1/5:20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2/5:21 Whosoever shall sin, and despising the Lord, shall deny to his neighbour the thing delivered to his keeping, which was committed to his trust; or shall by force extort any thing, or commit oppression; 3/5:22 Or shall find a thing lost, and denying it, shall also swear falsely, or shall do any other of the many things, wherein men are wont to sin: 4/5:23 Being convicted of the offence, he shall restore

5/5:24 All that he would have gotten by fraud, in the principal, and the fifth part besides to the owner, whom he wronged. 6/5:25 Moreover for his sin he shall offer a ram without blemish out of the flock, and shall give it to the priest, according to the estimation and measure of the offence: 7/5:26 And he shall pray for him before the Lord, and he shall have forgiveness for every thing in doing of which he hath sinned.

8/6:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 9/6:2 Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of a holocaust: It shall be burnt upon the altar, all night until morning: the fire shall be of the same altar. 10/6:3 The priest shall be vested with the tunick and the linen breeches, and he shall take up the ashes of that which the devouring fire hath burnt, and putting them beside the altar, 11/6:4 Shall put off his former vestments, and being clothed with others, shall carry them forth without the camp, and shall cause them to be consumed to dust in a very clean place, 12/6:5 And the fire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning, and laying on the holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace offerings. 13/6:6 This is the perpetual fire which shall never go out on the altar.

Ritual of the daily cereal offering

14/6:7 This is the law of the sacrifice and libations, which the children of Aaron shall offer before the Lord, and before the altar. 15/6:8 The priest shall take a handful of the flour that is tempered with oil, and all the frankincense that is put upon the flour: and he shall burn it on the altar for a memorial of most sweet odour to the Lord: 16/6:9 And the part of the flour that is left, Aaron and his sons shall eat, without leaven: and he shall eat it in the holy place of the court of the tabernacle. 17/6:10 And therefore it shall not be leavened, because part thereof is offered for the burnt sacrifice of the Lord. It shall be most holy, as that which is offered for sin and for trespass. 18/6:11 The males only of the race of Aaron shall eat it. It shall be an ordinance everlasting in your generations concerning the sacrifices of the Lord: Every one that toucheth them shall be sanctified.

Offering of a priest at his anointing

19/6:12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 20/6:13 This is the oblation of Aaron, and of his sons, which they must offer to the Lord, in the day of their anointing: They shall offer the tenth part of an ephi of flour for a perpetual sacrifice, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening: 21/6:14 It shall be tempered with oil, and shall be fried in a fryingpan. 22/6:15 And the priest that rightfully succeedeth his father, shall offer it hot, for a most sweet odour to the Lord, and it shall be wholly burnt on the altar. 23/6:16 For every sacrifice of the priest shall be consumed with fire, neither shall any man eat thereof.

Ritual for sin offerings

24/6:17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 25/6:18 Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the victim for sin: in the place where the holocaust is offered, it shall be immolated before the Lord. It is holy of holies. 26/6:19 The priest that offereth it, shall eat it in a holy place, in the court of the tabernacle. 27/6:20 Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified. If a garment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a holy place. 28/6:21 And the earthen vessel, wherein it was sodden, shall be broken, but if the vessel be of brass, it shall be scoured, and washed with water. 29/6:22 Every male of the priestly race shall eat of the flesh thereof, because it is holy of holies. 30/6:23 For the victim that is slain for sin, the blood of which is carried into the tabernacle of the testimony to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall not be eaten, but shall be burnt with fire.

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6:1-7 This is what the blessed Zacchaeus did.  First, he made fourfold restitution of what he had wrongfully taken and then, apportioned a half of his possessions to the poor (Lk19:8). (Theodoret of Cyrus)

6:3 The Law literally seems to mandate that, if anyone found what someone else has lost, and the one who lost it had looked for it, let him return it, for "it was not lost for him."  This is a useful teaching for the hearers.  For many think they are without sin if they keep another's possession that they have found.  They say, God gave it to me, to whom am I to return it?  therefore, let them learn that this sin is like robbery if someone does not return the things found. (Origen Hom 4 on Lev)

6:6 This text should not be understood as meaning that the victim was the equivalent price of sin, but the ram should be offered at a price that which is to be purchased.  This characteristic seems even to contain, in God's plan, some mysterious meaning, because it has not been determined the price for the victim. Had he determined we could have said that its purpose was to prevent anyone from offering an animal of little value. (St. Augustine Quesitons on Lev)  For it is different to sin in holy things and to sin outside.  Do you want to see elsewhere this same distinction?  Hear how, in the Books of Kings, Eli the priest says to his sons, "For if anyone sins against a person, the priest will intercede for him; but if anyone sins against God, who will intercede for him?(1 Sam 2:25)"  Similarly, the Apostle John also says, "There is a sin to death; I do not say to pray for that one (1 Jn 5:16)." (Origen Hom 4 on Lev)

