Numbers 15

Offerings for When You All Get to the Land

1 The Lord told Moses.

2 Tell the Israelites, when you all finally get to the land I am giving you to live in.

3 And you all bring an offering to the Lord, whether it is a burnt offering, a sacrifice to keep a vow, a freewill offering, or a festival offering, to make a pleasing smell to the Lord.

4 Whoever brings the offering must also bring a grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, about four cups worth.

5 With every lamb you offer, also bring a quart of wine as a drink offering to the Lord.

6 If you are offering a ram, bring about eight cups of flour mixed with oil.

7 And a drink offering of one and a half quarts of wine. It is a sweet aroma to the Lord.

8 If you sacrifice a young bull as a burnt offering, a vow offering, or a peace offering to the Lord.

9 Bring about sixteen cups of fine flour mixed with oil for the grain offering.

10 And bring two quarts of wine for the drink offering. This will be a sweet aroma to the Lord.

11 These rules apply every time you offer a bull, ram, lamb, or goat.

12 Whatever number of animals you bring, make sure you bring the right amount of grain and drink offerings with each one.

13 Every Israelite must follow these rules when bringing an offering to the Lord.

14 And if a foreigner living among you wants to bring an offering, they must follow these same instructions.

15 The same rules apply to both Israelites and foreigners before the Lord.

16 One law applies to everybody, both Israelites and foreigners living among you.

First Share of the Harvest Belongs to the Lord

17 The Lord told Moses.

18 Tell the Israelites, when you all get to the land I am bringing you into.

19 And you eat from the food in the land, set aside a portion as an offering to the Lord.

20 Give the first portion of your ground flour as an offering, just like when you give an offering from the threshing floor.

21 For all your generations, always give the Lord the first portion of your ground flour.

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

22 If you all ever mess up and fail to keep any of the Lord’s commands.

23 Whether it is something He told Moses.

24 If the whole community sins unintentionally, bring a young bull as a burnt offering for a sweet smell to the Lord, along with its grain and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.

25 The priest will make atonement for the whole community, and they will be forgiven, since it was unintentional.

26 All the Israelites and the foreigners living among them will be forgiven, because it was a community mistake.

27 If just one person sins unintentionally, they must bring a year-old female goat as a sin offering.

28 The priest will make atonement for that person, and they will be forgiven.

29 The same rule applies to both Israelites and foreigners living among you.

Punishment for Intentional Sin

30 But if someone sins deliberately and defies the Lord, they must be cut off from the people.

31 Since they have disrespected the Lord’s word and ignored His commands, they must bear the consequences of their sin and be cut off.

A Man Gets Caught Working on the Sabbath

32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they caught a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

33 The ones who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole assembly.

34 They put him under guard because they were not sure what to do with him.

35 Then the Lord told Moses, The man must be put to death. The whole community must stone him outside the camp.

36 So the people took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Tassels on Clothes as a Reminder to Obey God

37 The Lord told Moses.

38 Tell the Israelites to make tassels for the corners of their clothes and attach a blue cord to each one.

39 These tassels will remind you to obey My commands, so you do not follow your own desires and go astray.

40 They will remind you to obey My commands and be holy to your God.

41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.