Study Desk

"On the second day you will offer a male goat that has nothing wrong with it. It will be for a sin offering. The priests will make the altar pure the same way they made it pure with the bull.

You will prepare a goat every day for seven days for a sin offering. Also, you will prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock. These animals must have nothing wrong with them.

For seven days, the priests will make the altar pure and ready for use in worshiping God.

In the past, the Levites left me when Israel turned away from me. Israel left me to follow their idols. The Levites will be punished for their sin.

The Levites were chosen to serve in my holy place. They guarded the gates of the Temple. They served in the Temple. They killed the animals for the sacrifices and burnt offerings for the people. They were chosen to help the people and to serve them.

But the Levites helped the people sin against me! They helped the people worship their idols! So I am making this promise against them: ‘They will be punished for their sin.'" This is what the Lord God said.

Then he can go back into the holy place. But on the day he goes into the inner courtyard to serve in the holy place, he must offer a sin offering for himself." This is what the Lord God said.

And the first part of the harvest from every kind of crop will be for the priests. You will also give the priests the first part of your flour. This will bring blessings to your house.

"You will divide the land for the Israelite tribes by throwing lots. At that time you will separate out a part of the land. It will be a holy part for the Lord . The land will be 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. All this land will be holy.

A square area that is 500 cubits long on each side will be for the Temple. There will be an open space around the Temple that is 50 cubits wide.

"This holy part of the land will be for the priests, the servants of the Temple. This is where they approach the Lord to serve him. It will be a place for the priests' houses and a place for the Temple.

Another area, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, will be for the Levites who serve in the Temple. This land will also become cities for the Levites.

"And you will give the city an area that is 5000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long. It will be along the side of the holy area. It will be for all the family of Israel.

This land will be the ruler's property in Israel. So he will not need to make life hard for my people anymore. But they will give the land to the Israelites for their tribes."

"This is a special offering that you must give: 1/6 ephah of wheat for every homer of wheat; 1/6 ephah of barley for every homer of barley;

1/10 bath of olive oil for every cor of olive oil; (Remember: Ten baths make a homer, and ten baths make a cor.)

and one sheep for every 200 sheep from every watering hole in Israel. "Those special offerings are for the grain offerings, for the burnt offerings, and for the fellowship offerings. These offerings are to remove the sins of the people." This is what the Lord God said.

"Everyone in the country will give to this offering for the ruler of Israel.

But the ruler must give the things needed for the special holy days. The ruler must provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings for the feast days, for the New Moon, for the Sabbaths, and for all the other special meeting days of the family of Israel. He must give all the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings that are used to make the family of Israel pure."

You will do the same thing on the seventh day of that month for anyone who has sinned by mistake or without knowing it. So you will make the Temple pure.