sacrifices

¹And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.

²²And Samuel said: “Does the Lord want holocausts and victims, and not instead that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifice. And to heed is greater than to offer the fat of rams.

²And walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and delivered himself for us, as an oblation and a sacrifice to God, with a fragrance of sweetness.

¹⁸For if you had desired sacrifice, I would certainly have given it, but with holocausts, you will not be delighted. ¹⁹A crushed spirit is a sacrifice to God. A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

³³and that he should be loved from the whole heart, and from the whole understanding, and from the whole soul, and from the whole strength. And to love one’s neighbor as one’s self is greater than all holocausts and sacrifices.”

⁵be also yourselves like living stones, built upon him, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, so as to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

²²And nearly everything, according to the law, is to be cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.

¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you, so that you may atone with it upon the altar for your souls, and so that the blood may be for an expiation of the soul.

¹¹The multitude of your sacrifices, what is that to me, says the Lord? I am full. I do not desire holocausts of rams, nor the fat of fatlings, nor the blood of calves and of lambs and of he-goats.

¹Then the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle of the testimony, saying: ²Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: The man among you who will offer to the Lord a sacrifice from the cattle, that is, an offering of victims of oxen or sheep: ³if his offering will be a holocaust, as well as from the herd, he shall offer an immaculate male at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, to make himself pleasing to the Lord. ⁴And he shall place his hand on the head of the sacrifice, and so it shall be acceptable and effective, in its expiation. ⁵And he shall immolate the calf in the sight of the Lord. And the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall offer its blood, pouring it all around the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle. ⁶And having pulled away the skin of the victim, they shall cut up the joints into pieces,

¹For the law contains the shadow of future good things, not the very image of these things. So, by the very same sacrifices which they offer ceaselessly each year, they can never cause these to approach perfection. ²Otherwise, they would have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer be conscious of any sin. ³Instead, in these things, a commemoration of sins is made every year. ⁴For it is impossible for sins to be taken away by the blood of oxen and goats. ⁵For this reason, as Christ enters into the world, he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have fashioned a body for me. ⁶Holocausts for sin were not pleasing to you.

¹Then the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle of the testimony, saying: ²Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: The man among you who will offer to the Lord a sacrifice from the cattle, that is, an offering of victims of oxen or sheep: ³if his offering will be a holocaust, as well as from the herd, he shall offer an immaculate male at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, to make himself pleasing to the Lord. ⁴And he shall place his hand on the head of the sacrifice, and so it shall be acceptable and effective, in its expiation. ⁵And he shall immolate the calf in the sight of the Lord. And the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall offer its blood, pouring it all around the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle. ⁶And having pulled away the skin of the victim, they shall cut up the joints into pieces,

¹⁵Therefore, through him, let us offer the sacrifice of continual praise to God, which is the fruit of lips confessing his name. ¹⁶But do not be willing to forget good works and fellowship. For God is deserving of such sacrifices.

²⁹On the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and so he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, he who takes away the sin of the world.

⁶What worthy thing might I offer to the Lord, as I bend the knee before God on high? How could I offer holocausts to him, and one year-old calves? ⁷Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of fat he-goats? How could I give up my firstborn because of my evil deed, the fruit of my womb because of the sin of my soul? ⁸I will reveal to you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires from you, and how to act with judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk carefully with your God.

⁴For it is impossible for sins to be taken away by the blood of oxen and goats.

¹For the law contains the shadow of future good things, not the very image of these things. So, by the very same sacrifices which they offer ceaselessly each year, they can never cause these to approach perfection. ²Otherwise, they would have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer be conscious of any sin. ³Instead, in these things, a commemoration of sins is made every year. ⁴For it is impossible for sins to be taken away by the blood of oxen and goats. ⁵For this reason, as Christ enters into the world, he says: “Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have fashioned a body for me. ⁶Holocausts for sin were not pleasing to you.

¹⁸But I have everything in abundance. I have been filled up, having received from Epaphroditus the things that you sent; this is an odor of sweetness, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.