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Regulations for the Sin Offering

The Lord again told Moses, “Tell these things to the Israelites.”

When a person sins unintentionally against any of the Lord’s commands by doing something which the Lord has prohibited, this is what you must do:

If it is the anointed priest who sins and thereby brings guilt on the people, for the sin that he has committed he shall present a young bull without blemish as a sin offering to the Lord. He shall bring the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and lay his hand on the head of the bull. Then he shall slaughter the bull in the presence of the Lord. The anointed priest shall take some of the blood from the bull and bring it into the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood in front of the curtain of the Holy Place seven times in the presence of the Lord. The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the Tent of Meeting, as a fragrant incense in the presence of the Lord. All the rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is in front of the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to reserve all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the inner organs and all the fat that is around the inner organs, the two kidneys with the fat that is around them on the muscles and sinews, and the protruding lobe of the liver, which he shall remove together with the kidneys. 10 It is to be reserved just as it is reserved from the cattle[a] for the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. Then the priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar for burnt offerings. 11 But the hide of the bull and all its meat, together with its head and its lower legs, its intestines and their contents— 12 all the rest of the bull—he is to carry to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash dump, and burn it on a wood fire. It is to be burned on the ash dump.

13 If the whole community of Israel goes astray unintentionally and the offense is not noticed by the assembly, so that they violate one of the Lord’s commands by doing something that should not be done, but they later realize their guilt, 14 when the sin which they have committed has been made known to them, the assembly shall present a young bull as a sin offering and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. 15 The elders of the community shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord. 16 The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the Tent of Meeting, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times on the curtain in the presence of the Lord. 18 He shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. All the rest of the blood he shall 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 reserve all its fat and send it up in smoke on the altar. 20 He is to perform the same procedure for this bull as he performed for the bull of the sin offering. He shall perform the same procedure for it.[b] This is the way the priest is to make atonement for them, so that they may be forgiven. 21 The bull is to be carried outside the camp, and it is to be burned just as the first bull was burned. It is a sin offering for the assembly.

22 When a tribal leader sins by unintentionally disobeying any of the commands of the Lord his God and doing something that should not be done, and he then realizes his guilt, 23 or the sin which he has committed has been made known to him, he shall bring a male goat without blemish as his offering. 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat. It is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 25 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings, and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. 26 He shall turn all its fat into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, so that he may be forgiven.

27 If any common person from the land sins by unintentionally violating any of the Lord’s commands by doing something that should not be done, and he then realizes his guilt, 28 or the sin that he committed has been made known to him, he shall bring a female goat without blemish as his offering for the sin that he has committed. 29 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place for the burnt offering. 30 Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 31 After he removes all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of the fellowship offering, the priest shall send it up in smoke on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him, so that he may be forgiven.

32 If he brings a sheep as his sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. 33 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where he would slaughter the burnt offering. 34 Then the priest shall 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 the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35 After he removes all its fat, just as the fat of the sheep was removed from the sacrifice of the fellowship offering, the priest shall send it up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, so that he may be forgiven.

When a person sins because he did not speak up, even though he was an eyewitness to a case or knew what happened, and he had even heard a curse pronounced against anyone who failed to testify, he is guilty.[c]

When a person touches something unclean, whether it is the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of unclean livestock or the carcass of an unclean swarming creature, but he does not realize it, he nevertheless is unclean, and he is liable.[d]

When a person touches human impurity, any impurity[e] by which one becomes unclean, but at first he does not realize it, but later becomes aware of it, he is nevertheless unclean, and he is liable.

Or when a person rashly utters an oath, whether for an evil purpose or a good purpose—no matter what anyone may rashly utter as an oath—even though he does not realize it at first, when he finds out about it later, he is liable in any one of these cases.[f]

When he realizes his liability in one of these cases, he shall confess the sin of which he is guilty. As his penalty for the sin of which he is guilty, he shall bring to the Lord a female from the flock (a sheep or a goat) as a sin offering, so that the priest may make atonement for him for his sin. But if he cannot afford a sheep or goat, he shall bring to the Lord as his penalty for that sin two turtledoves or two pigeons: one for a sin offering and the other for a whole burnt offering. He shall bring them to the priest. First, the priest shall offer the one for the sin offering by wringing its head from its neck without severing it. He shall 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 at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 Then he shall perform the procedure for the second sacrifice according to the regulation for a whole burnt offering. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him from the sin of which he is guilty, so that he may be forgiven.

