Leviticus 7

EasyEnglish Bible

7 These are the rules for a most holy offering. A person may be sorry for the wrong things that he has done. That person must obey these rules. ² The priest must kill an animal at the north side of the altar. He must throw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ³ The priest will bring all the fat from the tail and the inside parts to the altar. ⁴ He will bring the kidneys and the best piece of the liver. ⁵ Then he will burn the pieces on the altar. They are a gift to the Lord to make a person clean from sin. ⁶ Aaron's sons can eat the meat that is not burnt. They must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy.

⁷ The rules are the same for sacrifices for sin and for a person who is sorry for his sins. The gifts of meat are for the priest who brings them to the altar. ⁸ The skin of the animal is for the priest. ⁹ People may give gifts of grain that they cooked in an oven or on a flat plate. They should give them all to the priest. ¹⁰ Grain that is dry is also a gift. And grain that a man mixes with oil is also a gift. They should give them to Aaron's sons.

The Friendship offering

¹¹ These rules are for friendship offerings to the Lord. ¹² If a man wants to thank God, he must give an animal and flat loaves of bread. He must mix the flour for the bread with oil. He must not mix the flour with yeast. ¹³ He must also give other loaves of bread to God. He must make these with flour, oil and yeast. ¹⁴ A man must offer one of each kind of loaf to the Lord. These belong to the priest who throws the blood on the altar. ¹⁵ The person must not keep the meat from the animal until the next day. He must eat it on the day that he offers it.

¹⁶ The gift to God may be for a promise. The gift may be because the person loves God. That person will not have to eat it all on the same day. He can eat some of it on the next day. ¹⁷ On the third day, there may still be some meat that he has not eaten. If there is, he must burn it. ¹⁸ If the person eats the meat on the third day, God will not accept the gift. The meat is not good. The person who eats it will not give God pleasure.

¹⁹ Some meat may touch something that is not clean. Nobody should eat that meat. People must burn it. Only a clean person can eat the meat that is a gift to God. ²⁰ A person who is not clean might eat the friendship offering to the Lord. If he does, they must send him away from Israel's people. ²¹ A person might touch something that is not clean. He must not eat the meat of the offering to the Lord. That person must not eat it if he has touched an unclean animal or an unclean person. If he does eat it, they must send him away. They must send him away from Israel's people.’

Israel's people must not eat blood or fat

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ ‘Tell Israel's people this. They must not eat the fat from sheep, cows or goats. ²⁴ A person can use the fat of a dead animal that he has found, but he must not eat it. ²⁵ They must not eat the fat of an animal that they have burnt as a gift on the Lord's altar. They must send away from God's people anyone who does eat it. ²⁶ You must not eat the blood of an animal or of a bird even if you are living in another country. ²⁷ You must send away from Israel's people any person who eats blood.’

Moses tells the priests which parts of the animal they can eat

²⁸ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁹ ‘Say to Israel's people, “When a person gives an animal as a friendship offering, he must bring part of it to the Lord. ³⁰ He must carry the offering in his own hands to the fire. He must bring the fat and the meat of the ribs and he must lift the meat to the Lord. ³¹ The priest will burn the fat at the altar. He will lift the meat of the ribs to God. Then Aaron's sons can eat it. ³² The top part of the back right leg of the animal is a gift. ³³ It is for the priest who offers the blood and the fat. ³⁴ The ribs and the top part of the right leg are gifts. They are from the friendship offering. God wants Aaron and his sons to have them. People must give these parts of their gift to the priests. ³⁵ The Lord gave this part of the Israelites' offerings to Aaron's sons. He gave it to them on the day when they became the Lord's priests. ³⁶ The Lord told the Israelites that they must do this. He told them that on the day that Aaron's sons became priests. All their sons and grandsons must always give these offerings to the priests.” ’

³⁷ These are all the rules that a person must use. They are for when he gives a gift to God. They are the rules for offerings of grain and the friendship offering. And they are rules for the offerings that people give to take away their sin. The rules tell them how to make Aaron's sons priests. And they tell people who have done bad things what to do. They must show God that they are sorry. ³⁸ Israel's people were in the Sinai desert. The Lord gave the rules to Moses on Sinai mountain. That was on the day that the Lord spoke to the people. He told them that they should bring their offerings to him there.