The Place of Sacrifice
The LORD speaks through Moses and lays down the basic command: anyone who slaughters an ox, lamb, or goat apart from the Tent of Meeting incurs bloodguilt and faces removal from the people.
T1hen the LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them this is what the LORD has commanded: 3‘Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle— that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people.
Israel is to bring such animals to the priest at the Tent of Meeting, where the blood and fat are offered on the LORD’s altar. This gathers their sacrifices away from the open fields and from the goat demons they have pursued.
5For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD. 6The priest will then splatter the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 7They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
The rule extends to any burnt offering or sacrifice brought by an Israelite or a foreigner living among them. Anyone who offers it anywhere but the entrance to the Tent of Meeting must be cut off.
8Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people.