6:9 The holocaust was the chief of all the sacrifices: because all were burnt in honor of God, and nothing of it was eaten. (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica)  The sons of Israel will not be allowed to eat from every offering which the priest eats.  Therefore, since these are the differences of the offerings, one which we said to be only for God, from which it is lawful neither for Moses, nor Aaron, nor his sons to share, sometimes we find it called "a whole burnt offering" but sometimes not a whole burnt offering but a holocarpoma, as if we say that it is all fruit, that of course, which is offered to God...  Therefore, the first offering is holocaustomata; for it was not fitting to name another offering first, except that one which was offered to the omnipotent God. (Origen Hom 4 on Lev)

6:12 By the altar, the heart is signified, in which the fire of devotion ought to be. (St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on Mt.)

6:13 The perpetual fire: That is to say, it was to be on fire so that the holocaust would burn until the morning. God did not want the fire to be extinguished, so that when the holocaust burned until morning they were to take away the remains of the burned victim, and it was not to be stopped, but they were to rekindle the fire of the holocaust so that it would consume the other victims that were to be on the altar. (St. Augustine Questions on Lev)  For the material fire by which the sacrificial animals were burned in the tabernacle could not be perpetual, since not only the tabernacle itself but also the altar and the priesthood have long since been destroyed.  But the fire of love by which the elect are kindled to offer God sacrifices of prayers and good deeds will never go out from the altar, that is, from their souls, which are signified by that altar of Moses, because in this life they glow with divine love, and in the future life, seeing God more perfectly, they love with their whole heart, their whole soul, and their whole strength.  And you will find many things of this kind in the Sacred Rites of the Law, which, although they were ordained to be done or to continue by perpetual decree, are nevertheless demonstrably not perpetual unless they are understood spiritually. (St. Bede Com. on Gen. 13:15)

6:18 everlasting: The word "everlasting" probably meant that after death of the high priest, whoever succeeded him had to perform the same ritual. (St. Augustine Quesitons on Lev)  Indeed, John the apostle says in Revelation that it is "an eternal gospel (Rev 14:6)."  We also find this written as "an eternal law."  But those who want to follow the letter of the law, I want them to tell me now how the law of this sacrifice can be eternal, since certainly with the destruction of the Temple, with the overturning of the altar and with all the things that were called holy profaned, this rite of sacrifices could not remain.  How do they call eternal, therefore, what has obviously ceased long ago and was already finished?  It remains that according to this part this law is called eternal, by which, we mean the law is spiritual (Rom 7:14), and through it spiritual sacrifices can be offered which can neither be interrupted at any time nor cease.  For they are not in a place that is overthrown, or in a time which is changed, but are in the faith of the believer and in the heart of the one making a sacrifice. (Origen Hom 4 on Lev)


6:23 The reason why he prescribed that the priest's sacrifice be burned entirely was to teach the priest to be perfect and to devote himself, not partially, but entirely, to the God of the universe. (Theodoret of Cyrus)  shall be consumed: It reads in the Greek επιτελεσθησεται, and several interpreters translated: "shall be over," which necessarily means a holocaust, since he has nothing left. Finally Scripture says: "And all the sacrifices of the priests will be burnt and can not be eaten. "It is in this sense that we must take these words "shall be consumed." (St. Augustine Quesitons on Lev)

6:25 The reason why they slay the sacrifices for sin in the same place they slew those for holocausts was an encouragement to the offerers, so they would know that they were not forbidden access to the holy place when being healed through repentance.  Hence, he called these sacrifices "most holy." (Theodoret of Cyrus)

6:26 shall eat it: However, the sacred text says further: "shall not be eaten, but burnt with fire (6:30). "How is it given to the priests to eat of what remains of sacrifices for sin? An exception, therefore, must have been allowed for the sacrifices which one touched the blood of the victim that was placed in the tabernacle of the testimony.  God had actually prescribed the same rite, the calf that the priest had to offer in expiation of his sin or the sin of the whole synagogue and the flesh that remained to be burned outside the camp. (St. Augustine Questions on Lev)

6:27-28 What is the meaning of "Whoever touches its meat will be sanctified"?  This teaches them reverence, bids them take part in divine service with respect, and requires them to stand at a distance from the sacred sacrifices.  It prescribes that the one who presumes to approach and then is spattered with blood serve in the temple as someone no longer his own master; though by "serving" I mean not the celebration of sacred rites but the performance of some other duty.  Hence, he also commands the washing of garments spattered with drops of that blood, the careful scouring of bronze vessels, and the smashing of the earthenware. (Theodoret of Cyrus)