11 If the person cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, he shall bring as his offering for his guilt two quarts[g] of choice flour for a sin offering. He shall not add olive oil to it or put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall scoop out a handful of it as its memorial portion and send it up in smoke on the altar, on top of the gifts made by fire for the Lord. It is a sin offering. 13 In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin of which he is guilty, so that he may be forgiven. Like the grain offering, it shall belong to the priest.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 4:10 Shor is a different word than bull (par). Shor can refer to cattle of either sex.
  2. Leviticus 4:20 These regulations have much emphatic repetition. Such repetition is typical of law codes.
  3. Leviticus 5:1 The Hebrew of the verse is difficult, so the translation is uncertain.
  4. Leviticus 5:2 Two different words are used here for guilty and liable: avon and asham. These words are not distinguished in all contexts. They are sometimes used interchangeably as words for guilt. Guilt is liability to punishment or responsibility to make restitution.
  5. Leviticus 5:3 Or uncleanness. The Hebrew root for uncleanness and impurity is the same.
  6. Leviticus 5:4 The Hebrew of the verse is difficult, so the translation is uncertain.
  7. Leviticus 5:11 One tenth (of an ephah)

Laws for Sin Offerings

Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites,[b] saying, ‘If a person[c] sins by an unintentional wrong from any of Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[d] and he violates[e] any of them[f] if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people,[g] then,[h] concerning the sin that he has committed,[i] he shall bring a young bull[j] without defect for Yahweh as a sin offering. He shall bring[k] the bull to the tent of assembly’s entrance before Yahweh, place[l] his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter the bull before Yahweh. The anointed priest[m] shall take some of[n] the bull’s blood and shall bring it to the tent of assembly, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and shall spatter some of[o] the blood seven times before Yahweh in front of the sanctuary’s curtain. The priest[p] shall put some of[q] the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before Yahweh, which is in the tent of assembly, and all the rest[r] of the bull’s blood he must pour out on the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of assembly.

“‘He must remove[s] all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the inner parts[t] and all of the fat that is on the inner parts,[u] the two[v] kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the liver’s lobe that he must remove in addition to the kidneys— 10 just as it is removed from the ox of the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice—and the priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar of the burnt offering. 11 But[w] the bull’s skin and its meat, in addition to its head, its lower leg bones,[x] its[y] inner parts,[z] and its offal— 12 he shall carry[aa] all of the bull outside the camp[ab] to a ceremonially clean place, to the fatty ashes’ dump, and he shall burn it on wood in the fire; it must be burned up on the fatty ashes’ dump.

13 “‘If[ac] Israel’s whole assembly did wrong unintentionally and the matter[ad] was concealed from the assembly’s eyes, and they acted[ae] against any of[af] Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[ag] so that[ah] they incur guilt, 14 when[ai] the sin that they have committed[aj] against that command[ak] becomes known, the assembly[al] shall present a young bull[am] as a sin offering, and they shall bring it before the tent of assembly. 15 And the elders of the community shall place their hands on the bull’s head before Yahweh, and he[an] shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh. 16 Then the anointed priest shall bring some of[ao] the bull’s blood to the tent of assembly, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in[ap] the blood and shall spatter it seven times before Yahweh in front of the curtain. 18 He must put[aq] some of[ar] the blood on the altar’s horns before Yahweh in the tent of assembly,[as] and all the rest[at] of the blood he must pour out on the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the tent of assembly’s entrance. 19 He must remove[au] all its fat from it, and he shall turn it into smoke on the altar. 20 He shall do[av] to the bull just as[aw] he did to the sin offering’s bull, so he must do to it. The priest[ax] shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.[ay] 21 He shall bring[az] the rest of[ba] the bull outside the camp,[bb] and he shall burn it just as[bc] he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

