✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Levítico 6

VBL · Chapter 6/27

1El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

2“Si pecas contra el Señor, rompiendo tu compromiso con él, entonces esto es lo que debe suceder. Puede que le hayas mentido a tu vecino sobre algo que cuidabas para ellos, o sobre algún depósito pagado, sobre algo que fue robado, o tal vez tratabas de engañarlos.

3Puede que hayas encontrado una propiedad que alguien perdió, y mentiste e hiciste declaraciones falsas sobre ello, o has pecado de otras maneras en tales situaciones.

4Si has pecado y te vuelves culpable debes devolver lo que has robado o engañado a tus víctimas, el depósito que tomaste, la propiedad perdida que encontraste,

5o cualquier otra cosa que deba ser devuelta y sobre la que hayas mentido. Debes pagar la compensación completa más una quinta parte del valor, y dársela al dueño tan pronto como aceptes que eres culpable de pecado.

6Luego debes llevar al sacerdote tu ofrenda de culpabilidad para el Señor: un carnero sin defectos del valor apropiado del rebaño.

7Así es como el sacerdote te hará justicia ante el Señor, y se te perdonarán todos los pecados que hayas cometido y de los que seas culpable”.

8El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

9“Instruye a Aarón y a sus hijos respecto al holocausto: La ofrenda quemada debe dejarse ardiendo sobre altar durante toda la noche hasta la mañana, y el fuego en el altar debe mantenerse encendido.

10El sacerdote se pondrá sus ropas de lino y su ropa interior, y tomará del altar las cenizas grasosas del holocausto que el fuego ha quemado y las pondrá al lado del altar.

11Luego se cambiará de ropa y llevará las cenizas fuera del campamento a un lugar que esté ceremonialmente limpio.

12El fuego del altar debe mantenerse encendido, no dejarlo apagarse. Cada mañana el sacerdote debe añadir leña al fuego, colocar cuidadosamente la ofrenda quemada en él, y quemar las partes gordas de las ofrendas de paz en él.

13El fuego debe mantenerse encendido en el altar continuamente, no lo dejes apagar.

14“Estas son las regulaciones para la ofrenda de grano: Los hijos de Aarón deben presentarla ante el Señor, delante del altar.

15El sacerdote quitará un puñado de la mejor harina mezclada con aceite de oliva, así como todo el incienso de la ofrenda de grano, y quemará la ‘parte recordatoria’ en el altar para ser aceptada por el Señor.

16El resto es para que Aarón y sus hijos lo coman. Debe comerse sin levadura en un lugar santo, el patio del Tabernáculo de Reunión.

17No debe ser horneado con levadura. Lo he proporcionado como su parte de mis ofrendas de comida. Es muy sagrado, como la ofrenda por el pecado y la ofrenda por la culpa.

18Cualquiera de los descendientes masculinos de Aarón puede comerlo. Es una asignación permanente de las ofrendas de comida al Señor para las generaciones futuras. Todo lo que los toque se convertirá en sagrado”.

19El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

20“Esta es la ofrenda que Aarón y sus hijos deben presentar al Señor cuando sean ungidos: una décima parte de una efa de la mejor harina como ofrenda de grano habitual, la mitad por la mañana y la mitad por la tarde.

21Cocínalo con aceite de oliva en una plancha. Llevarlo bien amasado y presentarlo como una ofrenda de grano partido en pedazos, para ser aceptado por el Señor.

22Debe ser cocinado por el sacerdote que es uno de los descendientes de Aarón y que debe ser ungido para tomar su lugar. En este caso, como está asignado permanentemente al Señor, debe ser quemado completamente.

23Cada ofrenda de grano para un sacerdote debe ser quemada completamente. No debe ser comida”.

24El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

25“Dile a Aarón y a sus hijos que estas son las normas para la ofrenda por el pecado. La ofrenda por el pecado debe ser matada donde el holocausto es matado ante el Señor, y es muy sagrada.

26El sacerdote que ofrece la ofrenda por el pecado debe comerla. Debe comerse sin levadura en un lugar santo, el patio del Tabernáculo de Reunión.

27Todo lo que lo toque se convertirá en sagrado y si algo de la sangre se salpica en la ropa, debe lavarse en un lugar santo.

28La olla de barro que se usa para hervir la ofrenda por el pecado debe romperse. Si se hierve en una olla de bronce, la olla debe ser limpiada a fondo y lavada con agua.

29Cualquier varón entre los sacerdotes puede comerla, es muy sagrada.

30Pero no se puede comer ninguna ofrenda por el pecado si su sangre ha sido llevada al Tabernáculo de Reunión como medio para arreglar las cosas en el Lugar Santo. En ese caso debe ser quemada”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God details restitution for those who steal, lie, or deny holding a deposit, always adding 20% when returning it. He then explains the priests' duties regarding the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the sin offering.

Explanation

Restorative justice appears clearly here: it was not enough to return what had been taken — a fifth had to be added, acknowledging the damage done to the community's trust. The fire on the altar was to burn "continually," symbolizing that worship of God never pauses. The instructions to the priests reinforce that those who serve in the sanctuary have stricter rules of purity and conduct, since they handle what is "most holy." The practical lesson: making an error right usually requires more than simply returning what was expected — it requires generosity that restores broken trust.

