Live-Wire Bible Study - Day 35 - Leviticus 4–7 · Hebrews 3 - FeedTheGoodHorse
A year-long cultural and psychological reading of the entire Bible. An enduring human text.
← Day 34 | About | Day 36 →
Day 35: Leviticus 4–7 · Hebrews 3 · Commentary · Commentary² · Audio
The Bible text is included for reading continuity; it is accurate in substance, aligned with major modern translations, and may be read alongside any Bible you prefer.1
Leviticus 4
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:
When a human sins unintentionally in any of Jehovah’s commands about things that are not to be done and does one of them:
If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he is to bring for the sin he committed a bull from the herd without defect to Jehovah as a sin offering. He is to bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, lay his hand on its head, and slaughter it before Jehovah. The anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. He is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before Jehovah in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before Jehovah in the tent of meeting. The rest of the bull’s blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
All the fat of the bull of the sin offering he is to lift from it: the fat that covers the inner parts and all the fat on the inner parts, the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys, just as it is lifted from the ox of the peace offering. The priest is to turn them into smoke on the altar of burnt offering. But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its inner parts, and its dung—the whole bull—he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and burn it on wood with fire. It is to be burned at the ash heap.
If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally and the matter is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do one of the things that Jehovah commanded not to be done and become guilty, and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly is to bring a bull from the herd as a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the head of the bull before Jehovah, and the bull is to be slaughtered before Jehovah. The anointed priest is to bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. He is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Jehovah in front of the curtain. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar before Jehovah in the tent of meeting, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tent of meeting. All its fat he is to lift from it and turn it into smoke on the altar. He is to do with this bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering. The priest is to make atonement for them, and it will be forgiven them. He is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.
When a leader sins and unintentionally does one of the things that Jehovah his God commanded not to be done and becomes guilty, and the sin he committed is made known to him, he is to bring as his offering a male goat without defect. He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering before Jehovah. It is a sin offering. The priest is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar. All its fat he is to turn into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest is to make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it will be forgiven him.
If one person from the people of the land sins unintentionally by doing one of the things that Jehovah commanded not to be done and becomes guilty, and the sin he committed is made known to him, he is to bring as his offering a female goat without defect for his sin. He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it in the place of the burnt offering. The priest is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar. All its fat he is to lift up, just as the fat is lifted from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest is to turn it into smoke on the altar as a pleasing aroma to Jehovah. The priest is to make atonement for him, and it will be forgiven him.
If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect. He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it in the place of the burnt offering. The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar. All its fat he is to lift up, just as the fat of the lamb is lifted from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest is to turn it into smoke on the altar on top of Jehovah’s fire offerings. The priest is to make atonement for him for the sin he committed, and it will be forgiven him.
Leviticus 5
If a person sins because he hears the voice of an oath and is a witness, whether he has seen or known, and does not speak, he bears his guilt.
If a person touches any unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, unclean livestock, or unclean creeping things—and it is hidden from him, and he becomes unclean and is guilty; or if he touches human uncleanness, whatever uncleanness makes one unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it and becomes guilty; or if a person swears rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever a person may utter in an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it and becomes guilty in one of these cases—
when he becomes guilty in one of these cases, he is to confess the sin he committed. He is to bring as his offering to Jehovah for the sin he committed a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement for him concerning his sin.
If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring to Jehovah as his offering for the sin he committed two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. He is to bring them to the priest. The priest is to offer first the one for the sin offering. He is to pinch off its head at the back of its neck but not divide it. He is to sprinkle some of the blood on the side of the altar, and the rest is to be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. Then he is to offer the second as a burnt offering according to the rule. The priest is to make atonement for him for the sin he committed, and it will be forgiven him.
If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as his offering for the sin he committed a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He is not to put oil on it or place frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. He is to bring it to the priest. The priest is to take from it a handful as its memorial portion and turn it into smoke on the altar on top of Jehovah’s fire offerings. It is a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement for him for the sin he committed in any of these matters, and it will be forgiven him. The remainder belongs to the priest, as in the grain offering.
If a person commits a breach of trust and sins unintentionally in the holy things of Jehovah, he is to bring to Jehovah as his guilt offering a ram without defect from the flock, valued in silver according to the sanctuary shekel. He is to make restitution for what he did wrong in the holy thing, add a fifth to it, and give it to the priest. The priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it will be forgiven him.
If a person sins and does one of the things that Jehovah commanded not to be done, though he did not know it and later realizes his guilt, he bears his iniquity. He is to bring to the priest a ram without defect from the flock, valued according to assessment, for a guilt offering. The priest is to make atonement for him for the error he committed unintentionally and did not know, and it will be forgiven him. It is a guilt offering. He has certainly incurred guilt before Jehovah.
