Special Types of Accidental Sins

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

² “‘Or someone might touch something unclean, such as the dead body of an unclean wild animal or an unclean farm animal or an unclean crawling animal. Even if he does not know that he touched it, he will still be unclean and guilty of sin.

³ “‘Someone might touch human uncleanness—anything that makes someone unclean—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. It might be a promise to do something bad or something good; it might be about anything. Even if he forgets about it, 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 as a penalty for 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 if the person cannot afford a lamb, he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as the penalty for his sin. One bird must be for a sin offering, and the other must be for a whole burnt offering. ⁸ He must bring them to the priest, who will first 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, and 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 whole burnt offering, as 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 “‘If the person cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, he must bring about two quarts of fine flour as an offering for sin. He must not put oil or incense on the flour, 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 and burn it on the altar 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, like the grain offering.’”

The Penalty Offering

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁵ “If a person accidentally sins and does something against the holy things of the Lord, he must bring from the flock a male sheep that has nothing wrong with it. This will be his penalty offering to the Lord. Its value in silver must be correct as set by the Holy Place measure. It is a penalty offering. ¹⁶ That person must pay for the sin he did against the holy thing, adding 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, by using the male sheep as the penalty offering. And the Lord will forgive the person.

¹⁷ “If a person sins and does something the Lord has commanded not to be done, even if he does not know it, he is still guilty. He is responsible for his sin. ¹⁸ He must bring the priest a male sheep from the flock, one that has nothing wrong with it and that is worth the correct amount. It will be a penalty offering. Though the person sinned without knowing it, 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, so he must give the penalty offering to the Lord.”