Tamid, Chapter 4, Mishnah 3. We are in the middle of the dismembering of the korban Tamid. The animal has been flayed and opened, and now each portion is being cut free and placed into the hands of the kohen who won it in the lottery, so that he can carry it toward the mizbeach. This mishnah finishes the cutting, and then lines up the kohanim for the walk to the mizbeach.
Separating the Lungs from the Liver
"Natal hasakin vehifrish et hare'ah min hakaved." The kohen who had done the shechitah took the knife and detached the lungs from the liver. These two organs were not offered together on the mizbeach, and each was assigned to a different carrier, so they had to be parted from one another.
"Ve'etzba hakaved min hakaved." There was also a small protrusion of flesh attached to the liver, a kind of finger. That piece was not offered together with the liver itself. Still, it was not removed at this stage of the avodah: "velo hayah meziza mimkomah," he did not shift it from its place now. Its detachment came later.
"Nikav et hechazeh untanah lemi shezachah bah." Next he removed the chazeh, the fatty portion at the front of the animal's chest, and placed it into the hands of the kohen to whom the lottery had assigned it.
The Right Flank
"Alah lidofen hayemanit." His knife now moved up to the flank on the right side. "Hayah chotech veyored al hashidrah." Beginning at the gap that separates the second rib from the third, counting from the tail end, he cut downward along the side until his blade arrived at the backbone.
"Velo hayah noge'a bashidrah ad shehu magi'a lishnei tzela'ot rakot." He was careful not to cut into the spine itself. Only when he had come all the way to the two soft ribs at the far end, the ones nearest the head, did he cut through there.
"Chatachah untanah lemi shezachah bah." He severed that whole right flank and gave it to the kohen who had won it. Two ribs remained attached at the tail end and the two soft ribs remained attached at the neck end. "Vehakaved teluyah bah." The liver came along with the right flank, hanging from it.
The Neck
"Ba lo lagerah." His next portion was the gerah, the neck. "Vehini'ach bah shtei tzela'ot mikan ushtei tzela'ot mikan." In severing the backbone at the point where the neck parts from the rest of the carcass, he made certain that the two small ribs closest to the head stayed joined to the neck on either flank, a pair on the right and a pair on the left.
"Chatachah untanah lemi shezachah bah." He severed the gerah and delivered it to the kohen appointed to carry it. "Vehakaneh vehalev vehare'ah teluyim bah." Dangling from this piece were three organs: the trachea, the heart, and the lungs.
By now the greater part of the korban had been distributed. Three things were still on the hook: the hind leg on the left, the backbone, and the ribs along the animal's left side.
The Left Flank
"Ba lo lidofen hasemalit." Now the flank on the left, handled precisely as its opposite had been: a cut through the side running down to the backbone. "Vehini'ach bah shtei tzela'ot rakot milemalah." His incision started at the space dividing the second rib from the third at the tail end, so that two soft ribs remained above. Recall that the carcass hung from the hooks by its hind legs, which put the tail uppermost while the head pointed downward. "Ushtei tzela'ot rakot milematah": two soft ribs were likewise left below, beside the head.
"Vechach hayah mani'ach bachaverta." The matching flank on the opposite side had received identical treatment. "Nimtza mani'ach bishteihen shtayim shtayim milemalah ushtayim shtayim milematah." Each of the two flanks was therefore left with a pair of ribs at its upper end, toward the tail, and a pair at its lower end, toward the neck.
"Chatachah untanah lemi shezachah bah." He detached this flank and delivered it to the kohen who had drawn it. "Vehashidrah imah vehatechol talui bah." Joined to it was the backbone, and from the flank there hung the spleen.
"Vehi hayetah gedolah, ela shel yamin korin gedolah shehakaved teluyah bah." Measured by bulk, the left side was in truth the bigger piece, since the backbone traveled along with it. Yet the title "the large one" belonged to the right flank, the lesser of the two in size, on account of the liver that was suspended from it.
The Rump and the Left Leg
"Ba lo la'oketz." Next came the oketz, the rear stretch of the backbone reaching from those final two ribs to the tail itself. "Chotecho untano lemi shezachah bo." This too he severed and passed to the kohen assigned to it. "Ve'alyah ve'etzba hakaved ushtei chelayot imo." Traveling with this portion were the fat tail, the liver's little finger noted a moment ago, and both kidneys.
"Natal regel hasemalit untanah lemi shezachah bah." Finally he took the left hind leg, the last piece still hanging from the hook, and handed it to the kohen who had won it.
The Line of Nine Kohanim
The dismembering of the Tamid is now complete. Every portion is in the hands of the kohen who will bring it to the mizbeach, and the mishnah now describes how they arranged themselves for the walk.
"Nimtze'u kulan omdin beshurah veha'evarim beyadam." All of them stood in a row, the limbs of the Tamid held in their hands.
"Harishon barosh uvaregel." To the first in line belonged the head together with the right hind leg. "Harosh bimino vechotmo klapei zero'o." He held the head on his right side, the snout turned inward toward his forearm and his own body. "Vekarnav bein etzbe'otav uveit shechitah milemalah." It was inverted, the horns slipping through his fingers, so that the neck where the shechitah had been performed pointed upward. "Vehapeder natun aleha." Over that cut the fat had been spread, as the preceding mishnah described. The reason is kavod: one may not come before the mizbeach displaying a raw gash, and so it was screened by the fat. "Veharegel shel yamin bismolo." His left side held the right hind leg, "uveit oro lachutz," positioned with the hide turned out and upward, once again the more respectful way of presenting the piece.
"Hasheni bishtei yadayim." The next in line bore the pair of forelegs. "Shel yamin bimino, shel semol bismolo, uveit oran lachutz." Each one on its own side, right with right and left with left, the hide of both facing outward.
"Hashelishi ba'oketz uvaregel." Third came the kohen bearing the oketz along with the left hind leg. "Ha'oketz bimino veha'alyah medulderet bein etzbe'otav." The oketz rested on his right, the fat tail swinging down through his fingers. "Ve'etzba hakaved ushtei haklayot imo." Accompanying it were the finger of liver and the pair of kidneys. "Haregel shel semol bismolo uveit oro lachutz." On the left he held the left hind leg, its hide facing out.
"Harevi'i bechazeh uvagerah." Fourth in the row was the kohen holding the chazeh and the gerah. "Hechazeh bimino, vehagerah bismolo, vetzela'oteha bein etzbe'otav." The chazeh lay on his right side and the neck on his left, its ribs threaded through his fingers. Recall that trachea, heart and lungs traveled with this neck.
"Hachamishi bishtei defanot." Fifth walked the kohen who held both flanks. "Shel yamin bimino veshel semol bismolo, uveit oran lachutz." Each flank on its matching side, the right one bearing the liver, the left one bearing the spleen, and the hide of each facing outward.
"Hashishi bakeravayim hantunim bebazach." The sixth kohen carried the innards, which were set in a large vessel shaped like a big spoon. "Ukhera'ayim al gabeihen milemalah." The animal's lower legs were placed on top of them.
Six kohanim, then, carried the animal itself. Three more followed with everything that accompanied the Tamid onto the mizbeach.
"Hashevi'i basolet." The seventh carried the vessel with the solet, the fine flour of the accompanying minchah. "Hasheminibachavitin." The eighth carried the chavitin, the loaves of the kohen gadol. "Hateshi'i bayayin." The ninth carried the vessel of wine for the nisuch, the pouring of the wine.
Halfway Up the Ramp, and Then Shema
From the site of the dismembering the kohanim now proceeded with the limbs and the accompanying offerings toward the mizbeach, and the journey came in two legs. First the pieces were carried only a short distance up the kevesh, the ramp, and there they received their salt; only afterward did they continue upward until they reached the mizbeach itself.
Why the delay? Salt draws out whatever blood is left, so the portions were allowed to sit for a while and let that blood run off. And why stop below the ramp's midpoint instead of proceeding straight up? Because had they been deposited at the summit, the start of the next avodah would have gone unnoticed. Resting them lower down made the subsequent climb toward the mizbeach plainly visible, so that everyone present could recognize that a fresh stage of the service had begun.
"Halchu untanum mechatzi hakevesh ulematah." They walked over and set the pieces down below the ramp's midpoint, "bema'aravo," along its western edge. "Umlachum." Salt was applied there. Wine was naturally excluded, but everything else received salt, since nothing may ascend the mizbeach unsalted.
"Veyardu uva'u lahem lelishkat hagazit likrot Shema." They then came down from the ramp and went to the Lishkat Hagazit to recite Shema and the rest of the morning tefillah.