22 “‘When a leader sins and commits[bd] an unintentional wrong against any of[be] the commands of Yahweh his God that should not be violated,[bf] so that[bg] he incurs guilt, 23 or his sin he has committed[bh] is made known to him, he shall bring[bi] a male goat[bj] without defect as his offering. 24 He shall place[bk] his hand on the he-goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where he slaughtered the burnt offering before Yahweh; it is a sin offering. 25 The priest[bl] shall take some of[bm] the sin offering’s blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of[bn] its blood on the base of the altar of the burnt offering. 26 He[bo] must turn all of its fat into smoke on the altar like the fat of the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice, and the priest shall make atonement for him because of[bp] his sin, and he will be forgiven.[bq]

27 “‘If[br] anyone[bs] of the people of the land sins by an unintentional wrong by violating[bt] one of Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[bu] so that[bv] he incurs guilt, 28 or his sin he has committed[bw] is made known to him, he shall bring[bx] as his offering a female goat without defect[by] as his offering for his sin that he committed.[bz] 29 He shall place[ca] his hand on the sin offering’s head and slaughter the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. 30 The priest[cb] shall take some of[cc] its blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of[cd] its blood on the altar’s base. 31 He[ce] must remove all of its fat just as[cf] the fat was removed from[cg] the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. The priest[ch] shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.[ci]

32 “‘But[cj] if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he must bring a female without defect. 33 He shall place[ck] his hand on the sin offering’s head, and he shall slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where he slaughtered the burnt offering. 34 The priest[cl] shall take some of[cm] the sin offering’s blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest[cn] of its blood on the altar’s base. 35 He must remove[co] all of its fat just as[cp] the lamb’s fat from the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice was removed, and the priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar upon Yahweh’s offerings made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him because of[cq] his sin that he committed,[cr] and he will be forgiven.’”[cs]

More Laws Regarding Sin Offerings

“‘When a person[ct] sins in that[cu] 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[cv] he shall bear his guilt. Or if a person[cw] touches anything unclean, whether[cx] an unclean wild[cy] animal’s dead body or an unclean domestic animal’s dead body or an unclean swarmer’s dead body, but[cz] he is unaware of it,[da] he is unclean and he is guilty. Or when he touches human uncleanness, namely[db] any uncleanness of his by which he might become unclean, but[dc] he is unaware of it,[dd] and he himself finds out, then[de] he will be guilty. Or when a person[df] swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, to do evil or to do good with regard to[dg] anything that the person[dh] in a sworn oath speaks thoughtlessly, but[di] he is unaware of it,[dj] he will be guilty in any of[dk] these. When he becomes guilty in any of[dl] these, he shall confess[dm] what he has sinned regarding[dn] it, and he shall bring his guilt offering to[do] Yahweh for his sin that he has committed:[dp] a female from the flock,[dq] a ewe-lamb or a she-goat,[dr] as a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for[ds] his sin.

“‘If[dt] he cannot afford a sheep,[du] he shall bring as his guilt offering for what he sinned two turtledoves or two young doves[dv] for Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. He shall bring[dw] them to the priest, and he shall present that which is for the sin offering first, and the priest[dx] shall wring its head off at the back of its neck,[dy] but[dz] he must not sever it, and he shall spatter some of[ea] 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[eb] 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,[ec] and he shall be forgiven.

