Leviticus 1 · The Lantern

Laws for Burnt Offerings

And the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tent of meeting, saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If any man of you bring an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tent of meeting before the LORD.

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

And he shall kill the young bull before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar that is by the door of the tent of meeting.

And he shall skin the burnt offering, and cut it into his 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 upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood on the fire upon the altar:

But his entrails and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

And if his offering is of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood on all sides of the altar.

And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood on the fire upon the altar:

But he shall wash the entrails and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

And the priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:

And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:

And he shall split it with its wings, but shall not divide it in two: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Leviticus1

Laws for Burnt Offerings