The Bible

The Bible › Numbers

Numbers 28

1Yahweh spoke to Moses: 2“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Take care to present my offering, my food for my offerings by fire, my pleasing aroma, to me at its appointed time.’ 3Say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire you are to present to Yahweh: two male lambs a year old, without defect, each day as a regular burnt offering. 4Offer one lamb in the morning and the second lamb between the evenings, 5with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of beaten oil. 6It is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. 7Its drink offering is a quarter of a hin for each lamb. Pour out fermented drink in the holy place as a drink offering to Yahweh. 8Offer the second lamb between the evenings. Offer it with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

9“‘On the Sabbath day, offer two male lambs a year old, without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil, with its drink offering. 10This is the burnt offering for each Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 11At the beginnings of your months, present a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, without defect. 12For each bull, offer three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil; for the ram, two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil; 13and for each lamb, a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil. It is a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. 14Their drink offerings are to be half a hin of wine for each bull, a third of a hin for the ram, and a quarter of a hin for each lamb. This is the monthly burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year. 15One male goat is to be offered to Yahweh as a purification offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

16“‘On the fourteenth day of the first month is Yahweh's Passover. 17On the fifteenth day of this month is a festival. Unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days. 18On the first day there is to be a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work. 19Present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. They must be without defect. 20Their grain offering is fine flour mixed with oil. Offer three-tenths of an ephah for each bull and two-tenths for the ram. 21Offer a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs, 22and one male goat as a purification offering, to make atonement for you. 23Offer these in addition to the morning burnt offering, which belongs to the regular burnt offering. 24Offer these each day for seven days, food as an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh. It is to be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25On the seventh day you are to have a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work.

26“‘On the day of firstfruits, when you present a new grain offering to Yahweh at your Festival of Weeks, you are to have a holy assembly; you must do no ordinary work. 27Present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. 28Their grain offering is fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the ram, 29and a tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs; 30also one male goat, to make atonement for you. 31Offer these in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. They must be without defect. Include their drink offerings.

Translation notes 4

28:2–8 — Food; regular offering. The text calls the offerings Yahweh's “food” and describes their aroma; the draft preserves that language without adding a theory of divine nutrition. “Regular” denotes the recurring daily burnt offering. “Between the evenings” is a traditional time expression whose exact boundaries are debated; it marks the later daily offering. Fermented drink is alcoholic, but no distilled liquor is implied.

28:5–15 — Measures and animals. Ephah measures dry capacity and hin liquid capacity. Their exact modern equivalents vary by reconstruction, so the draft preserves the units and fractions. “Tenths” elsewhere in the chapter abbreviates tenths of an ephah. The bulls, rams, male lambs, and male goats are distinct kinds or ages of animal, with their stated numbers retained.

28:15–25 — Additional offerings; work. The special offerings supplement the regular offering. The traditional “sin offering” is rendered “purification offering”; the atonement purpose remains explicit. “No ordinary work” renders the work-of-service expression, distinct from the broader prohibition of any work in 29:7. The text distinguishes Passover on the fourteenth from the seven-day festival beginning on the fifteenth.

28:26–31 — Firstfruits and Weeks. The new grain offering marks the day of firstfruits at Weeks. The passage's animal list is retained without changing it to match another festival description. The final mention of drink offerings is compressed; “include” supplies the instruction implied by the list.