BIBLE BOOK GUIDE
Leviticus
27 chapters
How Israel, through sacrifice, purification, and holy living, lives as a people set apart before a holy God.
Leviticus
Choose a chapter
Pick a chapter and it opens in the Current chapter tab. Come back here whenever you want to choose another one.
Why this book was written
Written by Moses after Israel entered covenant at Sinai, Leviticus instructs the redeemed congregation of Israel on God's holiness, the handling of sin, and how they must live; its purpose is to make them a holy, priestly nation through sacrifice and statutes.
Structure
- 1–7Laws of Sacrifices
- 8–10Consecration and Service of the Priests
- 11–16Laws of Clean and Unclean
- 17–22Commands for Holy Living
- 23–27Feasts, the Sanctuary, and Vows
Major themes
Holiness and Purification
Leviticus provides detailed instructions on how Israel was to maintain holiness in body, ritual, and morality—covering clean and unclean laws, priestly purification, and separation from defilement—emphasizing that God's holiness requires a corresponding holiness in His people (Lev. 11–15).
Atonement and Intercession
The Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) stands as the book's climax, with the high priest entering the Most Holy Place once a year to atone for himself and the people, foreshadowing Christ's ultimate atoning work. The priestly mediator role pervades the book.
Sacrifice and Substitution
The five offerings—burnt, grain, fellowship, sin, and guilt offerings (Lev. 1–7)—provided substitutionary atonement, teaching that sin demands a price while revealing God's grace and forgiveness.
Holiness in Covenant Community
Leviticus 17–27 emphasizes ethical and communal life within the covenant—sexual morality, justice toward neighbors, Sabbath and Jubilee years, festivals, and faithful stewardship—calling Israel to live out its covenant identity (Lev. 17–27).
God's Sovereignty and Provision
God's detailed directions for offerings, priesthood, festivals, and land sabbaths reveal His sovereignty over every aspect of life, while Sabbath years, Jubilee, and festivals demonstrate His faithful provision and mercy.
Consecration and Service
The consecration of priests (Lev. 8–10) and the setting apart of the Levites for service show that ministering to God requires cleansing, anointing, and full dedication to His service.
How it points to Christ
Leviticus points to Christ as the ultimate High Priest and the ultimate sacrifice. He is the mediator of a better covenant (Heb. 8:6), whose one offering of His body forever accomplishes what the repeated Day of Atonement could only foreshadow (Heb. 9:11–14; 10:1–14). The offerings typify Christ: the burnt offering (perfect consecration), the sin offering (bearing the penalty of sin), and the fellowship offering (restored communion with God). The Sabbath and Jubilee years foreshadow the true rest and liberty Christ brings. The command, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy" (Lev. 19:2), is fulfilled in believers through Christ's holiness imputed and imparted.
Key verses
- 1:3–4The burnt offering foreshadows Christ offering Himself without blemish as the substitute.
- 16:30The Day of Atonement — God's provision of atonement for the whole congregation, the supreme OT picture of redemption.
- 17:11'For the life of the flesh is in the blood' — the theological foundation of substitutionary atonement.
- 19:2'You shall be holy, for I am holy' — the central summons of the book.
- 20:7–8Holiness is God's own work, sanctifying the people from within.
- 23:5The Passover points to Christ, our Passover Lamb.
- 25:10The Jubilee year foreshadows the freedom and restoration accomplished in Christ.
- 27:30The tithe belongs to the Lord, echoing the NT principle of giving all to God.
Reflections on Leviticus
Questions for reflection
- ·How do the purity laws in Leviticus deepen your understanding of the seriousness of sin and God's demand for holiness?
- ·How does the detail of the Day of Atonement point you to Christ as the once-for-all sacrifice for your sin?
- ·As a New Covenant believer, how do you understand the relationship between grace and the call to "be holy"?
- ·How does the Jubilee command to free slaves and return inheritance reflect the freedom and restoration Christ brings in the gospel?
- ·The priest had to first atone for himself before atoning for the people (Lev. 16)—how does this show that no one can approach God on their own merit?
Want to read Leviticus start to finish? Open the reader for parallel Chinese/English text and ask anything as you go.
Start reading LeviticusLeviticus
Chapter 7
1And this is the law of the trespass-offering: it is most holy.
2In the place where they kill the burnt-offering shall they kill the trespass-offering; and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle upon the altar round about.
3And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof: the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards,
4and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away;
5and the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto Jehovah: it is a trespass-offering.
6Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in a holy place: it is most holy.
7As is the sin-offering, so is the trespass-offering; there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith, he shall have it.
8And the priest that offereth any man's burnt-offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering which he hath offered.
9And every meal-offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying-pan, and on the baking-pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.
10And every meal-offering, mingled with oil, or dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as well as another.
11And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which one shall offer unto Jehovah.
12If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour soaked.
13With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his oblation with the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving.
14And of it he shall offer one out of each oblation for a heave-offering unto Jehovah; it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offerings.
15And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his oblation; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.
16But if the sacrifice of his oblation be a vow, or a freewill-offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offereth his sacrifice; and on the morrow that which remaineth of it shall be eaten:
17but that which remaineth of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.
18And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings be eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.
19And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire. And as for the flesh, every one that is clean shall eat thereof:
20but the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
21And when any one shall touch any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean beast, or any unclean abomination, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which pertain unto Jehovah, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
22And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
23Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat.
24And the fat of that which dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of beasts, may be used for any other service; but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
25For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.
26And ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of bird or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
27Whosoever it be that eateth any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
28And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
29Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace-offerings unto Jehovah shall bring his oblation unto Jehovah out of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings:
30his own hands shall bring the offerings of Jehovah made by fire; the fat with the breast shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave-offering before Jehovah.
31And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar; but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.
32And the right thigh shall ye give unto the priest for a heave-offering out of the sacrifices of your peace-offerings.
33He among the sons of Aaron that offereth the blood of the peace-offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion.
34For the wave-breast and the heave - thigh have I taken of the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons as their portion for ever from the children of Israel.
35This is the anointing-portion of Aaron, and the anointing-portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto Jehovah in the priest's office;
36which Jehovah commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion for ever throughout their generations.
37This is the law of the burnt-offering, of the meal-offering, and of the sin-offering, and of the trespass-offering, and of the consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace-offerings;
38which Jehovah commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai.