The Straighter Path

Leviticus

—

by

in ,

Here is a summary of the book of Leviticus, with each chapter rewritten in simpler language for a 5th grade reading level:

Leviticus 1
God told Moses to give the Israelites instructions about offering sacrifices. If the offering was a burnt offering from the herd, it had to be a male without defect. The person was to lay their hand on its head before it was slaughtered, and the priests would splash the blood against the sides of the altar. The animal was to be skinned and cut into pieces, with the internal organs and legs washed. Then the priest would burn all of it on the altar. If the offering was from the flock (sheep or goats) or a bird (dove or pigeon), there were specific instructions for each.

Leviticus 2
Grain offerings were to be of fine flour with oil and incense. A handful was to be burned on the altar, and the rest would belong to the priests. If the grain offering was cooked in an oven, on a griddle or in a pan, it was to be made without yeast. Grain offerings from the firstfruits were to be crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire.

Leviticus 3
Fellowship offerings could be from the herd or flock, male or female, but without defect. The person was to lay their hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The priests were to splash the blood against the sides of the altar. Only certain parts were to be burned: the fat, the fatty tail (if a lamb), the inner parts, kidneys and the long lobe of the liver. These were food offerings to the LORD.

Leviticus 4
God gave instructions for sin offerings for unintentional sins. Different offerings were required if the anointed priest sinned (a young bull), if the whole Israelite community sinned (a young bull), if a leader sinned (a male goat), or if any member of the community sinned (a female goat or lamb). The animal was slaughtered and the priest put some of its blood on the horns of the altar of incense in the tent of meeting. The rest of the blood was poured out at the base of the main altar. Only certain parts of the animal were burned. If a member of the community could not afford a lamb, they could bring two doves or pigeons. If they couldn’t afford birds, they could bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour (without oil or incense).

Leviticus 5
There were specific sin offerings required for certain offenses: not testifying in court, touching something ceremonially unclean, making a rash oath. These were female lambs or goats, or if the person couldn’t afford a sheep, two doves or pigeons. If they couldn’t afford birds, they could bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour (without oil or incense). If a person unintentionally failed to do something which the LORD commanded, they had to make restitution in full plus an additional 20 percent. They also had to bring to the priest a ram for a guilt offering.

Leviticus 6
God gave further instructions about the burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, guilt offering, and ordination offering. He emphasized that the fire on the altar must be kept burning and never allowed to go out. The priests must wear linen garments when removing the ashes from the altar. The grain offering must be completely burned up – the priests must not eat any of it. However, the sin offering and guilt offering meat could be eaten by the priests in the courtyard. Any male descendant of Aaron could eat it, as it was their perpetual share.

Leviticus 7
God gave further instructions about the guilt offering, fellowship offering, and the prohibition on eating fat or blood. Certain parts of the fellowship offering animal were to be burned on the altar. The meat could be eaten by the priests and the person offering the sacrifice, but if it was a thanksgiving offering it had to be eaten the same day. If the meat touched anything ceremonially unclean it could not be eaten but had to be burned. The person bringing the offering had to be ceremonially clean.

Leviticus 8
God told Moses to bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, anointing oil, bull for the sin offering, two rams, and basket of bread to the tent of meeting. Moses was to wash them with water, dress them in the priestly garments, and anoint them with oil. Then he presented the bull for the sin offering. He put some of its blood on the horns of the main altar to purify it. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar to consecrate it. Next Moses brought the ram for the burnt offering and burned it completely on the altar. Then he brought the other ram, the ram for ordination. He put some of its blood on Aaron’s right ear lobe, right thumb and right big toe, and the right ear lobes, thumbs and big toes of Aaron’s sons. He splashed the rest of the blood on the sides of the altar. Certain parts of the ram, along with one loaf of bread, one cake and one wafer from the basket, were placed on Aaron’s hands and his sons’ hands. They waved these as a wave offering before the LORD. Then Moses took them and burned them on the altar. Moses took the breast and waved it, and it was his share. He sprinkled Aaron and his sons and their garments with the blood from the altar and the anointing oil to consecrate them. They were to stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days until their ordination was complete.

