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)
Leviticus 4:1-5:13
Christian Standard Bible
The Sin Offering
4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites: When someone sins unintentionally(A) against any of the Lord’s commands and does anything prohibited by them—
3 “If the anointed priest(B) sins, bringing guilt(C) on the people, he is to present to the Lord a young, unblemished(D) bull as a sin[a] offering(E) for the sin he has committed. 4 He is to bring the bull to the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. 5 The anointed priest will then take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. 6 The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times(F) before the Lord in front of the curtain(G) of the sanctuary.(H) 7 The priest is to apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar of fragrant incense(I) that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He must pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering(J) that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: the fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails, 9 and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins. He will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys, 10 just as the fat is removed from the ox of the fellowship sacrifice.(K) The priest is to burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the hide(L) of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs, and its entrails and waste— 12 all the rest of the bull—he must bring to a ceremonially clean place(M) outside the camp(N) to the ash heap, and must burn it on a wood fire. It is to be burned at the ash heap.
13 “Now if the whole community of Israel(O) errs,(P) and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly,(Q) so that they violate any of the Lord’s commands and incur guilt(R) by doing what is prohibited, 14 then the assembly must present a young bull as a sin offering. They are to bring it before the tent of meeting when the sin they have committed in regard to the command becomes known. 15 The elders(S) of the community are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord and it is to be slaughtered before the Lord. 16 The anointed priest will bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 17 The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain. 18 He is to apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 He is to remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. 20 He is to offer this bull just as he did with the bull in the sin offering; he will offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement(T) on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.(U) 21 Then he will bring the bull outside the camp(V) and burn it just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.
22 “When a leader[b](W) sins and unintentionally violates any of the commands of the Lord his God by doing what is prohibited, and incurs guilt, 23 or someone informs him about the sin he has committed, he is to bring an unblemished male goat(X) as his offering. 24 He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering(Y) is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin offering.(Z) 25 Then the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering with his finger and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering.(AA) The rest of its blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the fellowship sacrifice. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for that person’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
27 “Now if any of the common people[c] sins unintentionally by violating one of the Lord’s commands, does what is prohibited, and incurs guilt, 28 or if someone informs him about the sin he has committed, then he is to bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for the sin that he has committed. 29 He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. 30 Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He is to pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 He is to remove all its fat just as the fat is removed from the fellowship sacrifice. The priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf, and he will be forgiven.
32 “Or if the offering that he brings as a sin offering is a lamb,(AB) he is to bring an unblemished female. 33 He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He is to pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 He is to remove all its fat just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the fellowship sacrifice. The priest will burn it on the altar along with the food offerings to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
Cases Requiring Sin Offerings
5 “When someone sins in any of these ways:
If he has seen, heard, or known about something he has witnessed, and did not respond to a public call to testify, he will bear his iniquity.(AC)
2 Or if someone touches anything unclean(AD)—a carcass of an unclean wild animal,(AE) or unclean livestock, or an unclean swarming creature(AF)—without being aware of it, he is unclean and incurs guilt.(AG)
3 Or if he touches human uncleanness(AH)—any uncleanness by which one can become defiled(AI)—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt.
4 Or if someone swears rashly(AJ) to do what is good or evil—concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.
5 If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess(AK) he has committed that sin. 6 He must bring his penalty for guilt(AL) for the sin he has committed to the Lord: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement(AM) on his behalf for his sin.
7 “But if he cannot afford an animal from the flock, then he may bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons(AN) as penalty for guilt for his sin—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 He is to bring them to the priest, who will first present the one for the sin offering. He is to twist its head at the back of the neck without severing it.(AO) 9 Then he will 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 out at the base of the altar;(AP) it is a sin offering. 10 He will prepare the second bird as a burnt offering according to the regulation.(AQ) In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
11 “But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons,(AR) he may bring two quarts[d] of fine flour[e](AS) as an offering for his sin. He must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 He is to bring it to the priest, who will take a handful from it as its memorial portion(AT) and burn it on the altar along with the food offerings to the Lord; it is a sin offering. 13 In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf concerning the sin he has committed in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven. The rest will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.”(AU)
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.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.