Leviticus 4:1-5:13

Complete Jewish Bible

4 (v) Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If anyone sins inadvertently against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, if he does any one of them, ³ then, if it is the anointed cohen who sinned and thus brought guilt on the people, he is to offer Adonai a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he committed. ⁴ He must bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai, lay his hand on the bull’s head and slaughter the bull in the presence of Adonai. ⁵ The anointed cohen is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tent of meeting. ⁶ The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the presence of Adonai in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. ⁷ The cohen is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense before Adonai there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood of the bull he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ He is to remove from the bull for the sin offering all of its fat — the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, ⁹ the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys ¹⁰ as it is removed from an ox sacrificed as a peace offering; and the cohen is to make these parts go up in smoke on the altar for burnt offerings. ¹¹ But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head, the lower parts of its legs, its inner organs and dung — ¹² in other words, the entire bull — he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are emptied out. There he is to burn it on wood with fire; there, where the ashes are emptied out, it is to be burned up.

¹³ “‘If the entire community of Isra’el inadvertently makes a mistake, with the assembly being unaware of the matter, and they do something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, they are guilty. ¹⁴ When the sin they have committed becomes known, then the assembly is to offer a young bull as a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ The leaders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter the bull in the presence of Adonai. ¹⁶ The anointed cohen is to bring some of the bull’s blood to the tent of meeting. ¹⁷ The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of Adonai in front of the curtain. ¹⁸ He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar before Adonai, there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹⁹ He is to remove all its fat and make it go up in smoke on the altar. ²⁰ This is what he is to do with the bull — he must do the same with this bull as he does with the one for the sin offering. Thus the cohen will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. ²¹ He is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

²² “‘When a leader sins and inadvertently does something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. ²³ If the sin which he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a male goat without defect, ²⁴ lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering in the presence of Adonai ; it is a sin offering. ²⁵ The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. Its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. ²⁶ All its fat he is to make go up in smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice for peace offerings; thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.

(vi) ²⁷ “‘If an individual among the people commits a sin inadvertently, doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. ²⁸ If the sin he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a female goat without defect for the sin he committed, ²⁹ lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place of burnt offerings. ³⁰ The cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. ³¹ All its fat he is to remove, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

³² “‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect, ³³ lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter burnt offerings. ³⁴ The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ All its fat he is to remove, as the fat of a lamb is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for Adonai made by fire. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed, and he will be forgiven.

5 “‘If a person who is a witness, sworn to testify, sins by refusing to tell what he has seen or heard about the matter, he must bear the consequences. ² If a person touches something unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, a domestic animal or a reptile, he is guilty, even though he may not be aware that he is unclean. ³ If he touches some human uncleanness, no matter what the source of his uncleanness is, and is unaware of it, then, when he learns of it, he is guilty. ⁴ If someone allows to slip from his mouth an oath to do evil or to do good, and he doesn’t remember that he clearly spoke this oath, then, no matter what it was about, when he learns of it, he is guilty. ⁵ A person guilty of any of these things is to confess in what manner he sinned ⁶ and bring his guilt offering to Adonai for the sin he committed; it is to be a female from the flock, either a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin.

⁷ “‘If he can’t afford a lamb, he is to bring as his guilt offering for the sin he committed two doves or two young pigeons for Adonai — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. ⁸ He is to bring them to the cohen, who will offer the one for a sin offering first. He is to wring its neck but not remove the head, ⁹ sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar and drain out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰ He is to prepare the second as a burnt offering in the manner prescribed. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he committed, and he will be forgiven.

(vii) ¹¹ “‘But if his means are insufficient even for two doves or two young pigeons, then he is to bring as his offering for the sin he committed two quarts of fine flour for a sin offering; he is not to put any olive oil or frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. ¹² He is to bring it to the cohen, and the cohen is to take a handful of it as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for Adonai made by fire; it is a sin offering. ¹³ Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed concerning any of these things, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the cohanim, as with a grain offering.’”