category of burnt offering extends to birds — the least costly sacrifice available. The dove and the young pigeon are specified throughout Leviticus for the offerings of those with limited means: Leviticus 5:7 and 12:8 both specify birds as the alternative for those who cannot afford a lamb. Luke 2:24 records that Mary and Joseph offered a pair of doves at Jesus' presentation — the family of the Son of God brought the offering of the poor. The one who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9) was presented in the temple with the offering that the poor were permitted to bring.

Leviticus 1:15

The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. The bird offering differs from the animal offerings in its preparation: the priest performs the entire preparation rather than the offerer, and the method is adapted to the bird's small size. The wringing off of the head and the draining of the blood against the altar's side are the avian equivalents of the slaughter and blood-splash of the animal offerings. The blood drained against the altar maintains the principle that the blood — the life — is presented to God even when the offering is the smallest and least costly.

Leviticus 1:16

He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down beside the altar on the east side, where the ashes are. The crop and feathers — the digestive contents and the external covering of the bird — are removed and disposed of separately from the offering proper. The east side of the altar where the ashes are deposited is the location for these non-offered portions. The distinction between what goes on the altar and what is disposed of beside it communicates the standard of what is appropriate for God's presence: the pure flesh and blood is offered; the waste contents and covering are removed.

Leviticus 1:17

He shall tear it open by its wings, without dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the altar on the burning wood. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. The bird is torn open at the wings — spread open for burning without being completely divided, unlike the animal offerings that were cut into pieces. The pleasing aroma that closes the bird burnt offering regulation is the third time this descriptor has closed a burnt offering category. The same language closes the bull, the flock animal, and the bird: regardless of the offering's size or cost, the complete, willing presentation produces the same pleasing aroma before the Lord. God's delight is in the totality of the consecration, not the cost of the gift.