Leviticus 4:1-5:13
Lexham English Bible
Laws for Sin Offerings
4 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites,[b] saying, ‘If a person[c] sins by an unintentional wrong from any of Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[d] and he violates[e] any of them[f]— 3 if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people,[g] then,[h] concerning the sin that he has committed,[i] he shall bring a young bull[j] without defect for Yahweh as a sin offering. 4 He shall bring[k] the bull to the tent of assembly’s entrance before Yahweh, place[l] his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter the bull before Yahweh. 5 The anointed priest[m] shall take some of[n] the bull’s blood and shall bring it to the tent of assembly, 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and shall spatter some of[o] the blood seven times before Yahweh in front of the sanctuary’s curtain. 7 The priest[p] shall put some of[q] the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before Yahweh, which is in the tent of assembly, and all the rest[r] of the bull’s blood he must pour out on the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of assembly.
8 “‘He must remove[s] all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the inner parts[t] and all of the fat that is on the inner parts,[u] 9 the two[v] kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the liver’s lobe that he must remove in addition to the kidneys— 10 just as it is removed from the ox of the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice—and the priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar of the burnt offering. 11 But[w] the bull’s skin and its meat, in addition to its head, its lower leg bones,[x] its[y] inner parts,[z] and its offal— 12 he shall carry[aa] all of the bull outside the camp[ab] to a ceremonially clean place, to the fatty ashes’ dump, and he shall burn it on wood in the fire; it must be burned up on the fatty ashes’ dump.
13 “‘If[ac] Israel’s whole assembly did wrong unintentionally and the matter[ad] was concealed from the assembly’s eyes, and they acted[ae] against any of[af] Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[ag] so that[ah] they incur guilt, 14 when[ai] the sin that they have committed[aj] against that command[ak] becomes known, the assembly[al] shall present a young bull[am] as a sin offering, and they shall bring it before the tent of assembly. 15 And the elders of the community shall place their hands on the bull’s head before Yahweh, and he[an] shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh. 16 Then the anointed priest shall bring some of[ao] the bull’s blood to the tent of assembly, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in[ap] the blood and shall spatter it seven times before Yahweh in front of the curtain. 18 He must put[aq] some of[ar] the blood on the altar’s horns before Yahweh in the tent of assembly,[as] and all the rest[at] of the blood he must pour out on the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the tent of assembly’s entrance. 19 He must remove[au] all its fat from it, and he shall turn it into smoke on the altar. 20 He shall do[av] to the bull just as[aw] he did to the sin offering’s bull, so he must do to it. The priest[ax] shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.[ay] 21 He shall bring[az] the rest of[ba] the bull outside the camp,[bb] and he shall burn it just as[bc] he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
22 “‘When a leader sins and commits[bd] an unintentional wrong against any of[be] the commands of Yahweh his God that should not be violated,[bf] so that[bg] he incurs guilt, 23 or his sin he has committed[bh] is made known to him, he shall bring[bi] a male goat[bj] without defect as his offering. 24 He shall place[bk] his hand on the he-goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where he slaughtered the burnt offering before Yahweh; it is a sin offering. 25 The priest[bl] shall take some of[bm] the sin offering’s blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of[bn] its blood on the base of the altar of the burnt offering. 26 He[bo] must turn all of its fat into smoke on the altar like the fat of the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice, and the priest shall make atonement for him because of[bp] his sin, and he will be forgiven.[bq]
