1Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock.
3“‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh. 4He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5He shall kill the bull before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 6He shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; 8and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; 9but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
10“‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect. 11He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 12He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar, 13but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
14“‘If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering from turtledoves or of young pigeons. 15The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar; 16and he shall take away its crop and its feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes. 17He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
This passage is an example of material that relates to sacrifices. Most of the fine detail of such material is included in Leviticus, but some also in Numbers. In its ancient context, the passage relates to what is called priestly material of the Pentateuch and the stipulations contributed towards ancient Israelite worship. The five main sacrifices are presented in Leviticus 1-5, the burnt offering, the grain offering, the fellowship offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. These offerings were presented on various occasions, including to atone for sin, as voluntary measures, and as scheduled offerings during regular national festivals throughout each year. In the Christian canonical biblical context, the sacrificial material is seen as part of the Old Covenant that has now been replaced by the New. According to the New Testament, Jesus himself has fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the Old Covenant, and there is no more need for any further sacrifices (e.g. Heb 10). Thus, for Christians, in many ways this material is of historical interest and not something to be followed in practice. And yet, the Old Testament sacrificial material went further than just ritual. In fact, the idea was to sacrifice from what one had and serve Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament ultimately voluntarily and out of gladness, and to take care of one’s neighbour, including the weak and destitute (cf. e.g. Deut 12:4-7, 26; Hosea 12, Amos 4-5). In that sense, the related Old Testament themes do carry over to the New Testament and to Christians as exhortations of good practice, both in an individual and collective sense.