“Here is what you must take from this second ram. Take the fat, the fat tail and the fat around the inside parts. Take the long part of the liver. Also take both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. It is the ram you must use when you prepare the priests to serve the Lord.
Make the hearts of these people stubborn. Plug up their ears. Close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes. They might hear with their ears. They might understand with their hearts. And they might turn to me and be healed.”
I will give you new hearts. I will give you a new spirit that is faithful to me. I will remove your stubborn hearts from you. I will give you hearts that obey me.
“But the priests must approach me to serve me. They are Levites from Zadok’s family line. They guarded my temple when the people of Israel turned away from me. These priests must serve me by offering sacrifices of fat and blood,” announces the Lord and King.
They must place their hand on the animal’s head. It must be killed at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the priests in Aaron’s family line must splash the blood against the sides of the altar.
It must include both kidneys with the fat on them next to the lower back muscles. It must also include the long part of the liver. All of it must be removed together with the kidneys.
He must remove it in the same way the fat is removed from an ox sacrificed as a friendship offering. Then the priest must burn all of it on the altar for burnt offerings.
They must bring it with their own hands. It is a food offering presented to the Lord. They must bring the fat together with the breast. They must lift the breast up and wave it in front of the Lord as a wave offering.
He burned the fat and the kidneys on the altar. He also burned the long part of the liver. All these parts were from the sin offering. Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
And hope will never bring us shame. That’s because God’s love has been poured into our hearts. This happened through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
We know that what we used to be was nailed to the cross with him. That happened so our bodies that were ruled by sin would lose their power. So we are no longer slaves of sin.
The Lord your God will keep you from being stubborn. He’ll do the same thing for your children and their children. Then you will love him with all your heart and with all your soul. And you will live.
Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come over. He would speak to the person who was offering the sacrifice. He would say, “Give the priest some meat to cook. He won’t accept boiled meat from you. He’ll only accept raw meat.”