27 “‘If[br] anyone[bs] of the people of the land sins by an unintentional wrong by violating[bt] one of Yahweh’s commands that should not be violated,[bu] so that[bv] he incurs guilt, 28 or his sin he has committed[bw] is made known to him, he shall bring[bx] as his offering a female goat without defect[by] as his offering for his sin that he committed.[bz] 29 He shall place[ca] his hand on the sin offering’s head and slaughter the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. 30 The priest[cb] shall take some of[cc] its blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of[cd] its blood on the altar’s base. 31 He[ce] must remove all of its fat just as[cf] the fat was removed from[cg] the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. The priest[ch] shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.[ci]
32 “‘But[cj] if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he must bring a female without defect. 33 He shall place[ck] his hand on the sin offering’s head, and he shall slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where he slaughtered the burnt offering. 34 The priest[cl] shall take some of[cm] the sin offering’s blood with his finger, and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest[cn] of its blood on the altar’s base. 35 He must remove[co] all of its fat just as[cp] the lamb’s fat from the fellowship offerings’ sacrifice was removed, and the priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar upon Yahweh’s offerings made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him because of[cq] his sin that he committed,[cr] and he will be forgiven.’”[cs]
More Laws Regarding Sin Offerings
5 “‘When a person[ct] sins in that[cu] he hears the utterance of a curse and he is a witness or he sees or he knows, if he does not make it known, then[cv] he shall bear his guilt. 2 Or if a person[cw] touches anything unclean, whether[cx] an unclean wild[cy] animal’s dead body or an unclean domestic animal’s dead body or an unclean swarmer’s dead body, but[cz] he is unaware of it,[da] he is unclean and he is guilty. 3 Or when he touches human uncleanness, namely[db] any uncleanness of his by which he might become unclean, but[dc] he is unaware of it,[dd] and he himself finds out, then[de] he will be guilty. 4 Or when a person[df] swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, to do evil or to do good with regard to[dg] anything that the person[dh] in a sworn oath speaks thoughtlessly, but[di] he is unaware of it,[dj] he will be guilty in any of[dk] these. 5 When he becomes guilty in any of[dl] these, he shall confess[dm] what he has sinned regarding[dn] it, 6 and he shall bring his guilt offering to[do] Yahweh for his sin that he has committed:[dp] a female from the flock,[dq] a ewe-lamb or a she-goat,[dr] as a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for[ds] his sin.
7 “‘If[dt] he cannot afford a sheep,[du] he shall bring as his guilt offering for what he sinned two turtledoves or two young doves[dv] for Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. 8 He shall bring[dw] them to the priest, and he shall present that which is for the sin offering first, and the priest[dx] shall wring its head off at the back of its neck,[dy] but[dz] he must not sever it, 9 and he shall spatter some of[ea] the sin offering’s blood on the altar’s side, and the leftover blood must be drained out on the altar’s base; it is a sin offering. 10 The second[eb] bird he must prepare as a burnt offering according to the regulation, and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he has committed,[ec] and he shall be forgiven.
11 “‘But[ed] if he cannot afford[ee] two turtledoves or two young doves,[ef] then,[eg] because he has sinned, he shall bring as his offering a tenth of an[eh] ephah of finely milled flour as a sin offering. He must not put[ei] oil on it, nor should he put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring[ej] it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it[ek] for its token portion, and he shall turn it to smoke on the altar in addition to[el] the offerings made by fire to Yahweh; it is a sin offering. 13 Thus[em] the priest shall make atonement for him because of the sin that he has committed[en] in any of these,[eo] and he shall be forgiven. It shall be[ep] for the priest, like the grain offering.’”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 4:1 Or “And”
- Leviticus 4:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Leviticus 4:2 Or “a soul”
- Leviticus 4:2 Literally “done”
- Leviticus 4:2 Literally “does”
- Leviticus 4:2 Literally “from one from them”; see NET
- Leviticus 4:3 Literally “to the guilt of the people”
- Leviticus 4:3 Or “and”
- Leviticus 4:3 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 4:3 Literally “a bull, a son of cattle”
- Leviticus 4:4 Or “And he shall bring”
- Leviticus 4:4 Or “And place”
