Offerings for Unintentional Sins

22 “‘Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Moses(A) 23 any of the Lord’s commands to you through him, from the day the Lord gave them and continuing through the generations to come(B) 24 and if this is done unintentionally(C) without the community being aware of it,(D) then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering(E) as an aroma pleasing to the Lord,(F) along with its prescribed grain offering(G) and drink offering,(H) and a male goat for a sin offering.[a](I) 25 The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven,(J) for it was not intentional(K) and they have presented to the Lord for their wrong a food offering(L) and a sin offering.(M) 26 The whole Israelite community and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong.(N)

27 “‘But if just one person sins unintentionally,(O) that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.(P) 28 The priest is to make atonement(Q) before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven.(R) 29 One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 15:24 Or purification offering; also in verses 25 and 27

22 “‘But if you go astray and you do not follow[a] all these commandments that Yahweh commanded to Moses, 23 all that Yahweh commanded you by the hand of Moses[b] from the day that Yahweh commanded and beyond, throughout your generations,[c] 24 and if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge[d] of the community, then the entire community must prepare one young bull[e] as a burnt offering, as a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh, and its grain offering and its libation, according to the stipulation, and one male goat as a sin offering. 25 The priest will make atonement for all of the community of the Israelites,[f] and they will be forgiven[g] because it was unintentional; they will bring their offering, an offering made by fire for Yahweh, their sin offering before Yahweh[h] for their unintentional sin. 26 All of the community of the Israelites[i] will be forgiven, as well as the alien that dwells in their midst, because the whole community was involved in the unintentional wrong.

27 “‘If one person sins unintentionally, that person will present a female goat in its first year[j] as a sin offering. 28 And the priest will make atonement for the person who sinned unintentionally[k] before Yahweh,[l] to make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. 29 For the native among the Israelites[m] and the alien that dwells in their midst, there will be one law for anyone who commits an unintentional wrong.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 15:22 Or “do”
  2. Numbers 15:23 Or “through Moses”
  3. Numbers 15:23 Hebrew “for your generations”
  4. Numbers 15:24 Literally “from the eyes”
  5. Numbers 15:24 Literally “a bull a son of cattle”
  6. Numbers 15:25 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  7. Numbers 15:25 Literally “it will be forgiven to them”
  8. Numbers 15:25 Literally “in the presence of Yahweh”
  9. Numbers 15:26 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  10. Numbers 15:27 Literally “a daughter of a year”
  11. Numbers 15:28 Literally “sinned unintentionally when sinning an unintentional wrong”
  12. Numbers 15:28 Literally “in the presence of Yahweh”
  13. Numbers 15:29 Literally “sons/children of Israel”