Leviticus 4–7

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

4The Lord commanded Moses ²to tell the people of Israel that anyone who sinned and broke any of the Lord’s commands without intending to, would have to observe the following rules.

³If it is the High Priest who sins and so brings guilt on the people, he shall present a young bull without any defects and sacrifice it to the Lord for his sin. ⁴He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent, put his hand on its head, and kill it there in the Lord’s presence. ⁵Then the High Priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and carry it into the Tent. ⁶He shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it in front of the sacred curtain seven times. ⁷Then he shall put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the incense altar in the Tent. He shall pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar used for burning sacrifices, which is at the entrance of the Tent. ⁸From this bull he shall take all the fat, the fat on the internal organs, ⁹the kidneys and the fat on them, and the best part of the liver. ¹⁰The priest shall take this fat and burn it on the altar used for the burnt offerings, just as he does with the fat from the animal killed for the fellowship offering. ¹¹But he shall take its skin, all its flesh, its head, its legs, and its internal organs including the intestines, ¹²carry it all outside the camp to the ritually clean place where the ashes are poured out, and there he shall burn it on a wood fire.

¹³If it is the whole community of Israel that sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the Lord’s commands without intending to, ¹⁴then as soon as the sin becomes known, the community shall bring a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it to the Tent of the Lord’s presence; ¹⁵the leaders of the community shall put their hands on its head, and it shall be killed there. ¹⁶The High Priest shall take some of the bull’s blood into the Tent, ¹⁷dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it in front of the curtain seven times. ¹⁸He shall put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the incense altar inside the Tent and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar used for burning sacrifices, which is at the entrance of the Tent. ¹⁹Then he shall take all its fat and burn it on the altar. ²⁰He shall do the same thing with this bull as he does with the bull for the sin offering, and in this way he shall make the sacrifice for the people’s sin, and they will be forgiven. ²¹Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burns the bull offered for his own sin. This is an offering to take away the sin of the community.

²²If it is a ruler who sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the Lord’s commands without intending to, ²³then as soon as his attention is called to the sin, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without any defects. ²⁴He shall put his hand on its head and kill it on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is an offering to take away sin. ²⁵The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the animal, put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ²⁶Then he shall burn all its fat on the altar, just as he burns the fat of the animals killed for the fellowship offerings. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin of the ruler, and he will be forgiven.

^27*If it is one of the common people who sins and becomes guilty of breaking one of the Lord’s commands without intending to, ^28*then as soon as his attention is called to the sin, he shall bring as his offering a female goat without any defects. ^29*He shall put his hand on its head and kill it on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. ^30*The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the animal, put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ^31*Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat is removed from the animals killed for the fellowship offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar so that the smell pleases the Lord. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

³²If a man brings a sheep as a sin offering, it must be a female without any defects. ³³He shall put his hand on its head and kill it on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. ³⁴The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the animal, put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ³⁵Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat is removed from the sheep killed for the fellowship offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the food offerings given to the Lord. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

Cases Requiring Sin-Offerings

5Sin offerings are required in the following cases. If someone is officially summoned to give evidence in court and does not give information about something he has seen or heard, he must suffer the consequences.

²If someone unintentionally touches anything ritually unclean, such as a dead animal, he is unclean and guilty as soon as he realizes what he has done.

³If someone unintentionally touches anything of human origin that is unclean, whatever it may be, he is guilty as soon as he realizes what he has done.

⁴If someone makes a careless vow, no matter what it is about, he is guilty as soon as he realizes what he has done.

⁵When a person is guilty, he must confess the sin, ⁶and as the penalty for his sin he must bring to the Lord a female sheep or goat as an offering. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin.

⁷If a man cannot afford a sheep or a goat, he shall bring to the Lord as the payment for his sin two doves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸He shall bring them to the priest, who will first offer the bird for the sin offering. He will break its neck without pulling off its head ⁹and sprinkle some of its blood against the side of the altar. The rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering to take away sin. ¹⁰Then he shall offer the second bird as a burnt offering, according to the regulations. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

¹¹If a man cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, he shall bring one kilogramme of flour as a sin offering. He shall not put any olive oil or any incense on it, because it is a sin offering, not a grain offering. ¹²He shall bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of it as a token that it has all been offered to the Lord, and he will burn it on the altar as a food offering. It is an offering to take away sin. ¹³In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the flour belongs to the priest, just as in the case of a grain offering.

Repayment-Offerings

¹⁴The Lord gave the following regulations to Moses. ¹⁵If anyone sins unintentionally by failing to hand over the payments that are sacred to the Lord, he shall bring as his repayment offering to the Lord a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ¹⁶He must make the payments he has failed to hand over and must pay an additional twenty per cent. He shall give it to the priest, and the priest shall offer the animal as a sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁷If anyone sins unintentionally by breaking any of the Lord’s commands, he is guilty and must pay the penalty. ¹⁸He must bring to the priest as a repayment offering a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin which the man committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. ¹⁹It is a repayment offering for the sin he committed against the Lord.

6^*The Lord gave the following regulations to Moses. ^2*An offering is to be made if anyone sins against the Lord by refusing to return what a fellow-Israelite has left as a deposit or by stealing something from him or by cheating him ^3*or by lying about something that has been lost and swearing that he did not find it. ^4–5*When a man sins in any of these ways, he must repay whatever he got by dishonest means. On the day he is found guilty, he must repay the owner in full, plus an additional twenty per cent. ^6*He shall bring to the priest as his repayment offering to the Lord a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ^7*The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

Sacrifices Burnt Whole

⁸The Lord commanded Moses ⁹to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for burnt offerings. A burnt offering is to be left on the altar all night long, and the fire is to be kept burning. ¹⁰Then the priest, wearing his linen robe and linen shorts, shall remove the greasy ashes left on the altar and put them at the side of the altar. ¹¹Then he shall change his clothes and take the ashes outside the camp to a ritually clean place. ¹²The fire on the altar must be kept burning and never allowed to go out. Every morning the priest shall put firewood on it, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat of the fellowship offering. ¹³The fire must always be kept burning on the altar and never allowed to go out.

Grain-Offerings

¹⁴The following are the regulations for grain offerings. An Aaronite priest shall present the grain offering to the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵Then he shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and the incense on it, and burn it on the altar as a token that all of it has been offered to the Lord. The smell of this offering is…