A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
Parallel translations
- WEB Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.
- KJV The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.
- BSB The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not be extinguished.
- NASB Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.
- NLT Remember, the fire must be kept burning on the altar at all times. It must never go out.
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
The fire on the altar must be kept burning continually and never go out. God's worship and atonement are to be perpetual and unbroken.
Overview
The command is emphatically repeated: the altar fire must burn continually. This perpetual flame symbolized God's abiding presence and Israel's constant need for atonement and devotion. It foreshadows the unending efficacy of Christ's sacrifice and the never-extinguished fire of true, abiding worship (Romans 12:1).
Cross-references & the web
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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 6:13 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
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