About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand.  In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form. 

The book of Leviticus

This book was written by Moses. It covers the time from when the tabernacle was finished until the time that the Israelites left Sinai (about 50 days). The purpose of this book was to give the laws and guidelines to live a moral and pure life. God would live there with the Israelites if they were clean and pure. They made sacrifices to give valuable things to God. Before they learned these laws, the Israelites only knew about worship from the Egyptians. The Egyptians worshipped idols;  they did not worship the one true God. 

Leviticus 5-7
Rules for sin offerings and peace offerings

Leviticus 5

These are some situations when people broke laws and would need to make trespass offerings.


If a person withholds evidence (does not tell in court about something he saw happen or knows that happened), he breaks the law. 
[1] And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.


If a person accidentally touches a dead animal, he is not clean and must make an offering.
[2] Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.


If a person accidentally touches something unclean from another person, he becomes unclean.
[3] Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.


This law is about careless vows. Vows are promises.  Careless vows are promises that are made too fast before a person has all of the information he needs.  If a person makes a careless vow,  no matter if it is a vow to do something good or something bad, and then he finds out later that he cannot keep the vow, he is guilty of breaking a law.  
[4] Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.


When a person realizes that he has been guilty of breaking one of these laws, he should confess (tell what he did wrong) and make a trespass offering. The trespass offering should be a female animal--a lamb or a baby goat. He should bring it to the priest.
[5] And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:
[6] And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.


If he was not able to bring a lamb, he could bring 2 pigeons or 2 turtledoves (birds). One bird would be a sin offering and the other would be a burnt offering.
[7] And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.

The priest will offer the sin offering first. He will twist the bird's neck and break it. But he will not break the bird into 2 parts. The priest will sprinkle some of the blood on the side of the altar. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.
[8] And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder:
[9] And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.


The priest will offer the second bird as a burnt offering.  The priest will offer the bird the way the law says.  Then the person's sins will be forgiven. 
[10] And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.


If the person cannot bring 2 turtledoves or 2 young pigeons, he may bring some flour to give as an offering. He should bring 1/10 of an ephah (an ephah = 5 gallons).  He should not put any oil or frankincense in it
[11] But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering.


The person should take the flour to the priest. The priest will take a handful of the flour and burn it on the altar the way that God's law says.  It is a sin offering.
[12] Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering.

When the priest offers the sacrifice, the person's sins are forgiven.  The flour that is leftover will belong to the priests. 
[13] And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat offering.

These are situations in which a person sins, and he doesn't mean to sin. The sins in these laws are about sins that cheat the Lord.


The Lord gave Moses these laws.  If a person cheats the Lord but didn't mean to cheat Him, he must make an offering. First, he should add up the amount of money that he cheated the Lord. Then, He must bring a male sheep that is perfect. He should add up the value of the sheep. He must sacrifice the same amount that he cheated the Lord and also add 20% more of the value. 
[14] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[15] If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
[16] And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.


If an Israelite sinned, even if he didn't know that he had sinned, he must make an offering. The priest will take the sacrifice, and the person's sins will be forgiven. 
[17] And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
[18] And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.
[19] It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.

Leviticus 6

Some laws about honesty

The Lord gave Moses more laws.  These sins are about honesty.  These situations are sins: a person refuses to return something that another person gave him to keep, a person steals something from another person, and 
a person cheats another person.
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
[3] Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:


The person must give back the things he stole or kept.  He must also pay the person a fine which is 20% of the value of the items. 
[4] Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
[5] Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.


He must also take a perfect ram to the priest. The priest will sacrifice the ram.  Then the person will be forgiven for his sins. 
[6] And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
[7] And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.

Instructions to the priests about burnt offerings


God gave these instructions to Moses for the priests.  The priests must burn the burnt offerings all night. The reason is so that the sacrifice will be totally burned. 
[8] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[9] Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.


In the morning, the priest should put on their special linen clothes and their special linen underwear. They should get the ashes off of the altar. They should move the ashes and put them beside the altar. Then they should put their other clothes on again and carry the ashes outside the camp to a special clean place.
[10] And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
[11] And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.


The fire should burn all the time. The fire should not go out.  The priest should put wood on the fire every morning. Then he should put the burnt offering and the peace offerings on the altar so they will burn.
[12] And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.
[13] The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

Laws for offering grain


These are the laws for offering grain. Aaron and his sons will take the grain to the front of the altar.  They will take a handful of the flour and oil and all of the incense and burn them on the altar.  It will make a sweet smell that God likes. 
[14] And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.
[15] And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.


Aaron and his sons may eat the grain and oil that is left.  They should use it to bake unleavened bread with no yeast in it.  They may eat the bread in the courtyard of the tabernacle. It is very holy, like the sin offering and trespass offering. 
[16] And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
[17] It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.


All of the males in Aaron's family may eat the bread.  This law will continue forever.  Anyone who touches the offerings will be holy. 
[18] All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.


God told Moses that Aaron and his sons should make an offering on the day when they are anointed (when they become priests). Their offering should be about 1/10 of an ephah (about 2 pounds) of flour. They should offer half of it in the morning and half of it at night. They should also make the same offering everyday.
[19] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[20] This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.