Leviticus 6
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
If a person sins and commits a breach of trust against Jehovah by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit, security, or robbery, or by oppressing his neighbor, or by finding something lost and lying about it and swearing falsely—in any of the things a person may do and sin in—then, when he becomes guilty, he is to restore what he took by robbery, what he gained by oppression, the deposit entrusted to him, the lost thing he found, or anything about which he swore falsely. He is to restore it in full, add a fifth to it, and give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. He is to bring to the priest as his guilt offering to Jehovah a ram without defect from the flock, valued according to assessment. The priest is to make atonement for him before Jehovah, and he will be forgiven for whatever he did that made him guilty.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
Command Aaron and his sons:
This is the instruction of the burnt offering: the burnt offering is to remain on the hearth on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar is to be kept burning on it. The priest is to put on his linen garment and linen undergarments. He is to lift up the ashes left from the burnt offering and place them beside the altar. Then he is to take off those garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it is not to go out. The priest is to burn wood on it every morning, arrange the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire is to be kept burning on the altar continually; it is not to go out.
This is the instruction of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron are to bring it before Jehovah, before the altar. One of them is to lift up a handful of the fine flour and its oil, with all the frankincense on it, and turn it into smoke on the altar as a pleasing aroma, its memorial portion to Jehovah. What remains Aaron and his sons are to eat. It is to be eaten unleavened in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. It is not to be baked with leaven. I have given it to them as their portion from my fire offerings. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a permanent portion throughout your generations from Jehovah’s fire offerings. Whatever touches them will become holy.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
This is the offering of Aaron and his sons that they are to bring to Jehovah on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half in the morning and half in the evening. It is to be prepared with oil on a griddle. You are to bring it well mixed and present it baked in pieces as a grain offering, a pleasing aroma to Jehovah. The anointed priest who succeeds him from among his sons is to prepare it. It is a permanent statute of Jehovah. The whole of it is to be turned into smoke. Every grain offering of a priest is to be wholly turned into smoke; it is not to be eaten.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to Aaron and his sons:
This is the instruction of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering is to be slaughtered before Jehovah. It is most holy. The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. Whatever touches its flesh will become holy. If any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you are to wash it in a holy place. The clay vessel in which it is boiled is to be broken. If it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it is to be scoured and rinsed with water. Every male among the priests may eat of it. It is most holy. But no sin offering from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place is to be eaten. It is to be burned with fire.
Leviticus 7
This is the instruction of the guilt offering. It is most holy. In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering, they are to slaughter the guilt offering, and its blood is to be splashed around on the altar. All its fat he is to bring near: the fat tail, the fat that covers the inner parts, all the fat on the inner parts, the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. The priest is to turn them into smoke on the altar as a fire offering to Jehovah. It is a guilt offering. Every male among the priests may eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
The guilt offering is like the sin offering. There is one instruction for both. The priest who makes atonement with it is to have it. The priest who offers anyone’s burnt offering is to have the skin of the burnt offering he offered. Every grain offering baked in the oven and everything prepared in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who offers it. Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, belongs equally to all the sons of Aaron.
This is the instruction of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may bring to Jehovah. If he brings it as a thanksgiving offering, he is to bring with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour well mixed with oil. Along with cakes of leavened bread he is to bring his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving. From it he is to bring one of each kind as a contribution to Jehovah. It belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offerings.
The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving is to be eaten on the day of his offering; he is not to leave any of it until morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it is to be eaten on the day he brings it, and what remains may be eaten on the next day. What remains of the flesh on the third day is to be burned with fire. If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted or credited to the one who brings it. It is a defiled thing, and the person who eats it will bear his iniquity.
Flesh that touches any unclean thing is not to be eaten; it is to be burned with fire. Anyone who is clean may eat the other flesh. But the person who eats flesh from the sacrifice of peace offerings that belong to Jehovah while he is unclean is to be cut off from his people. If anyone touches anything unclean—whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing—and eats flesh from the sacrifice of peace offerings that belong to Jehovah, that person is to be cut off from his people.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the sons of Israel:
You are not to eat any fat, whether of ox, sheep, or goat. The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is torn by beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you are not to eat it. Whoever eats the fat of an animal from which a fire offering is brought to Jehovah is to be cut off from his people. You are not to eat any blood, whether of bird or animal, in any of your dwellings. Whoever eats any blood is to be cut off from his people.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the sons of Israel:
Whoever brings the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Jehovah is to bring his offering from that sacrifice to Jehovah. His own hands are to bring Jehovah’s fire offerings. He is to bring the fat with the breast so that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before Jehovah. The priest is to turn the fat into smoke on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. The right thigh you are to give to the priest as a contribution from your peace offerings. The son of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat is to have the right thigh as his portion. For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sons of Israel, from their peace offerings, and given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent portion from the sons of Israel.
This is the portion of Aaron and his sons from Jehovah’s fire offerings, from the day they were presented to serve as priests to Jehovah, which Jehovah commanded to be given to them from the sons of Israel on the day he anointed them. It is a permanent statute throughout their generations.
