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Leviticus 7

1“This is the instruction for the reparation offering. It is most holy. 2They must slaughter the reparation offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering, and the priest must splash its blood against all sides of the altar. 3He must present all its fat: the fat tail, the fat covering the inner parts, 4the two kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which he must remove with the kidneys. 5The priest must burn them as an offering on the altar, an offering by fire to Yahweh. It is a reparation offering. 6Every male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy. 7The same instruction applies to the purification offering and the reparation offering. It belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it. 8The priest who presents someone’s burnt offering may keep the hide of the burnt offering he has presented. 9Every grain offering baked in an oven, or prepared in a pan or on a griddle, belongs to the priest who presents it. 10Every grain offering mixed with oil or dry belongs to all Aaron’s sons, each having an equal share.

11“This is the instruction for the peace sacrifice that a person presents to Yahweh. 12If they present it as thanksgiving, they must present with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes made from well-soaked fine flour, mixed with oil. 13Along with cakes of leavened bread they must present their offering with their thanksgiving peace sacrifice. 14From each kind of offering they must present one as a contribution to Yahweh. It belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering. 15The flesh of their thanksgiving peace sacrifice must be eaten on the day it is presented; they must leave none of it until morning. 16If the sacrifice they offer is for a vow or is a freewill offering, it must be eaten on the day they present their sacrifice, and what remains may also be eaten the next day. 17But any flesh of the sacrifice remaining on the third day must be burned in the fire. 18If any flesh of their peace sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted; it will not be credited to the one who presented it. It will be an offensive thing, and the person who eats any of it will bear their guilt. 19Flesh that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned in the fire. As for the flesh, anyone who is clean may eat it. 20But a person who eats flesh from the peace sacrifice belonging to Yahweh while unclean must be cut off from their people. 21If a person touches anything unclean—human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing—and eats flesh from the peace sacrifice belonging to Yahweh, that person must be cut off from their people.”

22Yahweh spoke to Moses: 23“Tell the sons of Israel: You must not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep, or a goat. 24The fat of an animal that died or was torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it. 25Anyone who eats fat from an animal of a kind presented to Yahweh as an offering by fire must be cut off from their people. 26Wherever you live, you must not eat any blood, whether from birds or animals. 27Any person who eats any blood must be cut off from their people.”

28Yahweh spoke to Moses: 29“Tell the sons of Israel: Anyone who presents their peace sacrifice to Yahweh must bring their offering to Yahweh from their peace sacrifice. 30Their own hands must bring Yahweh’s offerings by fire. They must bring the fat with the breast, bringing the breast to wave it as a wave offering before Yahweh. 31The priest must burn the fat as an offering on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. 32You must give the right thigh from your peace sacrifices to the priest as a contribution. 33The son of Aaron who presents the blood and fat of the peace offerings is to have the right thigh as his portion. 34For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the peace sacrifices of the sons of Israel and given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a lasting statute from the sons of Israel.”

35This is the allotted portion of Aaron and his sons from Yahweh’s offerings by fire, on the day they were presented to serve as priests to Yahweh. 36Yahweh commanded that the sons of Israel give them this on the day of their anointing. It is a lasting statute throughout their generations.

37This is the instruction for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the purification offering, the reparation offering, the ordination offering, and the peace sacrifice, 38which Yahweh commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day he commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to Yahweh in the wilderness of Sinai.

Translation notes 11

7:2 — Splash. The Hebrew verb differs from the verb translated “sprinkle” in 4:6 and 5:9. Here the blood is applied around the altar, rather than sprinkled seven times with a finger toward the curtain.

7:3 — Fat tail. This is the substantial tail fat of the sheep, separately named alongside the fat surrounding the internal organs. The list should not be reduced to a general instruction to remove “the fat.”

7:6–10 — Priestly shares. The text specifies males for eating these most holy offerings. It also distinguishes the officiating priest’s portion from portions shared among Aaron’s sons. Those distinctions are retained without deciding every unstated rule of distribution.

7:12–13 — Leavened bread. The thanksgiving offering includes leavened bread as well as several unleavened preparations. The prohibition on burning leaven on the altar does not require removing the leavened bread from this passage.

7:15–18 — Eating times. Thanksgiving meat is eaten the same day; vow and freewill meat may also be eaten the next day. Third-day consumption renders the sacrifice unacceptable. The text presents a ritual prohibition rather than explaining it as a rule about food spoilage.

7:18 — Offensive thing. The Hebrew term piggul marks the meat as unacceptable or disqualified. Its precise force is disputed; “defiled” and “forbidden” are other renderings. The stated rejection of the sacrifice and the eater’s liability are both retained.

7:20–21 — Cut off. This is a severe penalty, but the expression does not specify its mechanism here. Interpretations include divine punishment, premature death or loss of descendants, and exclusion from the community. The translation does not choose a particular mechanism that the Hebrew leaves unstated.

7:23–25 — Fat. The context concerns the fat of sacrificial animals, especially the portions listed for the altar. “Of a kind” in verse 25 understands the prohibition as applying to the named sacrificial animal kinds, rather than only to an individual animal actually presented at the altar. The permission to use the fat of a dead or torn animal does not permit eating it.

7:30 — Wave offering. The Hebrew twice names the breast. An ancient Greek version has different wording that also includes the liver appendage; the reading retains the Hebrew breast instructions. The breast is presented with a ritual movement before Yahweh. The text does not give a full account of the movement. “Contribution” in 7:32 translates a different word and does not itself require a particular upward motion.

7:35 — Allotted portion. The Hebrew word is related to anointing and can be understood as the portion associated with the priests’ anointing or appointment. The next verse explicitly mentions the day of their anointing.

7:37 — Ordination offering. Literally, an offering of “fillings,” related to the expression “fill the hand” for installing priests. Its inclusion looks ahead to the installation rites in chapter 8.