VERSES FROM
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS

 
 
FAVORITE VERSES

The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. -- 17:11

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:  Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. -- 19:1-2

These are the appointed times of the LORD -- 23:37

You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you -- 25:10
 


 
 
FAVORITE PASSAGES

LEAVEN

     No grain offering, which you bring to the LORD, shall
     be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in
     smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire
     to the LORD. -- 2:11

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

     Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the
     LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.  Then 
     Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the 
     LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.  But the goat 
     on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be 
     presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement
     upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. 
     -- 16:8-10

     ... do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull,
     and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the 
     mercy seat.  He shall make atonement for the holy
     place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel 
     and because of their transgressions in regard to all 
     their sins; ... When he goes in to make atonement in the
     holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until
     he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself
     and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. 
     Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD
     and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the 
     blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it
     on the horns of the altar on all sides.  With his finger he 
     shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and 
     cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel 
     consecrate it.  When he finishes atoning for the holy 
     place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall 
     offer the live goat.  Then Aaron shall lay both of his 
     hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over
     it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their 
     transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall
     lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into 
     the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in 
     readiness.  The goat shall bear on itself all their 
     iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the 
     goat in the wilderness. -- 16:15-22

     This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the 
     seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you
     shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether
     the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it
     is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to 
     cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before
     the LORD.  It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, 
     that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent
     statute. ... Now you shall have this as a permanent 
     statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all
     their sins once every year.-- 16:29-34

THE BLOOD

     I will set My face against that person who eats blood 
     and will cut him off from among his people.  For the 
     life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to 
     you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for
     it is the blood by reason of the life that makes 
     atonement. - -17:10-11 

THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL

     These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy 
     convocations which you shall proclaim at the times
     appointed for them. 

PASSOVER ( PESACH )

     In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month
     at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. 

UNLEAVENED BREAD

     Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is
     the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven 
     days you shall eat unleavened bread.  On the first day
     you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any 
     laborious work.  But for seven days you shall present 
     an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is
     a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious 
     work.

FIRST FRUITS

     Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the 
     sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the 
     land which I am going to give to you and reap its 
     harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first 
     fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the 
     sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the
     day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on 
     the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male 
     lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to 
     the LORD. Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of
     an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire
     to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink 
     offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. Until this same day, 
     until you have brought in the offering of your God, you 
     shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new
     growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your 
     generations in all your dwelling places. 

PENTECOST ( WEEKS/SHAVUOT )

     You shall also count for yourselves from the day after 
     the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the
     sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven 
     complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the 
     day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a 
     new grain offering to the LORD. You shall bring in from 
     your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave 
     offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be
     of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the 
     LORD.  Along with the bread you shall present seven 
     one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of 
     the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering
     to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink 
     offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the
     LORD.  You shall also offer one male goat for a sin 
     offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice
     of peace offerings.  The priest shall then wave them 
     with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with 
     two lambs before the LORD; they are to be holy to the 
     LORD for the priest.  On this same day you shall make
     a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy 
     convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to 
     be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places 
     throughout your generations.  When you reap the 
     harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to
     the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning
     of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy 
     and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'" 

TRUMPETS ( ROSH HASHANAH )

     Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the 
     sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first
    of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by 
     blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  You shall not 
     do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering
     by fire to the LORD.'"

DAY OF ATONEMENT ( YOM KIPPUR )

     The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "On exactly the
     tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement;
     it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall 
     humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the
     LORD.  You shall not do any work on this same day, for
     it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your
     behalf before the LORD your God.  If there is any
     person who will not humble himself on this same day, 
     he shall be cut off from his people.  As for any person
     who does any work on this same day, that person I will
     destroy from among his people.  You shall do no work 
     at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your 
     generations in all your dwelling places.  It is to be a
     sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble 
     your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from
     evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath."

TABERNACLES ( BOOTHS/SUKKOT )

     Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the 
     sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh 
     month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the 
     LORD.  On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall
     do no laborious work of any kind.  For seven days you 
     shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the 
     eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and 
     present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is an 
     assembly. You shall do no laborious work. 

     These are the appointed times of the LORD which you 
     shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present 
     offerings by fire to the LORD -- burnt offerings and
     grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each
     day's matter on its own day -- besides those of the 
     sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts and 
     besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which 
     you give to the LORD.

     On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, 
     when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you
     shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days,
     with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth
     day.  Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves 
     the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs
     of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall 
     rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You 
     shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven
     days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute
     throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it 
     in the seventh month.  You shall live in booths for 
     seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in
     booths, so that your generations may know that I had
     the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them 
     out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'"

     So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed
     times of the LORD. -- 23:4-44

THE YEAR OF JUBILEE

     You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim
     a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall
     be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his 
     own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 
     You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall 
     not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its
     untrimmed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to 
     you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.  On this 
     year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own 
     property. -- 25:10-13

 

 
 
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Background:  "Shavuot -- The Giving of the Torah," 
glasspainting from Queen's Park Synagogue, by John K. Clark,
This image is copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the artist