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Leviticus 1

1Yahweh called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: When one of you brings an offering to Yahweh, you are to bring your offering from the livestock—from the herd or the flock.

3“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring a male without defect. He is to bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting for acceptance on his behalf before Yahweh. 4He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. 5He is to slaughter the young bull before Yahweh. The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to present the blood and splash the blood against all sides of the altar at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 6He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. 7The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to arrange the pieces, with the head and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. 9He is to wash its inner parts and its legs with water. The priest is to burn the whole of it as an offering on the altar—a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

10“If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or the goats, as a burnt offering, he is to bring a male without defect. 11He is to slaughter it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh. The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. 12He is to cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest is to arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. 13He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water. The priest is to present the whole of it and burn it as an offering on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

14“If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering from the birds, he is to bring his offering from the turtledoves or the young pigeons. 15The priest is to bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn the head as an offering on the altar. Its blood is to be drained against the side of the altar. 16He is to remove its crop with its feathers and throw it beside the altar on the east, at the place for the ashes. 17He is to tear it open by its wings without separating it completely. The priest is to burn it as an offering on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

Translation notes 5

1:1–2 — Yahweh; sons of Israel. The Hebrew first says “he called,” then names Yahweh as the one speaking. The draft names him at the start for clear English. Yahweh represents the divine name, distinct from the title Lord. “Sons of Israel” names the people; “one of you” translates a word for a person, without restricting these instructions to men.

1:3–4 — Acceptance; atonement. The draft understands the animal to be presented for acceptance on the offerer's behalf. “So that it may be accepted” is another way to construe the wording in verse 3; “of his own free will” is a traditional alternative. Verse 4 explicitly connects acceptance with atonement for the offerer. The ancient Greek wording in verse 3 lacks an explicit equivalent of the Hebrew's “his.” Neither the laying on of a hand nor the word atonement, by itself, explains the ritual's entire mechanism.

1:5–9 — Who does what. The Hebrew distinguishes the offerer's slaughtering, skinning, cutting, and washing from the priests' handling of the blood and altar. “Splash” represents a different verb from the sprinkling prescribed in chapter 4. Verse 7 calls Aaron “the priest,” singular, while verses 5 and 8 call his sons “the priests.” Ancient Greek and Samaritan Hebrew witnesses have the plural in verse 7; the draft retains the Hebrew base.

1:8–9 — Fat; offering by fire. The term for fat in verses 8 and 12 differs from the usual word in chapter 3; the precise fatty portion is uncertain. “Burn as an offering” distinguishes altar burning from ordinary destruction by fire. The traditional rendering “offering by fire” is retained, although the Hebrew term's derivation and precise sense are disputed; “food offering” and “gift offering” are alternatives. “Pleasing aroma” preserves the offering's sensory imagery.

1:14–17 — Bird offering. Here the priest performs the slaughter and preparation. The anatomical expression translated “crop with its feathers” in verse 16 is uncertain. “Crop with its contents” and a reference to entrails removed with the tail feathers are substantial alternatives. The draft does not claim that the exact cut has been established. The bird is opened by its wings but is not completely divided.