This is the instruction of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings, which Jehovah commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the sons of Israel to bring their offerings to Jehovah in the wilderness of Sinai.
Hebrews 3
Therefore, holy siblings, sharers in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the sent one and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. Yet he has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. Every house is built by someone, but the one who built all things is God.
Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, bearing witness to what would later be spoken. Christ, however, is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house if we hold fast the confidence and the pride of hope.
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was angered with that generation and said,
‘They always go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my anger,
‘They will not enter my rest.’”
Take care, siblings, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Encourage one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you is hardened by the deception of sin. We have become sharers in Christ if we hold firmly to the beginning of our confidence until the end, as it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Who were the ones who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt through Moses? With whom was he angered for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
Commentary - Day 35
Leviticus 4–7 · Hebrews 3
Jehovah speaks again to Moses, and the focus narrows to sins done unintentionally. If the anointed priest sins, the bull is brought to the entrance. Blood is carried into the tent, sprinkled seven times before the curtain, placed on the horns of the altar of incense, poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. The rest of the bull is taken outside the camp to the ash heap and burned with fire. Blood moves inward; the body moves outward.
If the whole congregation errs, elders lay their hands on the head of the bull. The same sprinkling before the curtain. The same horns. The same base of the altar. If a leader sins, a male goat without defect. If one person from the people of the land sins, a female goat or a lamb. The scale changes with the role, but the pattern does not: hands laid, blood applied, fat turned into smoke, atonement made, and it will be forgiven.
Hidden guilt is named. A matter concealed becomes known. A rash oath, unclean contact, withheld testimony. When guilt becomes known, confession is spoken. If one cannot afford a lamb, birds are brought. If not birds, fine flour without oil or frankincense. The offering adjusts to means, yet the priest still makes atonement.
Breach of trust requires restoration. What was taken is restored in full, and a fifth is added. The ram is brought as a guilt offering. The altar receives smoke; the neighbor receives repayment.
The fire on the altar is not to go out. Ashes are lifted in linen garments and carried outside the camp to a clean place. Garments are changed. The fire continues. The sin offering is most holy; what touches its flesh becomes holy. Blood brought into the tent makes the offering uneaten and burned with fire. Boundaries are marked: holy place, clean place, outside the camp, cut off from the people.
Hebrews speaks of Moses, faithful in all God’s house as a servant, bearing witness to what would later be spoken. Christ is faithful as a Son over his house. The house language stands alongside tent and camp. The builder has more honor than the house.
The citation from the psalm recalls the wilderness: hearts hardened, works seen for forty years, an oath sworn that they would not enter rest. The word “Today” is spoken within that warning. Those who came out of Egypt through Moses are the ones named. They were not able to enter because of unbelief.
Nothing here is treated as negligible. Unintentional does not mean inconsequential. Hidden does not mean unreal. When guilt becomes known, it is named, confessed, measured, and addressed in matter—blood placed, fat turned into smoke, restitution added. The scale adjusts to the role and the means of the one who brings it, but the structure remains. What moves inward toward the curtain and what is carried outward beyond the camp are specified. The system assumes that breaches alter the order of the house and must be restored deliberately, not absorbed without trace.
Leviticus repeats, “the priest is to make atonement, and it will be forgiven.” Hebrews repeats the oath concerning rest. Blood is brought inside; flesh is burned outside the camp. A house is served by a faithful servant; a house is presided over by a Son. Fire remains burning on the altar, and the warning concerning hardened hearts remains within the wilderness account.
Leviticus narrows from offerings to unintentional sin: blood is carried inside the tent, sprinkled seven times before the curtain, placed on the horns of the incense altar, and poured at the base of the outer altar. The animal’s fat rises in smoke, while the body is taken outside the camp and burned at the ash heap. The same structure repeats for priest, congregation, leader, and individual, with confession when guilt becomes known. Provision adjusts to poverty, but atonement remains available. Guilt also includes breach of trust: what was taken is restored in full, plus a fifth. The altar fire is kept burning; ashes are carried outside; vessels are broken or scoured; some offerings are eaten as most holy, while others are burned.
Hebrews turns to Moses and “house”: Moses faithful as servant, Christ faithful as Son over the house. The wilderness warning returns with “Today,” hardened hearts, and rest withheld because of unbelief.
← Day 34 | About | How-To | Schedule | Day 36 →
The Bible text provided in the daily readings is included so readers can follow the commentary without interruption or needing to choose between various versions. It is accurate in substance and consistent with all major modern translations.
The longer-term aim of this project is a more fully natural modern-English rendering, one not filtered through inherited Bible-specific language nor centuries of various divergent interpretations. That work is ongoing and deliberately unrushed.
You don’t have to know anything about Bible translations to read here. You are free to use any Bible you prefer, or to read the text provided.
For a brief explanation of why this translation is provided and why it appears as it does, see So… What Bible Is This?