Read the Bible

Voluntary Sacrifices and Offerings

^1 [a] So the Lord called out to Moses from inside the Meeting Tent and said, ² "Tell the Israelites: When you bring an offering to the Lord, the offering must be one of your tame animals—it can be a sheep, a goat, or one of your cattle.

³ "If you offer one of your cattle as a burnt offering, it must be a bull that has nothing wrong with it. You must take the animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent where the Lord will accept the offering. ⁴ You must put your hand on the animal's head while it is being killed. So the Lord will accept it as your burnt offering to make you pure.

⁵ "You^[b] must kill the young bull in front of the Lord. Then Aaron's sons, the priests, will bring the blood to the altar that is near the entrance of the Meeting Tent. He will splash the blood on all four sides of the altar. ⁶ You must remove the skin from that animal and then cut the animal into pieces. ⁷ Aaron's sons, the priests, will put the fire on the altar and arrange the wood on the fire. ⁸ They will lay the pieces of the animal, including the head and fat, on top of the burning wood. ⁹ You must wash the legs and inner parts of the animal with water. Then the priest will bring all these parts to the altar to be offered as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

¹⁰ "If you offer a sheep or a goat as a burnt offering, it must be a male that has nothing wrong with it. ¹¹ You must kill the animal on the north side of the altar in front of the Lord. Then Aaron's sons, the priests, will splash the animal's blood on all four sides of the altar. ¹² You must cut the animal into pieces and remove the head and the fat. The priest will then lay them on the wood that is on the fire of the altar. ¹³ You must wash the legs and inner parts of the animal with water. Then the priest will bring all these parts to the altar to be offered as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.

¹⁴ "If you offer a bird as a burnt offering to the Lord, that bird must be a dove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest will bring the offering to the altar. There the priest will remove the bird's head, drain out the blood on the side of the altar, and burn the bird on the altar. ¹⁶ He will remove the bird's tail and inner parts^[c] and throw them onto the pile of ashes east of the altar. ¹⁷ Then the priest will tear the bird open by its wings, but he must not divide it completely into two parts. So he will bring the bird to the altar to be offered as a burnt offering, a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord.