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The Guilt Offering

When a person sins in hearing the spoken oath, and he is a witness, whether he saw or knew about the incident, if he does not report it, he bears guilt.

Or when a person touches any ceremonially unclean thing, whether it is a carcass of unclean wildlife, or a carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean crawling thing, and he did not realize it, then he has become unclean and guilty.

Or when he touches human uncleanness, any uncleanness by which he may become ceremonially unclean, and he did not realize it, when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.

Or when a person swears by speaking rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good, anything that a man may speak rashly by oath, and he did not realize it, but when he realizes it, then he has become guilty of any of these things.

When he becomes guilty of one of these things, he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing. And he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

If he cannot afford an animal, then he shall bring for his guilt offering, on account of the sin that he committed, two turtledoves or two pigeons to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. He shall bring them to the priest who shall offer the one for the sin offering first. He will wring off its head at its neck, but he shall not sever it. Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 But the second he shall treat as a burnt offering according to the regulation. The priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he committed, and he shall be forgiven.

11 But if he cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, he shall bring for his offering for the sin that he committed one-tenth of an ephah[a] of wheat flour for a sin offering. He shall not place olive oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall scoop out a handful from it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar as a food offering to the Lord made by fire. It is a sin offering. 13 The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he committed from any of these offenses, and he shall be forgiven. The remainder will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.

Offerings With Restitution

14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 15 When a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the Lord, then for his restitution offering to the Lord he shall bring a ram without blemish from the flock—or its equivalent, in your estimation, in silver shekels (using the sanctuary shekel[b])—for a guilt offering. 16 And he shall repay the sin that he committed with regard to the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.

17 If a person sins unintentionally and does any one of the things that by commandments of the Lord should not be done and he is found guilty, he shall bear his iniquity. 18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock—or its equivalent value[c]—for a guilt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering: He has indeed incurred guilt before the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 5:11 Likely about 3½ pounds, or 1.6 kilograms.
  2. Leviticus 5:15 About ⅖ ounce, or 12 grams.
  3. Leviticus 5:18 This is a shorthand version of the full formula found in Lev 5:15.

More Laws Regarding Sin Offerings

“‘When a person[a] sins in that[b] he hears the utterance of a curse and he is a witness or he sees or he knows, if he does not make it known, then[c] he shall bear his guilt. Or if a person[d] touches anything unclean, whether[e] an unclean wild[f] animal’s dead body or an unclean domestic animal’s dead body or an unclean swarmer’s dead body, but[g] he is unaware of it,[h] he is unclean and he is guilty. Or when he touches human uncleanness, namely[i] any uncleanness of his by which he might become unclean, but[j] he is unaware of it,[k] and he himself finds out, then[l] he will be guilty. Or when a person[m] swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, to do evil or to do good with regard to[n] anything that the person[o] in a sworn oath speaks thoughtlessly, but[p] he is unaware of it,[q] he will be guilty in any of[r] these. When he becomes guilty in any of[s] these, he shall confess[t] what he has sinned regarding[u] it, and he shall bring his guilt offering to[v] Yahweh for his sin that he has committed:[w] a female from the flock,[x] a ewe-lamb or a she-goat,[y] as a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for[z] his sin.

“‘If[aa] he cannot afford a sheep,[ab] he shall bring as his guilt offering for what he sinned two turtledoves or two young doves[ac] for Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. He shall bring[ad] them to the priest, and he shall present that which is for the sin offering first, and the priest[ae] shall wring its head off at the back of its neck,[af] but[ag] he must not sever it, and he shall spatter some of[ah] the sin offering’s blood on the altar’s side, and the leftover blood must be drained out on the altar’s base; it is a sin offering. 10 The second[ai] bird he must prepare as a burnt offering according to the regulation, and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he has committed,[aj] and he shall be forgiven.

11 “‘But[ak] if he cannot afford[al] two turtledoves or two young doves,[am] then,[an] because he has sinned, he shall bring as his offering a tenth of an[ao] ephah of finely milled flour as a sin offering. He must not put[ap] oil on it, nor should he put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring[aq] it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it[ar] for its token portion, and he shall turn it to smoke on the altar in addition to[as] the offerings made by fire to Yahweh; it is a sin offering. 13 Thus[at] the priest shall make atonement for him because of the sin that he has committed[au] in any of these,[av] and he shall be forgiven. It shall be[aw] for the priest, like the grain offering.’”

Laws for Guilt Offerings

14 Then[ax] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “When a person[ay] displays infidelity[az] and he sins in an unintentional wrong in any of[ba] Yahweh’s holy things, then[bb] he shall bring his guilt offering to[bc] Yahweh: a ram without defect from the flock[bd] as a guilt offering by your valuation in silver shekels[be] according to the sanctuary shekel. 16 And he shall make restitution for what he sinned because of[bf] a holy thing and shall add one-fifth of its value[bg] onto it and shall give it to the priest. The priest[bh] shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.

