Leviticus 4:1-5:13
English Standard Version
Laws for Sin Offerings
4 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, (A)If anyone sins unintentionally[a] in any of the Lord's commandments (B)about things not to be done, and does any one of them, 3 if it is the anointed priest who (C)sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed (D)a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. 4 He shall bring the bull to the (E)entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord. 5 And the anointed priest (F)shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and (G)sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7 And the priest (H)shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the Lord that is in the tent of meeting, and (I)all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it, (J)the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 9 (K)and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys 10 (just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But (L)the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12 all the rest of the bull—he shall carry (M)outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall (N)burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up.
13 (O)“If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally[b] and (P)the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt,[c] 14 (Q)when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15 And the elders of the congregation (R)shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be killed before the Lord. 16 Then (S)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 in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil. 18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19 And all its fat he shall take from it and burn on the altar. 20 Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did (T)with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. (U)And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21 And he shall carry the bull (V)outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
22 “When a leader sins, (W)doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23 or (X)the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24 and (Y)shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 (Z)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 of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like (AA)the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So (AB)the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.
27 “If (AC)anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 28 (AD)or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29 (AE)And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30 And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 And (AF)all its fat he shall remove, (AG)as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a (AH)pleasing aroma to the Lord. (AI)And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
32 “If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring (AJ)a female without blemish 33 (AK)and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill 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 of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 And all its fat he shall remove (AL)as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the Lord's food offerings. (AM)And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
5 “If anyone sins in that he hears a public (AN)adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall (AO)bear his iniquity; 2 or (AP)if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; 3 or if he touches (AQ)human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt; 4 or if anyone utters with his lips a (AR)rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people (AS)swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; 5 when he realizes his guilt in any of these and (AT)confesses the sin he has committed, 6 he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation[d] for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
7 “But (AU)if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two (AV)turtledoves or two pigeons,[e] one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 8 He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering. He shall (AW)wring its head from its neck (AX)but shall not sever it completely, 9 and he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while (AY)the rest of the blood shall be drained out (AZ)at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. 10 Then he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. (BA)And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
11 “But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for the sin that he has committed a (BB)tenth of an ephah[f] of fine flour for a sin offering. He (BC)shall put no oil on it and shall put no frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 And he shall bring it to (BD)the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it as its memorial portion and (BE)burn this on the altar, on the Lord's food offerings; it is a sin offering. 13 Thus (BF)the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in any one of these things, and he shall be forgiven. And the remainder[g] shall be for the priest, as in the grain offering.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 4:2 Or by mistake; so throughout Leviticus
- Leviticus 4:13 Or makes a mistake
- Leviticus 4:13 Or suffer for their guilt, or are guilty; also verses 22, 27, and chapter 5
- Leviticus 5:6 Hebrew his guilt penalty; so throughout Leviticus
- Leviticus 5:7 Septuagint two young pigeons; also verse 11
- Leviticus 5:11 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
- Leviticus 5:13 Septuagint; Hebrew it
Leviticus 4:1-5:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Purification Offerings
4 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, saying: When anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done and does any one of them:(A)
3 “If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull of the herd as a purification offering to the Lord.(B) 4 He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull; the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.(C) 5 The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting.(D) 6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.(E) 8 He shall remove all the fat from the bull of purification offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails,(F) 9 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, 10 just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall turn them into smoke upon the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, as well as its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12 all the rest of the bull—he shall carry out to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash heap, and shall burn it on a wood fire; at the ash heap it shall be burned.(G)
13 “If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt,(H) 14 when the sin that they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a purification offering and bring it before the tent of meeting.(I) 15 The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.(J) 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 in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the curtain.(K) 18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19 He shall remove all its fat and turn it into smoke on the altar. 20 He shall do with the bull just as is done with the bull of purification offering; he shall do the same with this. The priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.(L) 21 He shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the purification offering for the assembly.
22 “When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt,(M) 23 once the sin that he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish.(N) 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat; it shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord; it is a purification offering. 25 The priest shall take some of the blood of the purification offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.(O) 26 All its fat he shall turn into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of well-being. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.(P)
27 “If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt,(Q) 28 when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed.(R) 29 You shall lay your hand on the head of the purification offering; the purification offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering.(S) 30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 He shall remove all its fat, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar for a pleasing odor to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf, and you shall be forgiven.
32 “If the offering you bring as a purification offering is a sheep, you shall bring a female without blemish.(T) 33 You shall lay your hand on the head of the purification offering; it shall be slaughtered as a purification offering at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the purification offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 You shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the sheep is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire[a] to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.(U)
5 “When any of you sin in that you have heard a public adjuration to testify and, although able to testify as one who has seen or learned of the matter, do not speak up, you are subject to punishment.(V) 2 Or when any of you touch any unclean thing, whether the carcass of an unclean beast or the carcass of unclean livestock or the carcass of an unclean swarming thing, and are unaware of it, you have become unclean and are guilty.(W) 3 Or when you touch human uncleanness—any uncleanness by which one can become unclean—and are unaware of it, when you come to know it, you shall be guilty. 4 Or when any of you utter aloud a rash oath for a bad or a good purpose, whatever people utter in an oath and are unaware of it, when you come to know it, you shall in any of these be guilty. 5 When you realize your guilt in any of these, you shall confess the sin that you have committed,(X) 6 and you shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty for the sin that you have committed, a female from the flock, a sheep or a goat, as a purification offering, and the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for your sin.
7 “But if you cannot afford a sheep, you shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty for the sin that you have committed, two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering.(Y) 8 You shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the purification offering, wringing its head at the nape without severing it.(Z) 9 He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the purification offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a purification offering.(AA) 10 And the second he shall offer for a burnt offering according to the regulation. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.(AB)
11 “But if you cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, you shall bring as your offering for the sin that you have committed one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour for a purification offering; you shall not put oil on it or lay frankincense on it, for it is a purification offering.(AC) 12 You shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall scoop up a handful of it as its memorial portion and turn this into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire[b] to the Lord; it is a purification offering. 13 Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for whichever of these sins you have committed, and you shall be forgiven. As with the grain offering, the rest shall be for the priest.”(AD)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.