Leviticus 5
New American Standard Bible
The Law of Guilt Offerings
5 ‘Now if a person sins after he hears a [a]public (A)order to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his punishment. 2 Or if a person touches (B)any unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean cattle, or a carcass of unclean swarming things, though it is hidden from him and he is unclean, then he will be guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty. 4 Or if a person (C)swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, in whatever matter people speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty of one of these things. 5 So it shall be when he becomes guilty of one of these things, that he shall (D)confess that in which he has sinned. 6 He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has [b]committed, (E)a female from the flock, a lamb or a [c]goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
7 ‘But if [d]he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord his guilt offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves or two young doves, (F)one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer that which is for the sin offering, and shall pinch off its head at the front of its neck, but he (G)shall not sever it. 9 He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering (H)on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out (I)at the base of the altar: it is a sin offering. 10 The second he shall then prepare as a burnt offering (J)according to the ordinance. (K)So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has [e]committed, and it will be forgiven him.
11 ‘But (L)if his [f]means are insufficient for two turtledoves or two young doves, then for his offering for that which he has sinned, he shall bring the tenth of an [g]ephah of fine flour as a sin offering; (M)he shall not put oil on it or place incense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, [h]with the offerings of the Lord by fire: it is a sin offering. 13 So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has [i]committed from (N)one of these, and it will be forgiven him; then (O)the rest shall become the priest’s, like the grain offering.’”
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “(P)If a person acts unfaithfully and sins (Q)unintentionally against the Lord’s holy things, then he shall bring his (R)guilt offering to the Lord: (S)a ram without defect from the flock, according to your assessment in silver by shekels, in terms of the (T)shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering. 16 And (U)he shall make restitution for that which he has sinned against the holy thing, and shall add to it a fifth part of it and give it to the priest. (V)The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it will be forgiven him.
17 “Now if a person sins and does any of the things [j]which the Lord has commanded not to be done, (W)though he was unaware, he is still guilty and shall bear his punishment. 18 He is then to bring to the priest (X)a ram without defect from the flock, according to your assessment, as a guilt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he committed (Y)unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him. 19 It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 5:1 Lit voice of a curse
- Leviticus 5:6 Lit sinned
- Leviticus 5:6 Lit female goat
- Leviticus 5:7 Lit his hand does not reach enough for
- Leviticus 5:10 Lit sinned
- Leviticus 5:11 Lit hand does not reach
- Leviticus 5:11 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
- Leviticus 5:12 Lit upon
- Leviticus 5:13 Lit sinned
- Leviticus 5:17 Lit the commands of the Lord which are
Leviticus 5
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Cases Requiring Sin Offerings
5 “When someone sins in any of these ways:
If he has seen, heard, or known about something he has witnessed, and did not respond to a public call to testify, he is responsible for his sin.(A)
2 Or if someone touches anything unclean(B)—a carcass of an unclean wild animal,(C) or unclean livestock, or an unclean swarming creature[a](D)—without being aware of it, he is unclean and guilty.(E)
3 Or if he touches human uncleanness(F)—any uncleanness by which one can become defiled(G)—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he is guilty.
4 Or if someone swears rashly(H) to do what is good or evil—concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.[b]
5 If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess(I) he has committed that sin. 6 He must bring his restitution(J) for the sin he has committed to the Lord: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement(K) on his behalf for his sin.
7 “But if he cannot afford an animal from the flock, then he may bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons(L) as restitution for his sin—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 He is to bring them to the priest, who will first present the one for the sin offering. He must twist its head at the back of the neck without severing it.(M) 9 Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood is to be drained out at the base of the altar;(N) it is a sin offering. 10 He must prepare the second bird as a burnt offering according to the regulation.(O) In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
11 “But if he cannot afford[c] two turtledoves or two young pigeons,(P) he may bring two quarts[d] of fine[e] flour[f](Q) as an offering for his sin. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 He is to bring it to the priest, who will take a handful from it as its memorial portion(R) and burn it on the altar along with the fire offerings to the Lord; it is a sin offering. 13 In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf concerning the sin he has committed in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.”(S)
The Restitution Offering
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 15 “If someone offends(T) by sinning unintentionally(U) in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things,[g] he must bring his restitution offering to the Lord: an unblemished ram from the flock (based on your assessment of its value in silver shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel(V)) as a restitution offering. 16 He must make restitution(W) for his sin regarding any holy(X) thing, adding a fifth of its value to it,(Y) and give it to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the ram of the restitution offering, and he will be forgiven.(Z)
17 “If someone sins and without knowing it violates any of the Lord’s commands concerning anything prohibited, he bears the consequences of his guilt. 18 He must bring an unblemished ram from the flock according to your assessment of its value as a restitution offering to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the error he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. 19 It is a restitution offering; he is indeed guilty before the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 5:2 Perhaps a fish, insect, rodent, or reptile; Gn 1:20; Lv 11:20-23,29-31
- Leviticus 5:4 Lit in one of such things
- Leviticus 5:11 Lit if his hand is not sufficient for
- Leviticus 5:11 Lit one-tenth of an ephah
- Leviticus 5:11 Or wheat; Ex 29:2
- Leviticus 5:11 Lit flour as a sin offering
- Leviticus 5:15 Things dedicated to the Lord such as tabernacle furnishings, priestly portions of the sacrifices, tenths, firstfruits, and firstborn livestock
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