Fun facts

  • The command to keep the fire on the altar always burning ("it shall never go out") is repeated three times in this chapter, a Hebrew literary device of emphasis showing its absolute importance.
  • According to Jewish tradition, this perpetual fire was originally kindled by God himself (Leviticus 9:24), and afterward kept burning continually by the priests.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Levítico 6:1This call opens a new use for the trespass offering: from here on it also settles fraud between neighbors, not just offenses against sacred things — theft, extortion, lying under oath.
  2. Levítico 6:2Denying a deposit, holding onto something by force, stealing: this list of schemes against one’s neighbor shows that the sacrificial system also served to repair economic harm between people, not just ritual failures.
  3. Levítico 6:3Finding a lost object and denying it under a false oath also made this list — lying about something found was treated as seriously as stealing on purpose.
  4. Levítico 6:4Before any sacrifice, the guilty person had to physically return what they had stolen, withheld, or found and hidden — the repayment came before the religious ritual.
  5. Levítico 6:5Besides returning the exact value, the person paid an extra 20 percent as a fine, on the same day they brought their trespass offering — the same restitution model seen earlier for damage to sacred things, now applied to schemes against neighbors.
  6. Levítico 6:6Even though it was fraud against another person, not against the sanctuary, the required offering was still a ram valued in money — the same trespass-offering pattern seen in the earlier chapters.
  7. Levítico 6:7With the ram offered and the restitution paid, the priest made atonement and the person left forgiven for any of these frauds — the process resolved both the debt owed to a neighbor and the offense before God.
  8. Levítico 6:8This opening formula marks a new section of the book: the text now revisits the offerings already described, this time as formal “laws” addressed specifically to the priests, with the technical details of their work.
  9. Levítico 6:9The fire of the burnt-offering altar had to stay burning all night, with the priest tending it — unlike other offerings settled in a single day. This is where the rule stated right after comes from: that fire could never go out.
  10. Levítico 6:10Removing the ashes from the altar was done wearing a special linen garment, reserved just for that task inside the sacred area — handling what was left of the altar’s fire required its own clothing, different from what was worn day to day.
  11. Levítico 6:11After gathering the ashes in the special garment, the priest changed clothes before carrying them outside the camp — a task inside the sacred area required sacred garments, and a task outside it, ordinary clothes.
  12. Levítico 6:12The altar’s fire could never go out: every morning the priest lit more wood and rearranged the burnt offering, and it was in this same fire that the fat of the peace offerings was also burned.
  13. Levítico 6:13The repetition that the fire had to burn without stopping reinforces just how seriously this rule was taken — it is not a minor detail, it is treated as a central point of the altar’s routine.
  14. Levítico 6:14Unlike the burnt offering, tied to one specific priest elsewhere, here any of Aaron’s sons could offer the meat offering — it was not a task reserved for a single individual.
  15. Levítico 6:15The gesture of taking out a handful of flour with oil and frankincense to burn as a memorial, already seen in chapter 2, is repeated here as an official “law,” gathering the rules of this offering in one place.
  16. Levítico 6:16The part of the meat offering left over for the priests had to be eaten without leaven and inside the court of the tent. These rules made sure that food kept being treated as sacred even after it left the altar.
  17. Levítico 6:17Calling this offering “most holy,” in the same category as the sin offering and the trespass offering, defines who could eat it — only male priests, in a sacred place — it is not a compliment about the food’s quality.
  18. Levítico 6:18Any male among the priests could eat of this offering, a rule that held forever; and the text adds that simply touching it already made someone or something “holy” — holiness passed by direct physical contact.
  19. Levítico 6:19This opening formula introduces a new topic: Aaron’s own personal, daily offering, different from the ordinary meat offering brought by the people.
  20. Levítico 6:20This meat offering was different from the others because it was burned entirely, with nothing left for the priest to eat — it was the high priest’s own personal offering, repeated every morning and every evening. That is why it followed the burnt offering’s rule (nothing left over) instead of the ordinary meat offering’s rule.
  21. Levítico 6:21Aaron’s daily offering was fried in a kind of pan with oil and brought already prepared, in pieces — the same preparation technique seen in chapter 2, now applied to the high priest’s personal routine.
  22. Levítico 6:22Each future high priest, upon being anointed for the office, had to go on offering this same daily offering — it was not a one-time gesture by Aaron, it became a permanent obligation of the office.
  23. Levítico 6:23Unlike the other meat offerings, which the priests partly ate, this one was burned entirely, with nothing left over — because it was the priest’s own offering, and he could not benefit by eating from his own offering.
  24. Levítico 6:24This opening formula introduces the official, law-form version of the sin offering’s rules — revisiting what was already seen in chapter 4, now from the standpoint of the priest’s work.
  25. Levítico 6:25The sin offering was killed in the same place as the burnt offering, and the text reinforces that it was “most holy” — the highest category of restriction on who could approach it or eat it.
  26. Levítico 6:26Unlike what happened with the offering for the priest himself or for the whole congregation, in the ordinary case it was the priest who ate the meat, in a sacred place — the meat became his food, it was not discarded.
  27. Levítico 6:27This passage describes a central idea of the book: holiness could be transferred by physical contact. A splash of this offering’s blood on someone’s clothing required washing the garment, because the clothing “caught” that sacred status and had to be handled accordingly.
  28. Levítico 6:28A clay pot the meat was boiled in had to be broken afterward, but a bronze pot only needed to be scoured and rinsed. The difference is practical: clay is porous and permanently absorbs fat and residue, bronze does not, so it could be reused.
  29. Levítico 6:29Any male among the priests could eat of this offering, always within the sacred court — reinforcing that it was food set apart, but legitimate, for those who served in the sanctuary.
  30. Levítico 6:30Here is the exception that explains chapter 4: when the sin offering’s blood was carried inside the tent, as with the mistake of the priest or of the whole people, the meat could not be eaten — only burned.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play