Leviticus 9
On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. He told Aaron to bring a calf for his sin offering and a ram for his burnt offering. The Israelites were to bring a goat for their sin offering, a calf and a lamb for their burnt offering, an ox and a ram for their fellowship offering, and a grain offering. All the people came near and stood before the LORD. Moses said this was what the LORD commanded, so that the glory of the LORD might appear to them. Aaron slaughtered his calf and his sons brought the blood to him. He dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar. He poured out the rest at the base of the altar. He burned the fat, kidneys and long lobe of the liver on the altar. The flesh and hide were burned outside the camp. Then he slaughtered the burnt offering ram and his sons brought him the blood which he splashed on all sides of the altar. They handed him the pieces and the head to burn on the altar. He washed the internal organs and legs and burned them too. Then Aaron presented the offerings of the people. He slaughtered the goat of the sin offering and offered it like the first one. He brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. He presented the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering. He slaughtered the ox and ram as fellowship offerings, and his sons brought him the blood which he splashed against the sides of the altar. They also brought the fat portions, breasts and right thigh which Aaron waved as a wave offering. He burned the fat portions but the breasts and right thigh were his share. Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. He stepped down after sacrificing the sin offering, burnt offering and fellowship offering. Then Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out they blessed the people and the glory of the LORD appeared. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and fat portions on the altar. When the people saw this they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Leviticus 10
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners, added incense, and offered this unauthorized fire before the LORD. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them so that they died. Moses told Aaron this was to show God must be respected as holy and glorified before all the people. Aaron remained silent. Moses had the bodies carried outside the camp. He told Aaron and his remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar not to mourn for them by messing up their hair or tearing their clothes, but to let the whole house of Israel mourn for those the LORD had destroyed by fire. God said Aaron and his sons were not to drink wine or fermented drink when they went into the tent of meeting or they would die. They were to distinguish between the holy and common, the unclean and clean, and teach the Israelites all the decrees God had given through Moses. Moses told Aaron and his remaining sons to eat the grain offering beside the altar, and the breast and thigh of the fellowship offering in a ceremonially clean place, as this was their share of the offerings. Aaron said that he had offered the sin offering and burnt offering that day, but such things had happened to him (his sons’ deaths). Would the LORD have been pleased if he had eaten the sin offering under those circumstances? When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

Leviticus 11
God told Moses and Aaron to speak to the Israelites about which animals, birds, fish and creatures that move along the ground could be eaten and which were unclean. Of land animals, only those with divided hooves which chew the cud could be eaten. Certain other animals were unclean and whoever touched their carcasses would be unclean until evening. Of creatures in the water, only those with fins and scales could be eaten. Certain birds were designated as unclean and detestable. Of creatures that move along the ground, those that moved on their bellies or had many feet were unclean. God told the people to be holy because He is holy. They must keep His decrees and follow them. They must not defile themselves by any of these unclean creatures. God is the LORD who brought them up out of Egypt to be their God, so they must be holy because He is holy.

Leviticus 12
God gave laws to Moses about the purification of women after childbirth. If she had a son, she would be unclean for seven days, as in her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy must be circumcised. Then she must wait 33 days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until her purification time is complete. If she gave birth to a daughter, the mother would be unclean for two weeks and must wait 66 days to be purified. When her purification time is complete, she is to bring to the priest a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a dove or pigeon for a sin offering. If she cannot afford a lamb, she may bring two doves or pigeons. The priest will make atonement for her and she will be clean.

