Leviticus 4
New Living Translation
Procedures for the Sin Offering
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. This is how you are to deal with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything that violates one of the Lord’s commands.
3 “If the high priest[a] sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects. 4 He must bring the bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle,[b] lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. 5 The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 6 dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 8 Then the priest must remove all the fat of the bull to be offered as a sin offering. This includes all the fat around the internal organs, 9 the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. He must remove these along with the kidneys, 10 just as he does with cattle offered as a peace offering, and burn them on the altar of burnt offerings. 11 But he must take whatever is left of the bull—its hide, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and dung— 12 and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.
13 “If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 14 When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. 15 The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord. 16 The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 17 dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain. 18 He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 19 Then the priest must remove all the animal’s fat and burn it on the altar, 20 just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord,[c] and they will be forgiven. 21 Then the priest must take what is left of the bull and carry it outside the camp and burn it there, just as is done with the sin offering for the high priest. This offering is for the sin of the entire congregation of Israel.
22 “If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the Lord his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty. 23 When he becomes aware of his sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat with no defects. 24 He must lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the Lord. This is an offering for his sin. 25 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 26 Then he must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar, just as he does with the peace offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the leader from his sin, making him right with the Lord, and he will be forgiven.
27 “If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 28 When they become aware of their sin, they must bring as an offering for their sin a female goat with no defects. 29 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.
32 “If the people bring a sheep as their sin offering, it must be a female with no defects. 33 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 34 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 35 Then he must remove all the sheep’s fat, just as he does with the fat of a sheep presented as a peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar on top of the special gifts presented to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people from their sin, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.
Leviticus 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Purification Offerings
4 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, saying: When anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done and does any one of them:(A)
3 “If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull of the herd as a purification offering to the Lord.(B) 4 He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull; the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.(C) 5 The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting.(D) 6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.(E) 8 He shall remove all the fat from the bull of purification offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails,(F) 9 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys, 10 just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall turn them into smoke upon the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, as well as its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12 all the rest of the bull—he shall carry out to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash heap, and shall burn it on a wood fire; at the ash heap it shall be burned.(G)
13 “If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt,(H) 14 when the sin that they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a purification offering and bring it before the tent of meeting.(I) 15 The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.(J) 16 The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the curtain.(K) 18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19 He shall remove all its fat and turn it into smoke on the altar. 20 He shall do with the bull just as is done with the bull of purification offering; he shall do the same with this. The priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.(L) 21 He shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the purification offering for the assembly.
22 “When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt,(M) 23 once the sin that he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish.(N) 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat; it shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord; it is a purification offering. 25 The priest shall take some of the blood of the purification offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.(O) 26 All its fat he shall turn into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of well-being. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.(P)
27 “If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt,(Q) 28 when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed.(R) 29 You shall lay your hand on the head of the purification offering; the purification offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering.(S) 30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 He shall remove all its fat, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar for a pleasing odor to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf, and you shall be forgiven.
32 “If the offering you bring as a purification offering is a sheep, you shall bring a female without blemish.(T) 33 You shall lay your hand on the head of the purification offering; it shall be slaughtered as a purification offering at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the purification offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 You shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the sheep is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire[a] to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.(U)
Footnotes
- 4.35 Or the gifts
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.