- Leviticus 4:5 Or “And the anointed priest”
- Leviticus 4:5 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:6 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:7 Or “And the priest”
- Leviticus 4:7 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:7 Implied by the context
- Leviticus 4:8 Or “And he must remove”
- Leviticus 4:8 Or “entrails”
- Leviticus 4:8 Or “entrails”
- Leviticus 4:9 Or “and the two”
- Leviticus 4:11 Or “And”
- Leviticus 4:11 Literally “and in addition to its lower leg bones”
- Leviticus 4:11 Or “and its”
- Leviticus 4:11 Or “entrails”
- Leviticus 4:12 Or “and he shall carry out”
- Leviticus 4:12 Literally “to from an outside place of the camp”
- Leviticus 4:13 Or “And if”
- Leviticus 4:13 Or “thing”
- Leviticus 4:13 Or “did”
- Leviticus 4:13 Literally “one from all of”
- Leviticus 4:13 Literally “done”
- Leviticus 4:13 Or “and”
- Leviticus 4:14 Or “and”
- Leviticus 4:14 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 4:14 The 3fs pronominal suffix may refer to “one of Yahweh’s commands”—“one” is also fs
- Leviticus 4:14 Or “and the assembly”
- Leviticus 4:14 Literally “a bull, a son of cattle”
- Leviticus 4:15 Or “someone”; see NET—the 3ms refers to either one of the elders or the priest
- Leviticus 4:16 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:17 Or “from”
- Leviticus 4:18 Or “And he must put”
- Leviticus 4:18 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:18 Literally “which is in the tent of assembly”—the reference is to the altar
- Leviticus 4:18 Indicated by the context
- Leviticus 4:19 Or “And he must remove”
- Leviticus 4:20 Or “And he shall do”
- Leviticus 4:20 Literally “as that”
- Leviticus 4:20 Or “And the priest”
- Leviticus 4:20 Literally “it shall be forgiven to them”
- Leviticus 4:21 Or “And he shall bring out”
- Leviticus 4:21 Indicated by the context
- Leviticus 4:21 Literally “to from an outside place of the camp”
- Leviticus 4:21 Literally “as that”
- Leviticus 4:22 Or “does”
- Leviticus 4:22 Literally “one from all of”
- Leviticus 4:22 Literally “done”
- Leviticus 4:22 Or “and”
- Leviticus 4:23 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 4:23 Or “and he shall bring” or “then he shall bring”
- Leviticus 4:23 Literally “a he-goat of goats a male”
- Leviticus 4:24 Or “And he shall place”
- Leviticus 4:25 Or “And the priest”
- Leviticus 4:25 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:25 Indicated by context
- Leviticus 4:26 Or “And he”; the antecedent is the priest (cp. vv. 10, 31)
- Leviticus 4:26 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:26 Literally “it shall be forgiven to him”
- Leviticus 4:27 Or “And if”
- Leviticus 4:27 Literally “a soul one”
- Leviticus 4:27 Literally “doing”
- Leviticus 4:27 Literally “done”
- Leviticus 4:27 Or “and”
- Leviticus 4:28 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 4:28 Or “and he shall bring” or “then he shall bring”
- Leviticus 4:28 Literally “a she-goat of goats without defect a female”
- Leviticus 4:28 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 4:29 Or “And he shall place”
- Leviticus 4:30 Or “And the priest”
- Leviticus 4:30 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:30 Indicated by context
- Leviticus 4:31 Or “And he”
- Leviticus 4:31 Literally “as that”
- Leviticus 4:31 Or “from on” or “from upon”
- Leviticus 4:31 Or “And the priest”
- Leviticus 4:31 Literally “it shall be forgiven to him”
- Leviticus 4:32 Or “And”
- Leviticus 4:33 Or “And he shall place”
- Leviticus 4:34 Or “And the priest”
- Leviticus 4:34 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 4:34 Indicated by context
- Leviticus 4:35 Or “And he must remove”
- Leviticus 4:35 Literally “as that”
- Leviticus 4:35 Or “for”
- Leviticus 4:35 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 4:35 Literally “it will be forgiven to him”
- Leviticus 5:1 Or “a soul”
- Leviticus 5:1 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:1 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:2 Or “a soul”
- Leviticus 5:2 Literally “or”
- Leviticus 5:2 Implied by the following phrase specifying domestic animals
- Leviticus 5:2 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:2 Literally “it is concealed from him”
- Leviticus 5:3 Literally “for” or “to” (see HALOT 510)
- Leviticus 5:3 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:3 Literally “it is concealed from him”
- Leviticus 5:3 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:4 Or “a soul”
- Leviticus 5:4 Literally “for” or “to” (see HALOT 510)
- Leviticus 5:4 Literally “the man”
- Leviticus 5:4 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:4 Literally “it is concealed from him”