Leviticus 13
The LORD gave Moses and Aaron regulations about skin diseases, infections and mold. When anyone had a swelling, rash or shiny spot on their skin that could become a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest. The priest was to examine it and isolate the affected person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest would examine them again. If the sore had not changed and had not spread, they would be isolated another seven days. The priest would examine them again on the seventh day. If the sore had faded and not spread, it was just a rash and the person could wash their clothes and be clean. But if the rash spread, they must go back to the priest. The priest would reexamine them and if the rash had spread, it was a defiling skin disease. Similar procedures were followed for a chronic skin disease, a boil, a burn, an itching, a swelling on the head or chin, or a man whose hair had fallen out. The person with the defiling disease had to wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face, and cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” As long as they had the disease they were unclean and had to live alone outside the camp. Regulations were given for defiling molds in clothing made of wool, linen or leather. The item was to be shown to the priest who would isolate it for seven days before reexamining it. If the mold had spread, it was a persistent defiling mold and the article had to be burned. If the mold had not spread, the article was to be washed and isolated another seven days before the priest reexamined it again. If the mold had not changed its appearance, even if it had not spread, the article was unclean and had to be burned. If the mold had faded after washing, the priest was to tear out the affected part. The rest could be washed again and would be clean. These were the regulations concerning defiling skin diseases and defiling molds in clothing.

Leviticus 14
The LORD gave Moses regulations for the cleansing of people and houses with defiling skin diseases or defiling molds. On the day of their cleansing, the person was to be brought to the priest, who would examine them outside the camp. If they were healed, the priest was to have two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop brought. The priest was to have one of the birds killed over fresh water in a clay pot. He was to dip the live bird, cedar wood, yarn and hyssop into the blood of the dead bird and sprinkle the blood seven times on the person being cleansed. Then he would pronounce them clean and release the live bird. The person being cleansed had to wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe. Then they could come into the camp but had to stay outside their tent for seven days. On the seventh day they had to shave off all their hair again, wash their clothes and bathe. On the eighth day they were to bring two male lambs, one ewe lamb a year old, grain offering and log of oil. The priest would take one of the lambs and offer it as a guilt offering. He would take some of its blood and put it on the right earlobe, right thumb and right big toe of the person being cleansed. The priest would take some of the oil, pour it into his own left palm, and sprinkle some of it before the LORD seven times. He would put some of the oil on the right earlobe, thumb and big toe of the person being cleansed, and on top of the blood of the guilt offering. He would pour the rest of the oil on the person’s head. Then he would sacrifice the sin offering, burnt offering and grain offering to make atonement. If the person being cleansed was poor and could not afford these offerings, alternate less expensive offerings were allowed. Regulations were also given for cleansing houses with defiling molds. The priest was to examine the mold, close up the house for seven days, then reexamine it. If the mold had spread, he was to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. The inside walls of the house were to be scraped and the contaminated plaster dumped in the unclean place. Then the stones and plaster were to be replaced. If the mold reappeared, the house had a persistent defiling mold and had to be torn down. Its timbers and plaster were to be taken to the unclean place. If the mold did not reappear after the house was plastered, the priest would pronounce it clean. To purify it, the priest was to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop and perform a ritual similar to the one for cleansing skin diseases involving blood and water. These were the regulations for any defiling skin disease, defiling mold in clothing or in a house to determine when something was clean or unclean.

