The Law of Guilt Offerings

5 ‘If anyone sins after he hears a ^[a]public adjuration (solemn command to testify) when he is a witness, whether he has seen or [otherwise] known [something]—if he fails to report it, then he will bear his guilt and be held responsible. ² Or if someone touches any [ceremonially] unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of an unclean domestic animal or the carcass of unclean creeping things—even if he is unaware of it, he has become unclean, and he will be guilty. ³ Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever kind it may be—and he becomes unclean, but he is unaware of it, when he recognizes it, he will be guilty. ⁴ Or if anyone swears [an oath] thoughtlessly or impulsively ^[b]aloud that he will do either evil or good, in whatever manner a person may speak thoughtlessly or impulsively with an oath, but he is unaware of it, when he recognizes it, he will be guilty in one of these.^{(A) 5} So it shall be when a person is guilty in one of these, that he shall confess the sin he has committed. ⁶ He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

⁷ ‘But if he ^[c]cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons as his guilt offering for his sin to the Lord, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. ⁸ He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering, and shall nip its head at the front of its neck, but shall not sever it [completely]. ⁹ He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰ The second [bird] he shall prepare as a burnt offering, according to the ordinance. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for the sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.

¹¹ ‘But if he cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for his sin the tenth part of an ^[d]ephah of fine flour as a sin offering; he shall not put [olive] oil or incense on it, for it is a sin offering. ¹² He shall bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering. ¹³ In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in one of these things, and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall be for the priest, like the grain offering.’”

¹⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁵ “If a person commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally against the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, valued by you in shekels of silver, that is, the shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering. ¹⁶ He shall make restitution for the sin which he has committed against the holy thing, and shall add a fifth [of the ram’s value] to it, and give it to the priest. The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.

¹⁷ “Now if anyone sins and does any of the things which the Lord has forbidden, though he was not aware of it, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.^{(B) 18} He is then to bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him regarding the error which he committed unintentionally and did not know it, and he shall be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the Lord.”

Guilt Offerings

6 ^[e]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “When anyone sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor (companion, associate) in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, ³ or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do— ⁴ then if he has sinned and is guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found, ⁵ or anything about which he has sworn falsely; he shall not only restore it in full, but shall add to it one-fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day of his guilt offering. ⁶ Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, as valued by you, as a guilt offering. ⁷ The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt.”

The Priest’s Part in the Offerings

^8 [f]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁹ “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall remain on the hearth that is on the altar all night until morning and the fire is to be kept burning on the altar. ¹⁰ The priest is to put on his linen robe, with his linen undergarments next to his body. Then he shall take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar and put them beside the altar. ¹¹ Then he shall take off his garments and put on something else, and take the ashes outside the camp to a (ceremonially) clean place. ¹² The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not [be allowed to] go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat portions of the peace offerings up in smoke on it. ¹³ The fire shall be burning continually on the altar; it shall not [be allowed to] go out.

¹⁴ ‘Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵ One of them shall take up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering with its oil and all the incense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a sweet and soothing aroma, as the memorial offering to the Lord. ¹⁶ What is left of it Aaron and his sons are to eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.^{(C) 17} It shall not be baked with leaven [which represents corruption or sin]. I have given it as their share of My offerings by fire; it is ^[g]most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. ¹⁸ Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it [as his share]; it is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations, from offerings by fire to the Lord. ^[h]Whatever touches them will become consecrated (ceremonially clean).’”

¹⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁰ “This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: the tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. ²¹ It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. When it is well stirred, you shall bring it. You shall present the grain offering in baked pieces as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. ²² The priest from among the sons of Aaron who is anointed in his place shall offer it. By a permanent statute it shall be entirely offered up in smoke to the Lord. ²³ So every grain offering of the priest shall be burned entirely. It shall not be eaten.”

²⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁵ “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: the sin offering shall be killed before the Lord in the [same] place where the burnt offering is killed; it is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. ^27 [i]Whatever touches its meat will become consecrated (ceremonially clean). When any of its blood splashes on a garment, you shall wash what was splashed on in a holy place. ²⁸ Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel shall be scoured and rinsed in water. ²⁹ Every male among the priests may eat this offering; it is most holy. ³⁰ But no sin offering from which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place shall be eaten; it shall be [completely] burned in the fire.^(D)

The Priest’s Part in the Offerings

7 ‘This is the law of the guilt offering; it is most holy. ² In the place where they kill the burnt offering they are to kill the guilt offering, and he shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ³ Then he shall offer all its fat, the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, ⁴ and 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. ⁵ The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a guilt offering. ⁶ Every male among the priests may eat it; it shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy. ⁷ The guilt offering is like the sin offering, there is one law for [both of] them: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it for himself. ⁸ The priest who presents any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the hide of the burnt offering which he has presented. ⁹ Likewise, every grain offering that is baked in the oven and everything that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle shall belong to the priest who presents it. ¹⁰ Every grain offering, mixed with [olive] oil or dry, all the sons of Aaron may have, one as well as another.

¹¹ ‘Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the Lord: ¹² If one offers it as a sacrificial meal of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour mixed with oil. ¹³ With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread. ¹⁴ Of this he shall present one [cake] from each offering as a contribution to the Lord; it shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.

¹⁵ ‘The meat of the sacrifice of thanksgiving presented as a peace offering shall be eaten on the day that it is offered; none of it shall be left until morning. ¹⁶ But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day that which remains of it may be eaten; ¹⁷ but what is left over from the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be [completely] burned in the fire. ¹⁸ If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is ever eaten on the third day, then it will not be accepted, and the one who brought it will not be credited with it. It shall be an abhorred (offensive) thing; the one who eats it shall bear his own guilt.

¹⁹ ‘The meat that comes in contact with anything that is unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned in the fire. As for other meat, everyone who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it. ²⁰ But the one who eats meat from the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, in his uncleanness, that person shall be ^[j]cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. ²¹ When anyone touches any unclean thing—human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean ^[k]detestable thing—and then eats the meat of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].’”

²² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep, or a goat. ²⁴ The fat of an animal which dies [of natural causes] and the fat of one which is torn [to pieces by a predator] may be put to any other use, but under no circumstances are you to eat it. ²⁵ For whoever eats the fat of the animal from which an offering by fire is presented to the Lord, that person who eats shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. ²⁶ Moreover, you are not to eat any blood [of any kind], whether of bird or animal, in any of your dwelling places. ²⁷ Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.’”

²⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁹ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. ³⁰ With his own hands he is to bring offerings by fire to the Lord; he shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the Lord. ³¹ The priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons. ³² You shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. ³³ The son of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh as his portion. ³⁴ For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering from the Israelites, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their perpetual portion from the Israelites.

³⁵ ‘This is the consecrated portion from the offerings by fire to the Lord that was designated for Aaron and his sons on the day he presented them to serve as priests to the Lord. ³⁶ The Lord commanded this to be given to the priests by the Israelites on the day that He anointed them. It is their portion perpetually throughout their generations.’”

³⁷ This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the consecration (ordination) offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings, ³⁸ which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai.