Leviticus 7

1These 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. 2The priest must kill an animal at the north side of the altar. He must throw the blood on to the sides of the altar. 3The priest will bring all of the fat from the tail and the inside parts to the altar. 4He will bring the kidneys and the best piece of the liver. 5Then he will burn the pieces on the altar. They are a gift to the LORD to make a person clean from sin. 6Aaron’s sons can eat the meat that is not burnt. They must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy.

7The 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. 8The skin of the animal is for the priest. 9People may give gifts of grain that they cooked over a fire or in a closed flat plate. They should give them all to the priest. 10Grain 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 Fellowship Offering

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

16The 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. 17On the third day, there may still be some meat that he has not eaten. If there is, he must burn it. 18If 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.

19Some 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. 20A person who is not clean might eat the fellowship offering to the LORD. If he does, they must send him away from Israel’s people. 21A 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

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

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

28The LORD said to Moses, 29‘Say to Israel’s people, “When a person gives an animal as a fellowship offering, he must bring part of it to the LORD. 30He must carry the offering in his own hands to the fire. He must bring the fat and the breast and he must lift the breast to the LORD. 31The priest will burn the fat at the altar. He will lift the meat of the breast to God. Then Aaron’s sons can eat it. 32The top part of the back right leg of the animal is a gift. 33It is for the priest who offers the blood and the fat. 34The breast and the top part of the right leg are gifts. They are from the fellowship offering. God wants Aaron and his sons to have them. People must give these parts of their gift to the priests. 35The 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. 36The 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.”’

37These 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 fellowship 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. 38Israel’s people were in the Sinai desert. The LORD gave the rules to Moses on Sinai’s 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.