Leviticus 15
The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about unclean bodily discharges. When a man had a bodily discharge, he was unclean. Whether it continued or was blocked, it was unclean. Everything he sat or lay on was unclean. Anyone who touched his bed had to wash their clothes and bathe and would be unclean till evening. Whoever touched anything he sat on or touched the man himself had to wash their clothes and bathe and would be unclean till evening. If the man spit on anyone who was clean, they had to wash their clothes and bathe and would be unclean till evening. Any clay pot the man touched had to be broken and any wooden article had to be rinsed with water. When the man was cleansed from his discharge, he had to wait seven days, wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, and on the eighth day take two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the tent of meeting. The priest would offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for the man because of his discharge. Regulations were also given concerning emission of semen. When it happened, the man had to bathe his whole body and would be unclean till evening. Any clothing or leather that had semen on it had to be washed and would be unclean till evening. When a man slept with a woman and there was an emission of semen, they both had to bathe and would be unclean till evening. When a woman had her regular flow of blood, she would be unclean as during her period for seven days and anyone who touched her would be unclean till evening. Anything she lay or sat on would be unclean. Whoever touched her bed or anything she sat on had to wash their clothes and bathe and would be unclean till evening. If a man slept with her and her blood flow touched him, he would be unclean for seven days and any bed he lay on would be unclean. When a woman had a discharge of blood for many days besides her period or had a discharge beyond her period, she would be unclean as long as the discharge continued. Whoever touched her would be unclean till evening. When she was cleansed from her discharge, she had to wait seven days and on the eighth day take two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the tent of meeting.

Leviticus 16
The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons. He said Aaron was not to come into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain whenever he chose, or else he would die, because God appeared in the cloud over the atonement cover. When Aaron did go in, he first had to bathe and put on sacred garments. He was to bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He was to take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering from the Israelites. Aaron was to offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and his household. He was to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting and cast lots for them – one for the LORD and one for a scapegoat. The goat chosen by lot for the LORD was to be sacrificed as a sin offering. The scapegoat was to be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement and then released into the wilderness. Aaron was to slaughter the bull for his sin offering. He was to take a censer of burning coals and two handfuls of incense into the Most Holy Place and put the incense on the fire so the smoke would cover the atonement cover and he would not die. He was to sprinkle some of the bull’s blood on the front of the atonement cover and then sprinkle blood seven times in front of it. Then he was to slaughter the goat for the people’s sin offering, bring its blood into the Most Holy Place and sprinkle it on the atonement cover. He was to make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites. No one was to enter the tent of meeting while he was making atonement until he exited. He was to make atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel. Then he was to put some blood on the horns of the altar and sprinkle blood on it seven times to cleanse it. He was to bring forward the live goat, lay both hands on its head and confess over it all the sins of the Israelites. He was to put them on the goat’s head and send it into the wilderness, where the goat would carry the sins to a remote place. Then Aaron was to go into the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments and leave them there. He would bathe and put on his regular garments. He was to offer burnt offerings for himself and the people to make atonement. He was to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. The man who released the scapegoat had to wash his clothes and bathe before returning to the camp. The bull and goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place, were to be taken outside the camp. Their hides, flesh and intestines were to be burned. The man who burned them had to wash his clothes and bathe before returning to the camp. This was to be a lasting ordinance, observed on the tenth day of the seventh month. The Israelites were to deny themselves, do no work, and present a food offering to the LORD. On this day atonement would be made for them to cleanse them of all their sins. It was a sabbath of rest and whoever did not deny themselves would be cut off from their people. Any foreigner residing among them who did any work was to be cut off. This was to be a lasting ordinance, to make atonement once a year for all the sins of Israel. And it was done as the LORD commanded Moses.

Leviticus 17
The LORD said to Moses that Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites were to only sacrifice at the entrance to the tent of meeting so the priest could splash the blood against the LORD’s altar there. They must no longer offer sacrifices to goat idols. This was to be a lasting ordinance. Anyone sacrificing an ox, lamb, or goat elsewhere was considered guilty of bloodshed and must be cut off from their people. This was so the Israelites would bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship offerings. The priest would splash the blood against the LORD’s altar and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma. Whoever ate blood would be cut off.

Leviticus 18
The LORD told Moses to tell the Israelites not to do as was done in Egypt where they used to live or as was done in Canaan where He was bringing them. They were to follow God’s decrees and laws. No one was to approach any close relative to have sexual relations, including mother, father, stepmother, sister, stepsister, granddaughter, half-sister, aunt, uncle’s wife, daughter-in-law, or sister-in-law. Do not dishonor your father by having relations with your mother. Do not have relations with both a woman and her daughter or granddaughter. Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife. Do not have relations with a woman during her monthly period. Do not have relations with your neighbor’s wife. Do not offer your children to be sacrificed to Molek. Do not have homosexual relations. Do not have sexual relations with an animal. Do not defile yourself in any of these ways. This is how the nations defiled themselves which God was going to drive out before the Israelites. Even the land was defiled and vomited out its inhabitants. Whoever does these things must be cut off. So the Israelites were to keep God’s requirements and follow His decrees and laws.

Leviticus 19
God told Moses to speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them to be holy because the LORD their God is holy. Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe God’s Sabbaths. Do not turn to idols or make metal gods. When you sacrifice a fellowship offering, do it in a way that will be accepted. Eat it the same day or the next day. Anything left over must be burned. Do not reap to the very edges of your field or pick up fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. Do not steal, lie, deceive, swear falsely, defraud your neighbor, or hold back wages. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind. Do not pervert justice, show partiality to the poor, or favoritism to the great. Judge your neighbor fairly. Do not slander, endanger your neighbor’s life, hate a fellow Israelite, seek revenge, or bear a grudge. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do not mate different kinds of animals, plant your field with two kinds of seed, or wear clothing made of two kinds of material. If a man sleeps with a female slave promised to another man, she must be scourged but not put to death since she had not been freed. For his offense, the man must bring a guilt offering. When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, consider their fruit forbidden for three years. In the fourth year the fruit is holy, an offering of praise. In the fifth year you may eat the fruit. Do not eat meat with blood still in it. Do not practice divination or seek omens. Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourself. Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute. Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. Do not turn to mediums or spiritists. Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. When a foreigner resides among you, do not mistreat them but love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them.

Leviticus 20
The LORD said to Moses that any Israelite or foreigner in Israel who sacrificed their children to Molek was to be put to death by stoning. God would set His face against them and cut them off for defiling His sanctuary and profaning His holy name. If the people closed their eyes to this sin, God Himself would set His face against that person and their family and cut them off, along with all who prostituted themselves to Molek. God would do the same to those who turned to mediums and spiritists. The Israelites were to be holy because God is holy. They were to keep His decrees. Anyone who cursed their father or mother must be put to death. The adulterer and adulteress were to be put to death. A man who slept with his father’s wife or his daughter-in-law must be put to death, along with the woman. If a man slept with a man, they both committed a detestable act and were to be put to death. If a man married both a woman and her mother, it was wicked and they were all to be burned in the fire. If a man had sexual relations with an animal, he and the animal must be put to death. If a woman approached an animal to have sexual relations with it, she and the animal must be put to death. If a man married his sister or half-sister and they had sexual relations, it was a disgrace. They were to be publicly removed from their people. If a man slept with a woman during her monthly period, both must be cut off. Do not have sexual relations with your aunt or uncle’s wife. They would be held responsible. If a man married his brother’s wife, he defiled his brother and they would be childless. The Israelites were to keep all of God’s decrees and laws so the land would not vomit them out. They were not to live like the nations God was going to drive out before them. God was setting the Israelites apart from the nations to be His own.

Leviticus 21
The LORD said to Moses to speak to the priests and tell them a priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die, except for a close relative such as mother, father, son, daughter, brother or unmarried sister. He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage. Priests must not shave their heads, clip off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. They must be holy to God and not profane His name. They must be holy because they present food offerings to God. A priest must not marry a divorced woman or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people. The daughter of a priest who defiles herself by becoming a prostitute disgraces her father and must be burned in the fire. The high priest who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. He must not enter a place where there is a dead body, even for his father or mother. He must not leave the sanctuary of God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. He must marry a virgin, not a widow, divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution. He must not desecrate his offspring among his people, for God made him holy. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect may come near to present the food offerings to the LORD. He may have a defect such as blindness, lameness, disfigurement, deformity, crippled foot or hand, hunchback, dwarf, eye defect, festering or running sore, or damaged testicles. He may still eat the most holy and holy food, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar lest he desecrate God’s sanctuary. God has made these things holy.

