Leviticus 4:1–21

Offerings for Unintentional Wrongdoing

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the Lord’s commands—this is what he must do. 

Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Chief Priest

³“If the anointed priest does something wrong and brings guilt on the people, he must bring a bull that has no defects as an offering for sin to the Lord. ⁴He must bring the bull into the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will place his hand on the bull’s head. He will then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence. ⁵Then the anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. ⁶The priest will dip his finger in it and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the Lord’s presence facing the canopy in the holy place. ⁷Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for sweet-smelling incense in the Lord’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the bull’s blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸He will remove all of the fat from the bull that is the offering for sin, the fat that covers the internal organs, ⁹and the two kidneys with the fat on them. He will also remove the lobe of the liver and the kidneys ¹⁰the same way they were removed from the bull used for the fellowship offering. The priest will lay them on the altar for burnt offerings. ¹¹Then he will take the entire bull (the skin, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and excrement) ¹²to a clean^aplace outside the camp where the ashes are dumped. He will burn it there on a wood fire. 

Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Whole Congregation

¹³“If the whole congregation of Israel unintentionally does something wrong, without the assembly being aware of it, if they do even one thing that is forbidden by any of the Lord’s commands, they will be guilty. ¹⁴When the wrong they have done becomes known, the congregation must sacrifice a bull as an offering for sin. They must bring it in front of the tent of meeting. ¹⁵The leaders of the congregation will place their hands on the bull’s head in the Lord’s presence. One of them will slaughter it in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁶Then the anointed priest will bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. ¹⁷The priest will dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the Lord’s presence facing the canopy. ¹⁸He will also put some blood on the horns of the altar in the Lord’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹He will remove all the fat and burn it on the altar. ²⁰He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven. ²¹Then he will take the bull outside the camp and will burn it the same way he burned the first bull. It is an offering for sin for the community.