The priests should mix the flour with oil and bake it.  They should break the pieces and burn them on the altar. It will make a smell that God likes. 
[21] In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the LORD.


The priests should continue this offering forever. This offering should be burned completely. None of this offering should be eaten. 
[22] And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the LORD, it shall be wholly burnt.
[23] For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.

Laws about sin offering


God told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons this law.  The animals sacrificed as sin offerings should be killed in the same place as the burnt offerings.  It is on the north side of the altar, and it is a holy place.
[24] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[25] Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy.


The priest who put the offering on the altar could eat it. He must eat it in the tabernacle courtyard. 
[26] The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.


Anyone who touches the meat of the offering will be holy.  If any of the blood gets on the priest's clothes, he must wash them in a holy place.
[27] Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.


If the meat was in a clay pot, the pot must be broken.  That is because it is not possible to clean the blood off something made of clay.  But if the meat was in a bronze metal pot, the pot must be scrubbed, then rinsed in water. 
[28] But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.


All of the male priests can eat the meat. The meat is holy. But they cannot eat some of the other meat. Some of the meat is different. The priests used some of the meat's blood to take into the tabernacle. They used the blood for atonement so God would forgive the person. No one can eat that meat.  That meat must be burned on the fire.
[29] All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
[30] And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.

Leviticus 7

The laws of the trespass offerings


God said that the trespass offerings are holy.  The priests should kill the animals for trespass offerings in the same special place where they kill the animals for burnt offerings. They should sprinkle the blood around the sides of the altar. 
[1] Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.
[2] In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar.


The should offer all of the fat--from the tail, the insides, the kidneys, the fat on the kidneys, and the caul (part of the liver).  The priest should burn these parts on the altar as an offering to the Lord.  
[3] And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards,
[4] And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away:
[5] And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering.


The males in the priest's family may eat the meat of the trespass offering. They must eat it in the holy place. The sin offering and the trespass offering are the same--the priest who offers the meat may eat it. The priest may also keep the animal's skin.
[6] Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.
[7] As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.
[8] And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.


The priest may also eat grain offerings that have been baked or fried.  The uncooked grain offerings may be eaten by the priests and their families.
[9] And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.
[10] And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.

Laws of the peace offerings

If a person is making an offering because he wants to thank God for His blessings,  he should offer cakes with the meat. He should offer one of each of these: cake made without yeast and mixed with oil, a thin wafer (thin bread) brushed with oil, a fried cake mixed with oil, and bread made with yeast. The priest that sprinkles the blood of the meat on the altar may keep this bread.
[11] And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD.
[12] If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.
[13] Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
[14] And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.


The meat of this peace offering for thanking God must be eaten on the same day as it is sacrificed. They cannot leave any of the meat until morning. 
[15] And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.


If a person makes a peace offering when he makes a promise or he makes a peace offering as a volunteer, the meat can be eaten on the same day or the next day. If any meat is left on the third day, it may not be eaten. It must be burned. 
[16] But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:
[17] But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.

If someone breaks the rule, and he eats the meat on the third day, God will not accept the sacrifice. The person who eats it will be guilty and will be punished. 
[18] And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.


If meat touches anything that is not clean, no one can eat the meat.  They should burn the meat. But people who are clean can eat clean meat. 
[19] And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.


People who eat the meat from offerings must be clean. If anyone is unclean and he eats meat that is a peace offering, he will not be one of God's people anymore.
[20] But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.


If a person touches anything that is not clean from another person or an animal and then he eats meat from a peace offering, he will not be one of God's people anymore.
[21] Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

Laws about fat and blood


God gave Moses this law to give to the Israelites.  They should not eat any fat from cows, sheep, or goats. If an animal dies by itself or is killed by another animal, they may use the fat for other purposes. But they cannot eat it. 
[22] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[23] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
[24] And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.


If a person eats fat from animals that were sacrificed, he will not be one of God's people anymore.
[25] For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.


They should not eat blood from any animal or bird. It does not matter where the Israelites live. They must not eat blood. If a person eats blood, he will not be one of God's people anymore.
[26] Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
[27] Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

Parts of sacrifices for Aaron and his sons

God told Moses to tell the Israelites about this law.  It is about peace offerings.  The person who is making the peace offering should bring the meat. He should bring the breast and fat of the animal.  The breast will be a wave offering (waved back and forth in the air to show it is for God). Then the priest will burn the fat on the altar. The priest and his family could keep the breast of the meat for their food. 
[28] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[29] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the LORD shall bring his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.
[30] His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD.
[31] And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.


The priest should keep the right shoulder. It is a heave offering (lifted up in the air to show it belongs to God). 
[32] And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
[33] He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part.


The priests keep the breast from the wave offering and the shoulder from the heave offering. This rule will continue forever for Aaron's descendants who are anointed priests. . 
[34] For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.
[35] This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the LORD in the priest's office;
[36] Which the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute for ever throughout their generations.


On Mount Sinai, God gave these laws for burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, and peace offerings. God told Moses that the Israelites should start making their sacrifices in the wilderness before they arrived in Canaan. 
[37] This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings;
[38] Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.