Leviticus 22
The LORD told Moses to direct Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites gave to God, so they would not profane His holy name. If any descendants of Aaron were ceremonially unclean and approached the sacred offerings, they were to be cut off from God’s presence. No one unclean, whether from a skin disease or bodily discharge, may eat the sacred offerings until they are cleansed. The same applies if they touch something defiled by a corpse, have an emission of semen, or touch an unclean creature or person. They will be unclean until evening and must not eat the sacred offerings unless they have bathed. After sunset they may eat them because it is their food. They must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering. A priest’s guest or hired worker may not eat it. But if a priest buys a slave, that slave or a slave born in his household may eat his food. If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred offerings. But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children and returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorized person may eat it. Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake must make restitution by adding a fifth to its value and giving it to the priest. The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. This would bring guilt on them and require them to make restitution. The LORD gave instructions on acceptable and unacceptable animals for offerings. The animals were to be without defect. An animal that is blind, injured, maimed, has a wart, festering or running sore, or is deformed or stunted may not be offered. Do not offer to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut. Do not accept such animals from a foreigner to offer as food to your God because they are deformed and have defects. A calf, lamb or goat is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on it will be acceptable as a food offering. Do not slaughter a cow or sheep and its young on the same day. When sacrificing a thank offering, eat it on the same day and leave none of it till morning. The Israelites were to keep God’s commands so He would not be profaned among them, for He made them holy. He is the LORD who brought them out of Egypt to be their God.

Leviticus 23
The LORD gave Moses the appointed festivals for the Israelites to proclaim as sacred assemblies:

  • The Sabbath (every 7th day) is a day of sabbath rest and sacred assembly. Do no work.
  • The Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread. The Passover is on the 14th day of the 1st month at twilight. The Festival begins on the 15th day of the same month and lasts 7 days. On the 1st day hold a sacred assembly and do no work. For 7 days present a food offering to God. Hold a sacred assembly on the 7th day and do no work.
  • Offering the Firstfruits. When you enter the land and reap its harvest, bring a sheaf of the first grain to the priest. He is to wave it before the LORD on the day after the Sabbath. On that day sacrifice a year-old lamb without defect, along with its prescribed grain and drink offerings. Eat no bread, roasted or new grain until this day.
  • Festival of Weeks. Count 7 full weeks, 50 days, from the Sabbath when you brought the sheaf. Then present an offering of new grain. Bring 2 loaves of bread from your homes, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits. Along with it present 7 lambs, 1 bull, and 2 rams – all without defect – with their grain and drink offerings, and a male goat for a sin offering. The priest will wave the bread and 2 lambs before the LORD as a wave offering. This is a sacred assembly, do no work. When you reap the harvest, leave some for the poor and the foreigner.
  • Festival of Trumpets. On the 1st day of the 7th month hold a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no work and present a food offering.
  • Day of Atonement. On the 10th day of the 7th month hold a sacred assembly. Deny yourselves (fast) and present a food offering. Do no work for it is a day of atonement.
  • Festival of Tabernacles. On the 15th day of the 7th month, celebrate this festival to the LORD for 7 days. On the 1st day hold a sacred assembly and do no work. For 7 days present food offerings. On the 8th day hold a sacred assembly, present a food offering, and do no work.
    In addition to the Sabbaths and regular offerings, celebrate these festivals by giving freewill offerings. On the 1st day of the festival, take branches and rejoice before the LORD for 7 days. It is a lasting ordinance. Live in booths for 7 days so your descendants will know God had Israel live in booths when He brought them out of Egypt. Moses announced these appointed festivals to the Israelites.

