Special Types of Accidental Sins

5 “‘These are things for which a sin offering must be made:

“‘A person might be ordered to tell in court what he has seen or what he knows. If he does not tell the court, he is guilty of sin.

² “‘Or someone might touch something unclean. It might be the dead body of an unclean wild animal or an unclean farm animal or an unclean crawling animal. He might not know that he touched it. But he will still be unclean and guilty of sin.

³ “‘Many things come from a person which are not clean. Someone might touch one of these unclean things from a person and not know it. But when he learns about it, he will be guilty.

⁴ “‘Or someone might make a promise before the Lord without thinking. He might promise to do something bad or good. The promise might be about anything. He might even make a promise before the Lord and forget about it. But when he remembers, he will be guilty.

⁵ “‘When anyone is guilty of any of these things, he must tell how he sinned. ⁶ He must bring an offering to the Lord. It is a penalty for his sin. It must be a female lamb or goat from the flock. The priest will perform the acts to remove that person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord.

⁷ “‘But perhaps the person cannot afford a lamb. Then he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord. These will be the penalty for his sin. One bird must be for a sin offering. The other must be for a burnt offering. ⁸ He must bring them to the priest. First the priest will offer the one for the sin offering. He will pull the bird’s head from its neck. But he will not pull it completely off. ⁹ He must sprinkle the blood from the sin offering on the side of the altar. Then he must pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰ Then the priest must offer the second bird as a burnt offering. This is what the law says. In this way the priest will remove the person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.

¹¹ “‘The person might not be able to afford two doves or two pigeons. If not, he must bring about two quarts of fine flour. This will be an offering for his sin. He must not put oil on the flour. And he must not put incense on it, because it is a sin offering. ¹² He must bring the flour to the priest. The priest will take a handful of the flour as a memorial offering. He will burn it on the altar. It goes on top of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. It is a sin offering. ¹³ In this way the priest will remove the person’s sins so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him. What is left of the sin offering belongs to the priest. This is like the grain offering.’”

The Penalty Offering

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁵ “A person might accidentally sin and do something against the holy things of the Lord. That person must bring a male sheep from the flock. It must have nothing wrong with it. This will be his penalty offering to the Lord. The value in silver of the male sheep must be correct. Use the proper value for silver as set by the Holy Place measure. ¹⁶ That person must pay for the sin he did against the holy thing. He must add one-fifth to its value. Then he must give it all to the priest. In this way the priest will remove the person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord. The priest does it by means of the male sheep of the penalty offering. And the Lord will forgive the person.

¹⁷ “A person might sin and do something the Lord has commanded not to be done. It does not matter if that person knew or not. He is guilty. He is responsible for his sin. ¹⁸ He must bring the priest a male sheep from the flock. It must have nothing wrong with it. It must be worth the correct amount. The male sheep will be a penalty offering. The person sinned without knowing it. But with this offering the priest will remove the sin so the person will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him. ¹⁹ The person is guilty of doing wrong against the Lord. So he must give the penalty offering to the Lord.”