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
New Living Translation
Procedures for the Sin Offering
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. This is how you are to deal with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything that violates one of the Lord’s commands.
3 “If the high priest[a] sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects. 4 He must bring the bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle,[b] lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. 5 The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 6 dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 8 Then the priest must remove all the fat of the bull to be offered as a sin offering. This includes all the fat around the internal organs, 9 the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. He must remove these along with the kidneys, 10 just as he does with cattle offered as a peace offering, and burn them on the altar of burnt offerings. 11 But he must take whatever is left of the bull—its hide, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and dung— 12 and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.
13 “If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 14 When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. 15 The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord. 16 The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 17 dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain. 18 He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 19 Then the priest must remove all the animal’s fat and burn it on the altar, 20 just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord,[c] and they will be forgiven. 21 Then the priest must take what is left of the bull and carry it outside the camp and burn it there, just as is done with the sin offering for the high priest. This offering is for the sin of the entire congregation of Israel.
22 “If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the Lord his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty. 23 When he becomes aware of his sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat with no defects. 24 He must lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the Lord. This is an offering for his sin. 25 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 26 Then he must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar, just as he does with the peace offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the leader from his sin, making him right with the Lord, and he will be forgiven.
27 “If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 28 When they become aware of their sin, they must bring as an offering for their sin a female goat with no defects. 29 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.
32 “If the people bring a sheep as their sin offering, it must be a female with no defects. 33 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 34 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 35 Then he must remove all the sheep’s fat, just as he does with the fat of a sheep presented as a peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar on top of the special gifts presented to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people from their sin, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.
Sins Requiring a Sin Offering
5 “If you are called to testify about something you have seen or that you know about, it is sinful to refuse to testify, and you will be punished for your sin.
2 “Or suppose you unknowingly touch something that is ceremonially unclean, such as the carcass of an unclean animal. When you realize what you have done, you must admit your defilement and your guilt. This is true whether it is a wild animal, a domestic animal, or an animal that scurries along the ground.
3 “Or suppose you unknowingly touch something that makes a person unclean. When you realize what you have done, you must admit your guilt.
4 “Or suppose you make a foolish vow of any kind, whether its purpose is for good or for bad. When you realize its foolishness, you must admit your guilt.
5 “When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin. 6 Then you must bring to the Lord as the penalty for your sin a female from the flock, either a sheep or a goat. This is a sin offering with which the priest will purify you from your sin, making you right with the Lord.[d]
7 “But if you cannot afford to bring a sheep, you may bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons as the penalty for your sin. One of the birds will be for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8 You must bring them to the priest, who will present the first bird as the sin offering. He will wring its neck but without severing its head from the body. 9 Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the sides of the altar, and the rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering for sin. 10 The priest will then prepare the second bird as a burnt offering, following all the procedures that have been prescribed. Through this process the priest will purify you from your sin, making you right with the Lord, and you will be forgiven.
11 “If you cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, you may bring two quarts[e] of choice flour for your sin offering. Since it is an offering for sin, you must not moisten it with olive oil or put any frankincense on it. 12 Take the flour to the priest, who will scoop out a handful as a representative portion. He will burn it on the altar on top of the special gifts presented to the Lord. It is an offering for sin. 13 Through this process, the priest will purify those who are guilty of any of these sins, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven. The rest of the flour will belong to the priest, just as with the grain offering.”
Footnotes
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