17 “If[bi] a person[bj] when he sins violates[bk] one from all of Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[bl] but[bm] he did not know, then[bn] he is guilty and he shall bear his guilt. 18 He shall bring[bo] to the priest a ram without defect from the flock[bp] as a guilt offering by your valuation, and the priest shall make atonement for him because of his unintentional wrong (although[bq] he himself did not know), and he will be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he certainly was guilty before Yahweh.”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 5:1 Or “a soul”
  2. Leviticus 5:1 Or “and”
  3. Leviticus 5:1 Or “and”
  4. Leviticus 5:2 Or “a soul”
  5. Leviticus 5:2 Literally “or”
  6. Leviticus 5:2 Implied by the following phrase specifying domestic animals
  7. Leviticus 5:2 Or “and”
  8. Leviticus 5:2 Literally “it is concealed from him”
  9. Leviticus 5:3 Literally “for” or “to” (see HALOT 510)
  10. Leviticus 5:3 Or “and”
  11. Leviticus 5:3 Literally “it is concealed from him”
  12. Leviticus 5:3 Or “and”
  13. Leviticus 5:4 Or “a soul”
  14. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “for” or “to” (see HALOT 510)
  15. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “the man”
  16. Leviticus 5:4 Or “and”
  17. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “it is concealed from him”
  18. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “for one of”
  19. Leviticus 5:5 Literally “for one of”
  20. Leviticus 5:5 Or “and he shall confess”
  21. Leviticus 5:5 Literally “upon” or “against”
  22. Leviticus 5:6 Or “for”
  23. Leviticus 5:6 Literally “sinned”
  24. Leviticus 5:6 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  25. Leviticus 5:6 Literally “a she-goat of goats”
  26. Leviticus 5:6 Hebrew “from”
  27. Leviticus 5:7 Or “And if”
  28. Leviticus 5:7 Literally “his hand does not touch enough of small livestock”
  29. Leviticus 5:7 Literally “sons of dove” or “children of dove”
  30. Leviticus 5:8 Or “And he shall bring”
  31. Leviticus 5:8 Required by the previous action (see NET)
  32. Leviticus 5:8 Literally “from opposite its neck”
  33. Leviticus 5:8 Or “and”
  34. Leviticus 5:9 Literally “from”
  35. Leviticus 5:10 Or “And the second”
  36. Leviticus 5:10 Literally “sinned”
  37. Leviticus 5:11 Or “And”
  38. Leviticus 5:11 Literally “his hand cannot produce for”
  39. Leviticus 5:11 Literally “sons of dove” or “children of dove”
  40. Leviticus 5:11 Or “and”
  41. Leviticus 5:11 Hebrew “the”
  42. Leviticus 5:11 Or “And he must not put”
  43. Leviticus 5:12 Or “And he shall bring”
  44. Leviticus 5:12 Literally “shall scoop up from it the fullness of his handful”
  45. Leviticus 5:12 Literally “on” or “upon”
  46. Leviticus 5:13 Or “And”
  47. Leviticus 5:13 Literally “sinned”
  48. Leviticus 5:13 Literally “from one from these”
  49. Leviticus 5:13 Or “And it shall be”
  50. Leviticus 5:14 Or “And”
  51. Leviticus 5:15 Or “a soul”
  52. Leviticus 5:15 Literally “acts unfaithfully infidelity” or “is unfaithful in unfaithfulness”
  53. Leviticus 5:15 Literally “from”
  54. Leviticus 5:15 Or “and”
  55. Leviticus 5:15 Or “for”
  56. Leviticus 5:15 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  57. Leviticus 5:15 Or “convertible into silver shekels” (NET, NRSV, TNK), “of the proper value in silver” (NIV; cp. ESV “valued in silver shekels,” CSB), or “or you may buy one of equal value with silver” (NLT)
  58. Leviticus 5:16 Literally “from” (see HALOT 598)
  59. Leviticus 5:16 Literally “it”
  60. Leviticus 5:16 Or “And the priest”
  61. Leviticus 5:17 Or “And if”
  62. Leviticus 5:17 Or “a soul”
  63. Leviticus 5:17 Literally “and she/it does”
  64. Leviticus 5:17 Literally “they are to be done”
  65. Leviticus 5:17 Or “and”
  66. Leviticus 5:17 Or “and”
  67. Leviticus 5:18 Or “And he shall bring”
  68. Leviticus 5:18 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  69. Leviticus 5:18 Or “and”