Leviticus 24
The LORD told Moses to command the Israelites to bring pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so the lamps could be kept burning continually. Aaron was to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, outside the curtain of the covenant law – a lasting ordinance. Aaron was to set out the loaves of bread on the table before the LORD regularly as an offering from the Israelites. The loaves were to be made with fine flour, twelve loaves in two rows of six. Pure incense was to be put on each row. Every Sabbath Aaron was to set out the loaves before the LORD for the Israelites – an everlasting covenant. The bread belonged to Aaron and his sons, who were to eat it in the sanctuary as most holy.
Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with an Israelite. The son blasphemed the Name with a curse, so they brought him to Moses. (His mother was Shelomith of the tribe of Dan.) They put him in custody until the will of the LORD was made clear. The LORD said to Moses that anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them, whether foreigner or native-born. Anyone who kills a human being must be put to death. Anyone who kills someone’s animal must make restitution – life for life. Anyone who injures their neighbor must be injured in the same manner – fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being must be put to death. You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the LORD your God. Moses spoke to the Israelites and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him as the LORD commanded.

Leviticus 25
The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai to speak to the Israelites. When you enter the land, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields and prune your vineyards, but in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap the aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you, your servants, hired workers, temporary residents, livestock and wild animals. Count off seven sabbath years – 7 times 7 – so that the seven sabbath years amount to 49 years. Then have the trumpet sounded on the 10th day of the 7th month on the Day of Atonement. Consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land. It shall be a jubilee for you. Everyone shall return to their own property and to their own clan. The 50th year shall be a jubilee. Do not sow or reap aftergrowth or harvest untended vines. It is a jubilee and is to be holy for you. Eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this year everyone is to return to their own property. If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. You are to buy from your own people based on the number of years since the jubilee. When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is actually being sold to you is the number of crops. Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. Follow my decrees and laws so you can live safely in the land. The land will yield its fruit and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. If you ask what you will eat in the seventh year if you do not plant or harvest, God will send a blessing in the sixth year so the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant in the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
The land must not be sold permanently because it belongs to God. You are but foreigners and my tenants. Throughout the land you must provide for the redemption of the land. If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative (kinsman-redeemer) is to come and redeem what they have sold. If there is no one to redeem it and they prosper and acquire sufficient means, they can redeem it themselves by computing the value for the years since they sold it and refunding the balance to the one to whom they sold it. Then they can go back to their own property. But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in possession of the buyer until the Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee and they can then go back to their property.
If someone sells a house in a walled city, they have the right of redemption for a full year. If it is not redeemed, the house becomes the permanent property of the buyer and is not returned in the Jubilee. But houses in villages without walls are considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed and are returned in the Jubilee.
The Levites have the right of redemption for their houses in the Levitical towns. So the property of the Levites is redeemable and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. The pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold, it is their permanent possession.
If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or profit from them, but fear your God so that they may continue to live among you. Do not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents. They are to work for you until the Jubilee. Then they and their children are to be released and will go back to their own clan and to the property of their ancestors. Because the Israelites are God’s servants whom He brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you. You may also buy some temporary residents and members of their clans, and they will become your property, to be passed to your children as inherited property. You can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: an uncle, cousin or any blood relative. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. If many years remain, they must pay a larger share of the price. If only a few years remain, they are to compute that and pay back for their redemption. They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year. Make sure the foreigner does not rule over them ruthlessly. Even if they are not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to God as servants. He brought them out of Egypt. He is the LORD their God.

