The Law of Sin Offerings

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them,

if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then he is to offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for his sin which he has committed.

And he shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails,

when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting.

He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; he shall do the same with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.

Then he is to bring the bull out to a place outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any of the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect.

And he shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering.

Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.

And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin, and he will be forgiven.

‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,

if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring as his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed.

And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.

‘But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.

And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering.

And the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

The Law of Guilt Offerings

‘Now if a person sins after he hears a public order to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his punishment.

So it shall be when he becomes guilty of one of these things, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned.

He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

‘But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord his guilt offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves or two young doves, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer that which is for the sin offering, and shall pinch off its head at the front of its neck, but he shall not sever it.

He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar: it is a sin offering.