11 “‘But[ed] if he cannot afford[ee] two turtledoves or two young doves,[ef] then,[eg] because he has sinned, he shall bring as his offering a tenth of an[eh] ephah of finely milled flour as a sin offering. He must not put[ei] oil on it, nor should he put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring[ej] it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it[ek] for its token portion, and he shall turn it to smoke on the altar in addition to[el] the offerings made by fire to Yahweh; it is a sin offering. 13 Thus[em] the priest shall make atonement for him because of the sin that he has committed[en] in any of these,[eo] and he shall be forgiven. It shall be[ep] for the priest, like the grain offering.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 4:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 4:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Leviticus 4:2 Or “a soul”
  4. Leviticus 4:2 Literally “done”
  5. Leviticus 4:2 Literally “does”
  6. Leviticus 4:2 Literally “from one from them”; see NET
  7. Leviticus 4:3 Literally “to the guilt of the people”
  8. Leviticus 4:3 Or “and”
  9. Leviticus 4:3 Literally “sinned”
  10. Leviticus 4:3 Literally “a bull, a son of cattle”
  11. Leviticus 4:4 Or “And he shall bring”
  12. Leviticus 4:4 Or “And place”
  13. Leviticus 4:5 Or “And the anointed priest”
  14. Leviticus 4:5 Literally “from”
  15. Leviticus 4:6 Literally “from”
  16. Leviticus 4:7 Or “And the priest”
  17. Leviticus 4:7 Literally “from”
  18. Leviticus 4:7 Implied by the context
  19. Leviticus 4:8 Or “And he must remove”
  20. Leviticus 4:8 Or “entrails”
  21. Leviticus 4:8 Or “entrails”
  22. Leviticus 4:9 Or “and the two”
  23. Leviticus 4:11 Or “And”
  24. Leviticus 4:11 Literally “and in addition to its lower leg bones”
  25. Leviticus 4:11 Or “and its”
  26. Leviticus 4:11 Or “entrails”
  27. Leviticus 4:12 Or “and he shall carry out”
  28. Leviticus 4:12 Literally “to from an outside place of the camp”
  29. Leviticus 4:13 Or “And if”
  30. Leviticus 4:13 Or “thing”
  31. Leviticus 4:13 Or “did”
  32. Leviticus 4:13 Literally “one from all of”
  33. Leviticus 4:13 Literally “done”
  34. Leviticus 4:13 Or “and”
  35. Leviticus 4:14 Or “and”
  36. Leviticus 4:14 Literally “sinned”
  37. Leviticus 4:14 The 3fs pronominal suffix may refer to “one of Yahweh’s commands”—“one” is also fs
  38. Leviticus 4:14 Or “and the assembly”
  39. Leviticus 4:14 Literally “a bull, a son of cattle”
  40. Leviticus 4:15 Or “someone”; see NET—the 3ms refers to either one of the elders or the priest
  41. Leviticus 4:16 Literally “from”
  42. Leviticus 4:17 Or “from”
  43. Leviticus 4:18 Or “And he must put”
  44. Leviticus 4:18 Literally “from”
  45. Leviticus 4:18 Literally “which is in the tent of assembly”—the reference is to the altar
  46. Leviticus 4:18 Indicated by the context
  47. Leviticus 4:19 Or “And he must remove”
  48. Leviticus 4:20 Or “And he shall do”
  49. Leviticus 4:20 Literally “as that”
  50. Leviticus 4:20 Or “And the priest”
  51. Leviticus 4:20 Literally “it shall be forgiven to them”
  52. Leviticus 4:21 Or “And he shall bring out”
  53. Leviticus 4:21 Indicated by the context
  54. Leviticus 4:21 Literally “to from an outside place of the camp”
  55. Leviticus 4:21 Literally “as that”
  56. Leviticus 4:22 Or “does”
  57. Leviticus 4:22 Literally “one from all of”
  58. Leviticus 4:22 Literally “done”
  59. Leviticus 4:22 Or “and”
  60. Leviticus 4:23 Literally “sinned”
  61. Leviticus 4:23 Or “and he shall bring” or “then he shall bring”
  62. Leviticus 4:23 Literally “a he-goat of goats a male”
  63. Leviticus 4:24 Or “And he shall place”
  64. Leviticus 4:25 Or “And the priest”
  65. Leviticus 4:25 Literally “from”
  66. Leviticus 4:25 Indicated by context
