The Sanctuary and Its Service
Sefer Avodah, the Book of Service · commandments 301–403
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The house of God and its ministry: the sanctuary, its vessels and ministers, who may enter, what may be offered, the order of the sacrifices, the daily and festival offerings, and the Day of Atonement.
On this page: The Chosen House (301–306) · The Vessels and Those Who Serve (307–320) · Entering the Sanctuary (321–335) · What May Not Be Offered (336–349) · The Order of the Sacrifices (350–372) · The Daily and Additional Offerings (373–391) · Offerings Made Unfit (392–399) · The Service of the Day of Atonement (400) · Trespass against Holy Things (401–403)
The Chosen House
Beit HaBechirah · 6 commandments
301. To make a sanctuary. DO
You shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will appear among you.
Exodus 25:8
302. Not to build the altar of hewn stones. DO NOT
“If you make an altar of stones for Me, you shall not build it with cut stones, for you have laid your blade upon them, and they are defiled.
Exodus 20:25
303. Not to go up to the altar by steps. DO NOT
“You shall not go up by steps to My altar, lest you expose your nakedness on it.”
Exodus 20:26
304. To revere the sanctuary. DO — Christ’s teaching: 23
You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My holy things. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:30
305. To keep guard over the sanctuary. DO
Bring your brothers, the tribe of Levi, your father’s clan, near to yourself; let them join you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of Testimony.
Numbers 18:2
306. Not to neglect the guard of the sanctuary. DO NOT
You shall keep the charges of the holy things and the charges of the altar, and there shall be no wrath among the sons of Israel.
Numbers 18:5
The Vessels and Those Who Serve
Kelei HaMikdash · 14 commandments
307. To make the holy anointing oil. DO
Tell the sons of Israel: ‘This shall be holy anointing oil for you throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:31
308. Not to make any like it. DO NOT
It shall not be applied to human flesh, and you shall not make anything like it for yourselves according to this composition. It is holy and shall be a holy thing to you.
Exodus 30:32
309. Not to pour it on the body of an ordinary person. DO NOT — the same verse, Exodus 30:32
310. Not to make incense by its formula for yourselves. DO NOT
You shall not make incense for yourselves according to this composition. It shall be a holy thing to you for the Lord.
Exodus 30:37
311. Not to offer strange incense, burnt offering or grain offering on the golden altar. DO NOT
You shall not offer other incense, an offering, or a sacrifice on it; you shall not pour a libation on it.
Exodus 30:9
312. The holy things are to be carried on the shoulder. DO
He gave none to the sons of Kohath, because they had the ministries of the sanctuary; they shall carry them on their shoulders.
Numbers 7:9
313. The poles must not be removed from the ark. DO NOT
The carrying poles shall remain fixed in the ark’s rings.
Exodus 25:15
314. The Levites are to do the service of the tent of meeting. DO
The Levite himself shall perform the ministry of the Tent of Testimony, and they shall bear their offenses. It is a perpetual ordinance throughout their generations. Among the sons of Israel they shall receive no inheritance.
Numbers 18:23
315. The Levites must not come near the holy vessels or the altar. DO NOT
They shall keep your charges and the charges of the tent, but they shall not approach the holy vessels or the altar, and neither they nor you shall die.
Numbers 18:3
316. To treat the priest as holy. DO
He shall sanctify him, for this man presents the gifts of the Lord your God. He shall be holy, for I, the Lord who sanctifies them, am holy.
Leviticus 21:8
317. The priests are to have equal portions when they come to serve. DO
If a Levite comes from one of your cities, from among all the Israelites where he resides, as his soul desires, to the place the Lord will choose, then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites standing there before the Lord. He shall eat an allotted share, apart from the sale associated with his ancestral family.
Deuteronomy 18:6–8
318. To make holy garments for the priests. DO
You shall make a holy robe for Aaron your brother, for honor and glory.
Exodus 28:2
319. The robe of the ephod must not be torn. DO NOT
Its neck opening shall be in the middle, with a woven border around it and a seam woven as one piece with it, so that it does not tear.
Exodus 28:32
320. The breastpiece must not come loose from the ephod (Exodus 28:28 in the Hebrew numbering). DO NOT
He fastened the oracle-piece by its rings to the rings of the shoulder-piece with blue cord, interwoven into the shoulder-piece’s fabric so that the oracle-piece would not come loose from it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Exodus 36:28
Entering the Sanctuary
Bi’at HaMikdash · 15 commandments
321. A priest must not enter having drunk wine or strong drink. DO NOT
You and your sons with you shall not drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Testimony or when you approach the altar, so that you do not die. It is a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations,
Leviticus 10:9
322. A priest must not enter with his head bared or his hair unbound. DO NOT
Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar: Do not remove your turbans or tear your garments, lest you die and wrath come upon the whole congregation. Your brothers, the whole house of Israel, shall weep over the burning by which they were burned by the Lord.
Leviticus 10:6
323. A priest must not enter with torn garments. DO NOT — the same verse, Leviticus 10:6
324. The priest must not enter the holy place at just any time. DO NOT
The Lord said to Moses: Speak to your brother Aaron, and let him not enter at any time into the holy place within the veil, before the propitiatory cover upon the ark of testimony, so that he does not die, for I will appear in a cloud over the propitiatory cover.
Leviticus 16:2
325. A priest must not go out from the sanctuary during the service. DO NOT
Do not leave the door of the Tent of Testimony, lest you die, for the anointing oil from the Lord is upon you. They did according to Moses’ word.
Leviticus 10:7
326. To send the unclean out of the camp. DO
Command the sons of Israel to send out of the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone with a seminal discharge, and everyone unclean through a dead person.
Numbers 5:2
327. The unclean must not defile the camp where the Lord dwells. DO NOT
Send out male and female alike, outside the camp, so that they do not defile their camps, where I reside among them.
Numbers 5:3
328. One who is unclean must not come within the camp. DO NOT
If a man among you is unclean because of his discharge at night, he shall go outside the camp and shall not enter it.
Deuteronomy 23:11
329. Priests who are unclean must keep away from the holy things. DO NOT
Tell Aaron and his sons to exercise care concerning the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they consecrate to Me, and not profane My holy name. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 22:2
330. An unclean priest may eat of the holy things only after the sun has set. DO NOT
When the sun sets, he shall be clean; afterward he may eat the holy things, for they are his bread.
Leviticus 22:7
331. The priests are to wash their hands and feet before they serve. DO
Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet with water from it.
Exodus 30:19
332. A priest with a blemish must not come near the veil or the altar. DO NOT
But he shall not approach the curtain or come near the altar, because he has a blemish. He shall not profane the holy place of his God, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
Leviticus 21:23
333. A priest with a blemish must not approach to offer. DO NOT
Say to Aaron: Any man from your kin throughout your generations who has a blemish shall not approach to present the gifts of his God.
Leviticus 21:17
334. No man with any blemish is to draw near. DO NOT
No man who has a blemish shall approach: a lame man, a blind man, one with a mutilated nose, or one with a cut-off ear;
Leviticus 21:18
335. No outsider may come near to serve. DO NOT
They shall join you and keep the charges of the Tent of Testimony for all the ministries of the tent. An outsider shall not approach you.
Numbers 18:4
What May Not Be Offered
Issurei Mizbe’ach · 14 commandments
336. An offering must be perfect to be accepted. DO
If a man presents a sacrifice of deliverance to the Lord, specifying a vow by voluntary choice or at your festivals, from the cattle or the sheep, it shall be unblemished to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it.
Leviticus 22:21
337. Not to offer what has a blemish. DO NOT
They shall not bring anything with a blemish to the Lord, for it will not be acceptable for you.
Leviticus 22:20
338. Not to offer the blind, the injured or the maimed to the Lord. DO NOT
They shall not bring to the Lord an animal that is blind, crushed, has its tongue cut, has warts, a severe scab, or skin eruptions. You shall not place any of these on the altar as an offering to the Lord.
Leviticus 22:22
339. Not to offer the bruised, crushed, torn or cut. DO NOT
You shall not bring to the Lord an animal castrated by crushing, squeezed out, cut out, or torn away; neither shall you do this in your land.
Leviticus 22:24
340. Not to make of them an offering by fire on the altar. DO NOT
They shall not bring to the Lord an animal that is blind, crushed, has its tongue cut, has warts, a severe scab, or skin eruptions. You shall not place any of these on the altar as an offering to the Lord.
Leviticus 22:22
341. Not to sacrifice an ox or sheep in which is any defect. DO NOT
Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God a calf or sheep with a defect, anything wrong, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 17:1
342. Not to accept such animals from a foreigner’s hand. DO NOT
You shall not present any of these as the gifts of your God from the hand of a foreigner, for there are corruptions in them; they have a blemish. These will not be accepted for you.
Leviticus 22:25
343. There is to be no blemish in a consecrated animal. DO NOT
If a man presents a sacrifice of deliverance to the Lord, specifying a vow by voluntary choice or at your festivals, from the cattle or the sheep, it shall be unblemished to be accepted; there shall be no blemish in it.
Leviticus 22:21
344. What is unfit may be eaten within your gates, as the tradition teaches of redeemed offerings. DO
Yet you may slaughter and eat meat in every city as much as you desire, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. The unclean among you and the clean may eat it together, as gazelle or deer is eaten.
Deuteronomy 12:15
345. An animal is acceptable from the eighth day onward. DO
When a calf, sheep, or goat is born, it shall remain under its mother for seven days. On the eighth day and afterward it may be accepted among the gifts, as an offering to the Lord.
Leviticus 22:27
346. Not to bring the hire of a prostitute or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord. DO NOT
Do not bring a prostitute’s fee or what is received in exchange for a dog into the house of the Lord your God for any vow, for both are an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 23:19
347. Not to burn leaven or honey on the altar. DO NOT
No sacrifice that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall not present any leaven or any honey from it as an offering to the Lord.
Leviticus 2:11
348. To season every offering with salt. DO
Every gift of your sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt. Do not let the salt of the Lord’s covenant be missing from your sacrifices; with every gift bring salt to the Lord your God.
Leviticus 2:13
349. Not to let the salt of the covenant be lacking. DO NOT — the same verse, Leviticus 2:13
The Order of the Sacrifices
Ma’aseh HaKorbanot · 23 commandments
350. To offer the burnt offering as prescribed. DO
If his gift is a whole burnt offering from the cattle, he shall bring an unblemished male. He shall bring it to the door of the Tent of Testimony, acceptable before the Lord.
Leviticus 1:3
351. Not to eat the flesh of the burnt offering. DO NOT
You may not eat in your cities the tithe of your grain, wine, or oil, the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, any vowed offerings you vow, your pledged offerings, or firstfruits from your hands.
Deuteronomy 12:17
352. To offer the sin offering as prescribed. DO
Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin offering. Where they slaughter the whole burnt offering, they shall slaughter the offerings for sin before the Lord. They are most holy.
Leviticus 6:18
353. Not to eat a sin offering whose blood is brought into the tent of meeting. DO NOT
None of the offerings for sin whose blood is brought into the Tent of Testimony to make propitiation in the holy place shall be eaten; they shall be burned up with fire.
Leviticus 6:23
354. Not to sever the head of a bird brought as a sin offering. DO NOT
He shall bring them to the priest, and the priest shall present the one for sin first. The priest shall pinch its head at the neck joint without dividing it.
Leviticus 5:8
355. To offer the guilt offering as prescribed. DO
This is the law of the ram for the offense offering; it is most holy.
Leviticus 7:1
356. The priests are to eat the things with which atonement was made. DO
They shall eat the things by which they were sanctified, to consecrate their hands and sanctify them. An outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy.
Exodus 29:33
357. Not to eat the holy offerings within your gates. DO NOT
You may not eat in your cities the tithe of your grain, wine, or oil, the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, any vowed offerings you vow, your pledged offerings, or firstfruits from your hands.
Deuteronomy 12:17
358. An outsider must not eat of them. DO NOT
They shall eat the things by which they were sanctified, to consecrate their hands and sanctify them. An outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy.
Exodus 29:33
359. To offer the peace offering as prescribed. DO
This is the law of the sacrifice of deliverance that they shall present to the Lord.
Leviticus 7:11
360. Not to eat the lesser offerings before their blood is presented. DO NOT
You may not eat in your cities the tithe of your grain, wine, or oil, the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, any vowed offerings you vow, your pledged offerings, or firstfruits from your hands.
Deuteronomy 12:17
361. To bring the grain offering as prescribed. DO
If anyone brings a gift as a sacrifice to the Lord, his gift shall be fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it; it is a sacrifice.
Leviticus 2:1
362. Not to put oil on the sinner’s grain offering. DO NOT
If his hand cannot obtain a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, he shall bring as his gift for his sin a tenth of an oiphi of fine flour for sin. He shall pour no oil on it and place no frankincense on it, for it is for sin.
Leviticus 5:11
363. Not to put frankincense on it. DO NOT — the same verse, Leviticus 5:11
364. The priest’s grain offering must not be eaten. DO NOT
Every sacrifice of a priest shall be wholly burned and shall not be eaten.
Leviticus 6:16
365. The grain offering must not be baked with leaven. DO NOT
It shall not be baked leavened. I have given it to them as a portion from the Lord’s offerings. It is most holy, like the offering for sin and the offering for offense.
Leviticus 6:10
366. The priests are to eat what remains of the grain offering. DO
Aaron and his sons shall eat what remains of it. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they shall eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Testimony.
Leviticus 6:9
367. To bring vowed and freewill offerings to the place the Lord chooses. DO
Instead, seek and enter the place the Lord your God will choose in one of your tribes, to name His name there so that it may be invoked. Bring there your whole burnt offerings, sacrifices, firstfruits, vowed offerings, voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep.
Deuteronomy 12:5–6
368. Not to delay in paying a vow. DO NOT
If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you would incur sin.
Deuteronomy 23:22
369. To bring all offerings to the place the Lord chooses. DO — Christ’s teaching: 26
Bring everything I command you today to the place the Lord your God will choose for His name to be invoked there: your whole burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, firstfruits from your hands, gifts, and every choice offering among the gifts you vow to your God.
Deuteronomy 12:11
370. To bring your holy things and vowed offerings to that place. DO
Take whatever sacred things you have and your vowed offerings, and go to the place the Lord your God will choose for His name to be invoked there.
Deuteronomy 12:26
371. Not to slaughter an offering outside the tent of meeting. DO NOT
and does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Testimony to make it a whole burnt offering or a deliverance offering acceptable to the Lord as a fragrant aroma; and whoever slaughters outside and does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Testimony, so that he fails to present a gift to the Lord before the Lord’s tent—blood shall be reckoned to that person. He has poured out blood; that person shall be destroyed from among his people.
Leviticus 17:4
372. Not to offer burnt offerings in any place you see. DO NOT
Take care not to offer your whole burnt offerings at every place you see.
Deuteronomy 12:13
The Daily and Additional Offerings
Temidin u-Musafin · 19 commandments
373. To offer two lambs every day. DO
Say to them: These are the offerings you shall bring to the Lord: two unblemished year-old lambs each day as a continual whole burnt offering.
Numbers 28:3
374. To keep the fire burning on the altar. DO
A fire shall burn continually on the altar; it shall not be extinguished.
Leviticus 6:6
375. Not to let that fire go out. DO NOT — the same verse, Leviticus 6:6
376. To take up the ashes from the altar. DO
The priest shall put on a linen tunic and linen undergarments around his body. He shall remove from the altar the residue of the offering that the fire has consumed in the whole burning and place it beside the altar.
Leviticus 6:3
377. To burn incense every morning. DO
Aaron shall burn finely ground compounded incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.
Exodus 30:7
378. To keep the lamps burning from evening to morning. DO
in the Tent of Testimony, outside the veil over the covenant. Aaron and his sons shall burn it from evening to morning before the Lord, a perpetual statute throughout your generations on behalf of the sons of Israel.
Exodus 27:21
379. The high priest is to bring his grain offering daily. DO
This is the gift of Aaron and his sons that they shall present to the Lord on the day you anoint him: a tenth of an oiphi of fine flour as a continual sacrifice, half in the morning and half in the evening.
Leviticus 6:13
380. To bring the additional offering of the Sabbath. DO
On the Sabbath day bring two unblemished year-old lambs, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour worked with oil as a sacrifice, with a libation.
Numbers 28:9
381. To set the bread of the Presence before the Lord. DO
You shall place the bread of the Presence on the table before Me continually.
Exodus 25:30
382. To bring the additional offering of the new moon. DO
At the new moons bring whole burnt offerings to the Lord: two calves from the herd, one ram, and seven unblemished year-old lambs.
Numbers 28:11
383. To bring the additional offering of Passover. DO
Bring whole burnt offerings, offerings to the Lord: two calves from the herd, one ram, and seven year-old lambs; they shall be unblemished.
Numbers 28:19
384. To bring the sheaf of the firstfruits. DO
Say to the sons of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring a sheaf as the first portion of your harvest to the priest.
Leviticus 23:10
385. To count seven full weeks from the day of the sheaf. DO
You shall count from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the sheaf of the presentation, seven complete weeks.
Leviticus 23:15
386. To bring the additional offering of the Feast of Weeks. DO
On the day of new produce, when you present a new sacrifice to the Lord at the festival of weeks, you shall have a holy appointed assembly. You shall do no laborious work.
Numbers 28:26
387. To bring the two loaves with it. DO
From your dwelling you shall bring bread as a presentation, two loaves. They shall be made from two tenths of fine flour and baked leavened, as firstfruits to the Lord.
Leviticus 23:17
388. To bring the additional offering of the first day of the seventh month. DO
You shall present whole burnt offerings as a fragrant aroma to the Lord: one calf from the cattle, one ram, and seven unblemished year-old lambs.
Numbers 29:2
389. To bring the additional offering of the Day of Atonement. DO
You shall present whole burnt offerings as a fragrant aroma to the Lord, offerings: one calf from the cattle, one ram, and seven year-old lambs; they shall be unblemished for you.
Numbers 29:8
390. To bring the additional offerings of the Feast of Booths. DO
On the first day you shall present whole burnt offerings, offerings, as a fragrant aroma to the Lord: thirteen calves from the cattle, two rams, and fourteen year-old lambs; they shall be unblemished.
Numbers 29:13
391. To bring the additional offering of the eighth day. DO
On the eighth day you shall hold a closing festival. You shall do no laborious work on it.
Numbers 29:35
Offerings Made Unfit
Pesulei HaMukdashin · 8 commandments
392. Not to eat any abominable thing, applied to offerings made unfit. DO NOT
Do not eat anything abominable.
Deuteronomy 14:3
393. Not to eat an offering that has become a defilement. DO NOT
If he eats any of the meat on the third day, it shall not be accepted for the one presenting it or credited to him. It is a defilement, and whoever eats from it shall bear the sin.
Leviticus 7:18
394. Not to leave a thanksgiving offering until morning. DO NOT
It shall be eaten that same day. You shall leave none of the meat until morning. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 22:30
395. Not to eat what remains past its time. DO NOT
Whoever eats it shall bear sin, for he has profaned the Lord’s holy things, and the persons who eat shall be destroyed from among their people.
Leviticus 19:8
396. Not to eat holy flesh that has touched anything unclean. DO NOT
Meat that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned up with fire. Everyone clean may eat meat.
Leviticus 7:19
397. One who is unclean must not eat holy flesh. DO NOT
But anyone who eats meat from the sacrifice of deliverance that belongs to the Lord while his uncleanness is upon him shall perish from among his people.
Leviticus 7:20
398. To burn what remains on the third day. DO
What remains of the sacrifice’s meat until the third day shall be burned up with fire.
Leviticus 7:17
399. To burn holy flesh that has become unclean. DO
Meat that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned up with fire. Everyone clean may eat meat.
Leviticus 7:19
The Service of the Day of Atonement
Avodat Yom HaKippurim · 1 commandment
400. To carry out the service of the Day of Atonement in its order. DO
In this way Aaron shall enter the holy place: with a calf from the cattle for sin and a ram for a whole burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:3
Trespass against Holy Things
Me’ilah · 3 commandments
401. One who trespasses against the holy things is to repay with a fifth added and bring an offering. DO
He shall repay what he has sinned against among the holy things, add a fifth to it, and give it to the priest. The priest shall make propitiation for him with the ram of the offense offering, and he shall be forgiven.
Leviticus 5:16
402. Not to work with a firstborn of the herd. DO NOT
Consecrate to the Lord your God every male firstborn born among your cattle and sheep. Do not work your firstborn calf or shear your firstborn sheep.
Deuteronomy 15:19
403. Not to shear a firstborn of the flock. DO NOT — the same verse, Deuteronomy 15:19
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Saints Translation · The Commandments · the traditional count of 613 after Maimonides; statements in our own words; verses quoted from the Saints Translation · working draft awaiting specialist review.