If one’s offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before Yahweh:
- KJV And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
- ESV “If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD
- NKJV ‘And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord.
- NASB ‘Now if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord,
- NLT “If you present a goat as your offering, bring it to the Lord,
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A goat may also be brought as a peace offering before the LORD. The fellowship offering may come from goats as well as sheep and cattle.
Overview
The law extends the peace offering to goats, broadening the options available to worshipers. The same procedures apply regardless of which animal is chosen. This flexibility within a fixed pattern shows God's gracious accommodation while preserving the offering's meaning, all pointing toward the fellowship with God now freely available through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Matt 25:32–33All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- Lev 9:3Then speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without blemish—for a burnt offering,
- Lev 22:19–27must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.
- Lev 10:16Later, Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked,
- Lev 3:1“If one’s offering is a peace offering and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he must present it without blemish before the LORD.
- Lev 1:2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, you may bring as your offering an animal from the herd or the flock.
- Lev 1:10If, however, one’s offering is a burnt offering from the flock—from the sheep or goats—he is to present an unblemished male.
- 2 Cor 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Lev 9:15Aaron then presented the people’s offering. He took the male goat for the people’s sin offering, slaughtered it, and offered it for sin like the first one.
- Lev 1:6Next, he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.
- Rom 8:3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
- Isa 53:2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
- Isa 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- Lev 3:7–17If he is presenting a lamb for his offering, he must present it before the LORD.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 3:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.