Leviticus 26
Do not make idols or set up carved images, sacred stones or sculptured stones in your land to bow down to. Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
If you follow my decrees and carefully obey my commands:

  • I will send you rain in its season so the ground will yield its crops and trees their fruit.
  • Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and grape harvest till planting.
  • You will eat all the food you want and live safely in your land.
  • I will grant peace and you will lie down unafraid. I will remove wild beasts and the sword will not pass through your country.
  • You will pursue your enemies and they will fall by the sword before you.
  • Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you.
  • I will look on you with favor, make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and keep my covenant with you.
  • You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.
  • I will put my dwelling place among you and will not abhor you.
  • I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.
  • I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
    But if you will not listen or obey all my commands and abhor my decrees:
  • I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.
  • You will plant seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.
  • I will set my face against you so you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.
    If after all this you still do not obey:
  • I will punish you seven times over for your sins.
  • I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.
  • Your strength will be spent in vain because your soil will not yield its crops nor trees their fruit.
    If you remain hostile and refuse to listen:
  • I will multiply your afflictions seven times over as your sins deserve.
  • I will send wild animals against you and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few that your roads will be deserted.
    If in spite of these things you still do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile:
  • I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you seven times for your sins.
  • I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant.
  • When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague and you will be given into enemy hands.
  • When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat but not be satisfied.
    If in spite of this you still do not listen but continue to be hostile:
  • I will be hostile in my fury.
  • You will eat the flesh of your sons and daughters.
  • I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on your lifeless idols. I will abhor you.
  • I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.
  • I will lay waste the land so your enemies who live there will be appalled.
  • I will scatter you among the nations and pursue you with drawn sword. Your land will be laid waste and your cities will lie in ruins.
    Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies. Then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.
    As for those who are left:
  • I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword and fall even when no one is pursuing them.
  • They will stumble over one another as though fleeing, even though no one is pursuing.
  • You will have no power to stand before your enemies.
  • You will perish among the nations and the land of your enemies will devour you.
  • Those who survive will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins. They will also waste away because of their ancestors’ sins.
    But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors in their unfaithfulness and hostility toward God, which made Him hostile toward them so that He sent them into the land of their enemies – then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin:
  • I will remember my covenant with Jacob, Isaac and Abraham, and I will remember the land.
    For the land will be deserted by them and enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.
    These are the decrees, laws and regulations that the LORD established at Mount Sinai between Himself and the Israelites through Moses.

Leviticus 27
The LORD said to Moses that when anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the LORD by giving an equivalent value:

  • For a male 20-60 years old, 50 shekels of silver.
  • For a female 20-60, 30 shekels.
  • For a male 5-20, 20 shekels.
  • For a female 5-20, 10 shekels.
  • For a male 1 month to 5 years, 5 shekels.
  • For a female 1 month to 5 years, 3 shekels.
  • For a male 60 and older, 15 shekels.
  • For a female 60 and older, 10 shekels.
    If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, present them to the priest who will set the value according to what the person vowing can afford.
    If what anyone vows is an animal acceptable as an offering, that animal given to the LORD is holy. They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one or vice versa. If they do, both the given and substituted animals become holy. If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal, they are to present it to the priest who will judge its quality as good or bad and set its value. If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to the value.
    If anyone dedicates their house as holy to the LORD, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad and set its value. If the owner wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to the assessed value.
    If anyone dedicates part of their land as holy to the LORD, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it – 50 shekels of silver per homer of barley seed. If they dedicate a field during the Jubilee, the value stands. If after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Jubilee and deduct that from the value. If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its assessed value. If they do not redeem it or sell it to someone else, it cannot be redeemed and when released in the Jubilee it will be holy to the LORD like a field devoted to God. It will belong to the priests.
    If anyone dedicates a field they have bought which is not part of their family land, the priest will determine its value up to the Jubilee when the field must be given to the LORD. It will become holy like a field devoted and belong to the priests.
    Nothing a person devotes to the LORD – whether person, animal or family land – may be sold or redeemed. It is most holy to the LORD. No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed. They are to be put to death.
    A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain or fruit, is holy to the LORD. If anyone wishes to redeem any of their tithe, they must add a fifth. Every tithe of the herd and flock will be holy to the LORD. The owner must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does substitute one animal for another, both become holy and cannot be redeemed.
    These are the commands the LORD gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *