Leviticus 1 · The Lantern

Laws for Burnt Offerings

And he called to Moses, and the LORD spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them: When a man among you brings near an offering to the LORD, from the beasts — from the herd or from the flock — you shall bring near your offering.

If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall bring near a male without blemish; to the door of the Tent of Meeting he shall bring it, for acceptance for him before the LORD.

And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him.

And he shall slaughter the young bull before the LORD; and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall bring near the blood, and throw the blood against the altar all around, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.

"And flaying," it says, "the whole burnt offering, they shall divide it limb by limb, and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and shall pile up wood on the fire; and the sons of Aaron the priest shall lay on the divided limbs and the head and the fat and the wood which are upon the altar.

We strip off the skin of a victim when we remove the illusion of virtue from the eyes of our mind. We cut its limbs into pieces when we carefully distinguish the content of a virtue and ponder it step by step. We should take care, so that when we conquer evil we do not replace it with frivolous goods.

And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and arrange wood on the fire.

And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall arrange the pieces — the head and the fat — on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar.

But its inner parts and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall turn all of it into smoke on the altar, as a burnt offering, a fire offering of a soothing aroma to the LORD.

And if his offering is from the flock — from the sheep or from the goats — for a burnt offering, he shall bring near a male without blemish.

And he shall slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the LORD; and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall throw its blood against the altar all around.

And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar.

But the inner parts and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall bring near all of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a soothing aroma to the LORD.

And if his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring near his offering from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons.

And the priest shall bring it near to the altar, and wring off its head, and turn it into smoke on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out against the wall of the altar.

And he shall remove its crop with its feathers, and throw it beside the altar, eastward, to the place of the ashes.

And he shall tear it open by its wings — he shall not divide it — and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a soothing aroma to the LORD.

Leviticus1

Laws for Burnt Offerings