  67. Leviticus 4:26 Or “And he”; the antecedent is the priest (cp. vv. 10, 31)
  68. Leviticus 4:26 Literally “from”
  69. Leviticus 4:26 Literally “it shall be forgiven to him”
  70. Leviticus 4:27 Or “And if”
  71. Leviticus 4:27 Literally “a soul one”
  72. Leviticus 4:27 Literally “doing”
  73. Leviticus 4:27 Literally “done”
  74. Leviticus 4:27 Or “and”
  75. Leviticus 4:28 Literally “sinned”
  76. Leviticus 4:28 Or “and he shall bring” or “then he shall bring”
  77. Leviticus 4:28 Literally “a she-goat of goats without defect a female”
  78. Leviticus 4:28 Literally “sinned”
  79. Leviticus 4:29 Or “And he shall place”
  80. Leviticus 4:30 Or “And the priest”
  81. Leviticus 4:30 Literally “from”
  82. Leviticus 4:30 Indicated by context
  83. Leviticus 4:31 Or “And he”
  84. Leviticus 4:31 Literally “as that”
  85. Leviticus 4:31 Or “from on” or “from upon”
  86. Leviticus 4:31 Or “And the priest”
  87. Leviticus 4:31 Literally “it shall be forgiven to him”
  88. Leviticus 4:32 Or “And”
  89. Leviticus 4:33 Or “And he shall place”
  90. Leviticus 4:34 Or “And the priest”
  91. Leviticus 4:34 Literally “from”
  92. Leviticus 4:34 Indicated by context
  93. Leviticus 4:35 Or “And he must remove”
  94. Leviticus 4:35 Literally “as that”
  95. Leviticus 4:35 Or “for”
  96. Leviticus 4:35 Literally “sinned”
  97. Leviticus 4:35 Literally “it will be forgiven to him”
  98. Leviticus 5:1 Or “a soul”
  99. Leviticus 5:1 Or “and”
  100. Leviticus 5:1 Or “and”
  101. Leviticus 5:2 Or “a soul”
  102. Leviticus 5:2 Literally “or”
  103. Leviticus 5:2 Implied by the following phrase specifying domestic animals
  104. Leviticus 5:2 Or “and”
  105. Leviticus 5:2 Literally “it is concealed from him”
  106. Leviticus 5:3 Literally “for” or “to” (see HALOT 510)
  107. Leviticus 5:3 Or “and”
  108. Leviticus 5:3 Literally “it is concealed from him”
  109. Leviticus 5:3 Or “and”
  110. Leviticus 5:4 Or “a soul”
  111. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “for” or “to” (see HALOT 510)
  112. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “the man”
  113. Leviticus 5:4 Or “and”
  114. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “it is concealed from him”
  115. Leviticus 5:4 Literally “for one of”
  116. Leviticus 5:5 Literally “for one of”
  117. Leviticus 5:5 Or “and he shall confess”
  118. Leviticus 5:5 Literally “upon” or “against”
  119. Leviticus 5:6 Or “for”
  120. Leviticus 5:6 Literally “sinned”
  121. Leviticus 5:6 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
  122. Leviticus 5:6 Literally “a she-goat of goats”
  123. Leviticus 5:6 Hebrew “from”
  124. Leviticus 5:7 Or “And if”
  125. Leviticus 5:7 Literally “his hand does not touch enough of small livestock”
  126. Leviticus 5:7 Literally “sons of dove” or “children of dove”
  127. Leviticus 5:8 Or “And he shall bring”
  128. Leviticus 5:8 Required by the previous action (see NET)
  129. Leviticus 5:8 Literally “from opposite its neck”
  130. Leviticus 5:8 Or “and”
  131. Leviticus 5:9 Literally “from”
  132. Leviticus 5:10 Or “And the second”
  133. Leviticus 5:10 Literally “sinned”
  134. Leviticus 5:11 Or “And”
  135. Leviticus 5:11 Literally “his hand cannot produce for”
  136. Leviticus 5:11 Literally “sons of dove” or “children of dove”
  137. Leviticus 5:11 Or “and”
  138. Leviticus 5:11 Hebrew “the”
  139. Leviticus 5:11 Or “And he must not put”
  140. Leviticus 5:12 Or “And he shall bring”
  141. Leviticus 5:12 Literally “shall scoop up from it the fullness of his handful”
  142. Leviticus 5:12 Literally “on” or “upon”
  143. Leviticus 5:13 Or “And”
  144. Leviticus 5:13 Literally “sinned”
  145. Leviticus 5:13 Literally “from one from these”
  146. Leviticus 5:13 Or “And it shall be”