- Leviticus 5:4 Literally “for one of”
- Leviticus 5:5 Literally “for one of”
- Leviticus 5:5 Or “and he shall confess”
- Leviticus 5:5 Literally “upon” or “against”
- Leviticus 5:6 Or “for”
- Leviticus 5:6 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 5:6 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
- Leviticus 5:6 Literally “a she-goat of goats”
- Leviticus 5:6 Hebrew “from”
- Leviticus 5:7 Or “And if”
- Leviticus 5:7 Literally “his hand does not touch enough of small livestock”
- Leviticus 5:7 Literally “sons of dove” or “children of dove”
- Leviticus 5:8 Or “And he shall bring”
- Leviticus 5:8 Required by the previous action (see NET)
- Leviticus 5:8 Literally “from opposite its neck”
- Leviticus 5:8 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:9 Literally “from”
- Leviticus 5:10 Or “And the second”
- Leviticus 5:10 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 5:11 Or “And”
- Leviticus 5:11 Literally “his hand cannot produce for”
- Leviticus 5:11 Literally “sons of dove” or “children of dove”
- Leviticus 5:11 Or “and”
- Leviticus 5:11 Hebrew “the”
- Leviticus 5:11 Or “And he must not put”
- Leviticus 5:12 Or “And he shall bring”
- Leviticus 5:12 Literally “shall scoop up from it the fullness of his handful”
- Leviticus 5:12 Literally “on” or “upon”
- Leviticus 5:13 Or “And”
- Leviticus 5:13 Literally “sinned”
- Leviticus 5:13 Literally “from one from these”
- Leviticus 5:13 Or “And it shall be”
Leviticus 4:1-5:13
Common English Bible
The purification offering
4 The Lord said to Moses, 2 Say to the Israelites: Do the following whenever someone sins unintentionally against any of the Lord’s commands, doing something that shouldn’t be done:
3 If it is the anointed priest who has sinned, making the people guilty of sin, he must present to the Lord a flawless bull from the herd as a purification offering[a] for the sin he has committed. 4 He will bring the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the meeting tent and press his hand on the bull’s head. Then he will slaughter the bull before the Lord. 5 The anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood and take it into the meeting tent. 6 The priest will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord, toward the sanctuary’s inner curtain. 7 Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of perfumed incense, which is in the meeting tent before the Lord. But he will pour out all the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of entirely burned offerings, which is at the meeting tent’s entrance. 8 Then he will remove all the fat from the bull for the purification offering: the fat that covers and surrounds the insides; 9 the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys, 10 just as this is removed from the ox for the communal sacrifice of well-being. Then the priest will completely burn these on the altar of entirely burned offerings. 11 But the bull’s hide and all of its flesh, along with its head, lower legs, entrails, and dung— 12 all that remains of the bull—will be taken to a clean location outside the camp, to the ash heap. It should be burned there at the ash heap on a wood fire.
13 If it is the entire Israelite community that has done something wrong unintentionally and the deed escapes the assembly’s notice—but they’ve done something that shouldn’t be done in violation of the Lord’s commands, becoming guilty of sin— 14 once the sin that they committed becomes known, the assembly must present a bull from the herd as a purification offering. They will bring it before the meeting tent. 15 The community elders will press their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord and then slaughter it before the Lord. 16 The anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood into the meeting tent. 17 The priest will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord toward the inner curtain. 18 Then he will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the meeting tent. But he will pour all the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar of entirely burned offerings that is at the meeting tent’s entrance. 19 Then he will remove all the fat from it and completely burn it on the altar. 20 He will do the same with this bull as he did with the other bull for the purification offering; that is exactly what he must do. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for them, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then the priest will take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as the first bull was burned. It is the purification offering for the assembly.
22 If a leader sins by unintentionally breaking any of the commands of the Lord his God, doing something that shouldn’t be done, and becomes guilty of sin— 23 once the sin that he committed is made known to him—he must bring as his offering a flawless male goat. 24 He will press his hand on the goat’s head. It will be slaughtered[b] at the place where an entirely burned offering would be slaughtered before the Lord. It is a purification offering. 25 The priest will take some of the blood from the purification offering and, using his finger, will put it on the horns of the altar of entirely burned offerings. But he will pour the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar of entirely burned offerings. 26 He will completely burn all of its fat on the altar just as the fat of the communal sacrifice of well-being is burned. In this way the priest will make reconciliation for the leader to remove his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27 If any ordinary person[c] sins unintentionally by breaking one of the Lord’s commands, doing something that shouldn’t be done, and becomes guilty of sin— 28 once the sin they committed is made known to them—they must bring as their offering a flawless female goat because of the sin that was committed. 29 They will press their hand on the head of the purification offering. It will be slaughtered[d] at the place for the entirely burned offerings. 30 The priest will take some of its blood and, using his finger, will put it on the horns of the altar of entirely burned offerings. But he will pour all the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar. 31 He will remove all of its fat, just as the fat from a communal sacrifice of well-being is removed. Then the priest will completely burn it on the altar as a soothing smell to the Lord. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for them, and they will be forgiven.
32 If you offer a sheep as a purification offering, it must be a flawless female. 33 You must press your hand on the head of the purification offering. It will be slaughtered[e] as a purification offering in the place where the entirely burned offering is slaughtered. 34 Then the priest will take some of the blood from the purification offering and, using his finger, will put it on the horns of the altar of entirely burned offerings. But he will pour all the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar. 35 He will remove all of its fat, just as the fat of a sheep would be removed from the communal sacrifice of well-being. Then the priest will completely burn it on the altar along with the Lord’s food gifts. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for you for the sin you committed, and you will be forgiven.
Unintentional sin
5 If you sin:
by not providing information after hearing a public solemn pledge even though you are a witness, knowing something, or having seen something so that you become liable to punishment;
2 or by touching some unclean thing—the dead body of an unclean wild animal, unclean livestock, or unclean swarming creature—but the fact goes unknown so that you become unclean and guilty of sin;
3 or by touching human uncleanness—any uncleanness that makes one unclean—and the fact goes unknown, but you later learn of it and become guilty of sin;
4 or by carelessly swearing to do something, whether bad or good—whatever one might swear carelessly—and the fact goes unknown, but you later learn of it and become guilty of sin concerning one of these things—
5 at that point, when you have become guilty of sin in one of these ways, you must confess how you have sinned 6 and bring to the Lord as compensation for the sin that was committed a female from the flock, either a sheep or goat, as a purification offering. The priest will then make reconciliation for you, to remove your sin.
Alternative offerings
7 If you can’t afford an animal from the flock, you can bring to the Lord as compensation for your sin two doves or two pigeons, one as a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering. 8 You will bring them to the priest, who will first present the one for the purification offering. He will pinch off its head at the back of its neck without splitting it. 9 Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the purification offering on the side of the altar. The rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a purification offering. 10 Then, with the second bird, the priest will perform an entirely burned offering according to the regulation. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for you because of the sin you committed, and you will be forgiven.
11 If you cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, you can bring as the offering for your sin a tenth of an ephah[f] of choice flour as a purification offering. You must not put any oil on it, nor any frankincense, because it is a purification offering. 12 You will bring it to the priest, and the priest will take a handful from it—the token portion—and will burn it completely on the altar along with the food gifts for the Lord. It is a purification offering. 13 In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for you for whichever one of the sins you committed, and you will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest like the grain offering.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 4:3 Or sin offering (Heb hatta’t, which recurs frequently in Leviticus)
- Leviticus 4:24 Or He will slaughter it … where he would slaughter
- Leviticus 4:27 Or one of the people of the land
- Leviticus 4:29 Or They will slaughter it.
- Leviticus 4:33 Or You will slaughter it.
- Leviticus 5:11 Two quarts; one ephah is approximately twenty quarts dry.
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