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Leviticus 4
The Message

The Absolution-Offering

4 1-12 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, When a person sins unintentionally by straying from any of God’s commands, breaking what must not be broken, if it’s the anointed priest who sins and so brings guilt on the people, he is to bring a bull without defect to God as an Absolution-Offering for the sin he has committed. Have him bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in the presence of God, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter the bull before God. He is then to take some of the bull’s blood, bring it into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God, before the curtain of the Sanctuary. He is to smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar of Fragrant Incense before God which is in the Tent of Meeting. He is to pour the rest of the bull’s blood out at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the Absolution-Offering, the fat which covers and is connected to the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is around them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he takes out along with the kidneys—the same procedure as when the fat is removed from the bull of the Peace-Offering. Finally, he is to burn all this on the Altar of Burnt Offering. Everything else—the bull’s hide, meat, head, legs, organs, and guts—he is to take outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are dumped and is to burn it on a wood fire.

13-21 “If the whole congregation sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commandments of God that must not be broken, they become guilty even though no one is aware of it. When they do become aware of the sin they’ve committed, the congregation must bring a bull as an Absolution-Offering and present it at the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the congregation will lay their hands on the bull’s head in the presence of God and one of them will slaughter it before God. The anointed priest will then bring some of the blood into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God in front of the curtain. He will smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar which is before God in the Tent of Meeting and pour the rest of it at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He will remove all the fat and burn it on the Altar. He will follow the same procedure with this bull as with the bull for the Absolution-Offering. The priest makes atonement for them and they are forgiven. They then will take the bull outside the camp and burn it just as they burned the first bull. It’s the Absolution-Offering for the congregation.

22-26 “When a ruler sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commands of his God which must not be broken, he is guilty. When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring a goat for his offering, a male without any defect, lay his hand on the head of the goat, and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering in the presence of God—it’s an Absolution-Offering. The priest will then take some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. He will burn all its fat on the Altar, the same as with the fat of the Peace-Offering.

“The priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he’s forgiven.

27-31 “When an ordinary member of the congregation sins unintentionally, straying from one of the commandments of God which must not be broken, he is guilty. When he is made aware of his sin, he shall bring a goat, a female without any defect, and offer it for his sin, lay his hand on the head of the Absolution-Offering, and slaughter it at the place of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will take some of its blood with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. Finally, he’ll take out all the fat, the same as with the Peace-Offerings, and burn it on the Altar for a pleasing fragrance to God.

“In this way, the priest makes atonement for him and he’s forgiven.

32-35 “If he brings a lamb for an Absolution-Offering, he shall present a female without any defect, lay his hand on the head of the Absolution-Offering, and slaughter it at the same place they slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will take some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. He shall remove all the fat, the same as for the lamb of the Peace-Offering. Finally, the priest will burn it on the Altar on top of the gifts to God.

“In this way, the priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he’s forgiven.”

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Leviticus 4
Legacy Standard Bible

The Statutes of Sin Offerings

4 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins (A)unintentionally in any of the [a]things which Yahweh has (B)commanded not to be done, and he does any one of them, 3 (C)if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him bring near to Yahweh a bull from the herd without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has [b]committed. 4 Then he shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, and (D)he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slaughter the bull before Yahweh. 5 Then the (E)anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh in front of (F)the veil of the sanctuary. 7 The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of (G)the altar of fragrant incense which is before Yahweh in the tent of meeting; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 8 (H)Then he shall raise up from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails, 9 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the [c]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove (I)with the kidneys 10 (just as it is raised up from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings), and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But (J)the hide of the bull and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails and its refuse, 12 [d]that is, all the rest of the bull, he shall bring out to (K)a clean place outside the camp where the [e]ashes are poured out, and he shall burn it on wood with fire; where the [f]ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

13 ‘(L)Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error, and the matter is hidden from the sight of the assembly, and they commit any of the [g]things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty; 14 (M)when the sin [h]which they have [i]committed becomes known, then the assembly shall bring near (N)a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. 15 Then (O)the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh, and the bull shall be slaughtered (P)before Yahweh. 16 Then the anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting; 17 and (Q)the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh in front of the veil. 18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of (R)the altar which is before Yahweh [j]in the tent of meeting; and all the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 19 (S)He shall then raise up all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar. 20 He shall also do with the bull just as he did with (T)the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So (U)the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then he shall bring out the bull to a place outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is (V)the sin offering for the assembly.

22 ‘When (W)a leader (X)sins and unintentionally does any one of all the [k]things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, 23 (Y)or if his sin [l]which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a [m](Z)goat, (AA)a male without blemish. 24 Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where [n]they slaughter the burnt offering before Yahweh; it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on (AB)the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 (AC)And all its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Thus (AD)the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.

27 ‘Now if [o]anyone of [p]the common people sins (AE)unintentionally in doing any of the [q]things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, 28 (AF)or if his sin which he has [r]committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a [s](AG)goat, a (AH)female without blemish, for his sin which he has [t]committed. 29 (AI)And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and (AJ)slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. 30 And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of (AK)the altar of burnt offering; and (AL)all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 31 (AM)Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for (AN)a soothing aroma to Yahweh. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, [u]and he will be forgiven.

32 ‘But if he brings (AO)a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring it, a female without blemish. 33 (AP)And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering (AQ)in the place where [v]they slay the burnt offering. 34 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of (AR)the altar of burnt offering, and (AS)all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35 Then he shall remove (AT)all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to Yahweh. Thus (AU)the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has [w]committed, and he will be forgiven.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 4:2 Lit commands of Yahweh which are not to be done
  2. Leviticus 4:3 Lit sinned
  3. Leviticus 4:9 Or appendage on
  4. Leviticus 4:12 Lit and
  5. Leviticus 4:12 Soaked with fat; or fat ashes
  6. Leviticus 4:12 Soaked with fat; or fat ashes
  7. Leviticus 4:13 Lit commands of Yahweh which are not to be done
  8. Leviticus 4:14 Lit concerning which
  9. Leviticus 4:14 Lit sinned
  10. Leviticus 4:18 Lit which is in
  11. Leviticus 4:22 Lit commands of Yahweh which are not to be done
  12. Leviticus 4:23 Lit in which he has sinned
  13. Leviticus 4:23 Lit buck of the goats
  14. Leviticus 4:24 Lit one slaughters
  15. Leviticus 4:27 Lit one soul
  16. Leviticus 4:27 Lit the people of the land
  17. Leviticus 4:27 Lit commands of Yahweh which are not to be done
  18. Leviticus 4:28 Lit sinned
  19. Leviticus 4:28 Or female goat
  20. Leviticus 4:28 Lit sinned
  21. Leviticus 4:31 Or so that he may be
  22. Leviticus 4:33 Lit one slays
  23. Leviticus 4:35 Lit sinned
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