1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land that I am giving you as a home 3and you present an offering made by fire to the LORD from the herd or flock to produce a pleasing aroma to the LORD—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, for a special vow or freewill offering or appointed feast— 4then the one presenting his offering to the LORD shall also present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter hin of olive oil. 5With the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb, you are to prepare a quarter hin of wine as a drink offering. 6With a ram you are to prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of olive oil, 7and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 8When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the LORD, 9present with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil. 10Also present half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It is an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 11This is to be done for each bull, ram, lamb, or goat. 12This is how you must prepare each one, no matter how many. 13Everyone who is native-born shall prepare these things in this way when he presents an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 14And for the generations to come, if a foreigner residing with you or someone else among you wants to prepare an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he is to do exactly as you do. 15The assembly is to have the same statute both for you and for the foreign resident; it is a permanent statute for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD. 16The same law and the same ordinance will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing with you.” 17Then the LORD said to Moses, 18“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land to which I am bringing you 19and you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD. 20From the first of your dough, you are to lift up a cake as a contribution; offer it just like an offering from the threshing floor. 21Throughout your generations, you are to give the LORD an offering from the first of your dough. 22Now if you stray unintentionally and do not obey all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses— 23all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come— 24and if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, then the whole congregation is to prepare one young bull as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering. 25The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by fire and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin. 26Then the whole congregation of Israel and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, since it happened to all the people unintentionally. 27Also, if one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. 29You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you. 30But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people. 31He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.” 32While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33Those who found the man gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, 34and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody. 35And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.” 36So the whole congregation took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 37Later, the LORD said to Moses, 38“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout the generations to come they are to make for themselves tassels for the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes. 40Then you will remember and obey all My commandments, and you will be holy to your God. 41I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.”
Matthew Henry's Commentary
The law of the meat-offering and the drink-offering The stranger under the same law. (1-21) The sacrifice for the sin of ignorance. (22-29) The punishment of presumption The sabbath-breaker stoned. (30-36) The law for fringes on garment. (37-41) 1-21 Full instructions are given about the meat-offerings and drink-offerings. The beginning of this law is very encouraging, When ye come into the land of your habitation which I give unto you. This was a plain intimation that God would secure the promised land to their seed. It was requisite, since the sacrifices of acknowledgment were intended as the food of God's table, that there should be a constant supply of bread, oil, and wine, whatever the flesh-meat was. And the intent of this law is to direct the proportions of the meat-offering and drink-offering. Natives and strangers are placed on a level in this as in other like matters. It was a happy forewarning of the calling of the Gentiles, and of their admission into the church. If the law made so little difference between Jew and Gentile, much less would the gospel, which broke down the partition-wall, and reconciled both to God. 22-29 Though ignorance will in a degree excuse, it will not justify those who might have known their Lord's will, yet did it not. David prayed to be cleansed from his secret faults, those sins which he himself was not aware of. Sins committed ignorantly, shall be forgiven through Christ the great Sacrifice, who, when he offered up himself once for all upon the cross, seemed to explain one part of the intention of his offering, in that prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. It looked favourably upon the Gentiles, that this law of atoning for sins of ignorance, is expressly made to extend to those who were strangers to Israel. 30-36 Those are to be reckoned presumptuous sinners, who sin designedly against God's will and glory. Sins thus committed are exceedingly sinful. He that thus breaks the commandment reproaches the Lord. He also despises the word of the Lord. Presumptuous sinners despise it, thinking themselves too great, too good, and too wise, to be ruled by it. A particular instance of presumption in the sin of sabbath-breaking is related. The offence was gathering sticks on the sabbath day, to make a fire, whereas the people were to bake and seethe what they had occasion for, the day before, #Ex 16:23|. This was done as an affront both to the law and to the Lawgiver. God is jealous for the honour of his sabbaths, and will not hold him guiltless who profanes them, whatever men may do. God intended this punishment for a warning to all, to make conscience of keeping holy the sabbath. And we may be assured that no command was ever given for the punishment of sin, which, at the judgment day, shall not prove to have come from perfect love and justice. The right of God to a day of devotion to himself, will be disputed and denied only by such as listen to the pride and unbelief of their hearts, rather than to the teaching of the Spirit of truth and life. Wherein consists the difference between him who was detected gathering sticks in the wilderness on the day of God, and the man who turns his back upon the blessings of sabbath appointments, and the promises of sabbath mercies, to use his time, his cares, and his soul, in heaping up riches; and waste his hours, his property, and his strength in sinful pleasure? Wealth may come by the unhallowed effort, but it will not come alone; it will have its awful reward. Sinful pursuits lead to ruin. 37-41 The people are ordered by the Lord to make fringes on the borders of their garments. The Jews were distinguished from their neighbours in their dress, as well as in their diet, and thus taught not to be conformed to the way of the heathen in other things. They proclaimed themselves Jews wherever they were, as not ashamed of God and his law. The fringes were not appointed for trimming and adorning their clothes, but to stir up their minds by way of remembrance, #2Pe 3:1|. If they were tempted to sin, the fringe would warn them not to break God's commandments. We should use every means of refreshing our memories with the truths and precepts of God's word, to strengthen and quicken our obedience, and arm our minds against temptation. Be holy unto your God; cleansed from sin, and sincerely devoted to his service; and that great reason for all the commandments is again and again repeated, "I am the Lord your God."