Beginning

Special Types of Accidental Sins

5 “‘These are things for which a sin offering must be made:

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

² “‘Or someone might touch something unclean. It might be the dead body of an unclean wild animal or an unclean farm animal or an unclean crawling animal. He might not know that he touched it. But he will still be unclean and guilty of sin.

³ “‘Many things come from a person which are not clean. Someone might touch one of these unclean things from a person 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. He might promise to do something bad or good. The promise might be about anything. He might even make a promise before the Lord and forget about it. But 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. It is a penalty for his 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 perhaps the person cannot afford a lamb. Then he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord. These will be the penalty for his sin. One bird must be for a sin offering. The other must be for a burnt offering. ⁸ He must bring them to the priest. First the priest will 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. 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 burnt offering. This is what 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 “‘The person might not be able to afford two doves or two pigeons. If not, he must bring about two quarts of fine flour. This will be an offering for his sin. He must not put oil on the flour. And he must not put incense on it, 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. He will burn it on the altar. It goes 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. This is like the grain offering.’”

The Penalty Offering

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁵ “A person might accidentally sin and do something against the holy things of the Lord. That person must bring a male sheep from the flock. It must have nothing wrong with it. This will be his penalty offering to the Lord. The value in silver of the male sheep must be correct. Use the proper value for silver as set by the Holy Place measure. ¹⁶ That person must pay for the sin he did against the holy thing. He must add 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. The priest does it by means of the male sheep of the penalty offering. And the Lord will forgive the person.

¹⁷ “A person might sin and do something the Lord has commanded not to be done. It does not matter if that person knew or not. He is guilty. He is responsible for his sin. ¹⁸ He must bring the priest a male sheep from the flock. It must have nothing wrong with it. It must be worth the correct amount. The male sheep will be a penalty offering. The person sinned without knowing it. But 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 against the Lord. So he must give the penalty offering to the Lord.”

6 The Lord said to Moses, ² “A person might sin against the Lord by doing one of these sins: He might lie about what happened to something he was taking care of for someone else. Or he might lie about a promise he made. Or he might steal something or cheat someone. ³ He might find something that had been lost and then lie about it. He might make a promise before the Lord about something and not mean it. Or he might do some other sin. ⁴ If he does any of these things, he is guilty of sin. He must bring back whatever he stole. Or he must bring back what he took by cheating. Or he must bring back the thing he took care of for someone else. Or he must bring back what he found and lied about. ⁵ Or he must bring back what he made a false promise about. He must pay the full price. Then he must pay an extra one-fifth of the value of what he took. He must give the money to the true owner. This must be done on the day he brings his penalty offering. ⁶ He must pay a penalty to the priest. It must be a male sheep from the flock. It must not have anything wrong with it. And it must be worth the correct amount. It will be a penalty offering to the Lord. ⁷ Then the priest will perform the acts to remove that person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him for the sins that made him guilty.”

The Whole Burnt Offering

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, ⁹ “Give this command to Aaron and the priests: ‘These are the teachings about the whole burnt offering. The burnt offering must stay on the altar all night until morning. The altar’s fire must be kept burning. ¹⁰ The priest must put on his linen robe. He must put on linen underclothes next to his body. Then he will remove the ashes from the burnt offering on the altar. He will put these ashes beside the altar. ¹¹ Then he must take off those clothes and put on others. He must carry the ashes outside the camp to a special clean place. ¹² But the fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not be allowed to go out. The priest must put more firewood on the altar every morning. He must place the whole burnt offering on the fire. He must burn the fat of the fellowship offerings. ¹³ The fire must be kept burning on the altar all the time. It must not go out.

The Grain Offering

¹⁴ “‘These are the teachings about the grain offering: The priests must bring it to the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵ The priest must take a handful of fine flour. The oil and incense must be on it. The priest must burn the grain offering on the altar. It will be a memorial offering to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to him. ¹⁶ Aaron and the priests may eat what is left. It must be eaten without yeast in a holy place. The priests must eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. ¹⁷ It must not be cooked with yeast. I have given it as their share of the offerings made to me by fire. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the penalty offering. ¹⁸ Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. It is his share of the offerings made to the Lord by fire. This will continue from now on. Whatever touches these offerings must be holy.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁰ “This is the offering Aaron and the priests must bring to the Lord. They must do this on the day they appoint Aaron as high priest. They must bring two quarts of fine flour for a grain offering. They must bring half of it in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ The fine flour must be mixed with oil and cooked on a griddle. Bring it when it is well mixed. You must break it into pieces. It will be a smell that is pleasing to the Lord. ²² One of the priests will be appointed to take Aaron’s place as high priest. He must make the grain offering to the Lord. It is a rule forever. The grain offering must be completely burned to the Lord. ²³ Every grain offering made by a priest must be completely burned. It must not be eaten.”

The Sin Offering

²⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁵ “Tell Aaron and the priests: ‘These are the teachings about the sin offering. The sin offering must be killed in front of the Lord. It must be killed in the same place the whole burnt offering is killed. It is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers the sin offering must eat it. He must eat it in a holy place. It must be in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. ²⁷ Whatever touches the meat of the sin offering must be holy. If the blood is sprinkled on any clothes, you must wash them in a holy place. ²⁸ The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken. If a bronze pot is used, it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. ²⁹ Any male in a priest’s family may eat the offering. It is most holy. ³⁰ The blood of the sin offering may be taken into the Meeting Tent. It may be used to remove sin in the Holy Place. That sin offering must be burned with fire. It must not be eaten.

The Penalty Offering

7 “‘These are the teachings about the penalty offering. It is most holy. ² The penalty offering must be killed where the whole burnt offering is killed. Then the priest must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. ³ He must offer all the fat from the penalty offering. He must offer the fat tail and the fat that covers the inner organs. ⁴ He must offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. And he must offer the best part of the liver. This is to be removed with the kidneys. ⁵ The priest must burn all these things on the altar. They will be an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a penalty offering. ⁶ Any male in a priest’s family may eat it. It is most holy. So it must be eaten in a holy place.

⁷ “‘The penalty offering is like the sin offering. The teachings are the same for both. The priest who offers the sacrifice to remove sins will get the meat for food. ⁸ The priest who offers the burnt offering may also have the skin from it. ⁹ Every grain offering belongs to the priest who offers it. This includes those baked in an oven, cooked on a griddle or baked in a dish. ¹⁰ The grain offerings belong to the priests. They may be dry or mixed with oil. All priests will share alike.

Fellowship Offerings

¹¹ “‘These are the teachings about the fellowship offering a person may offer to the Lord: ¹² He may bring the fellowship offering to show his thanks. If he does, he should also bring loaves of bread. They must be made without yeast, mixed with oil. And he should bring wafers made without yeast. They must have oil poured over them. He should also bring loaves of fine flour mixed with oil. ¹³ He must also offer loaves of bread made with yeast. These should be brought with his fellowship offering, which he gives to show thanks. ¹⁴ One of each kind of offering will be for the Lord. It will be given to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offering. ¹⁵ The fellowship offering is to thank the Lord. The meat from it must be eaten the same day it is offered. None of it must be left until morning.

¹⁶ “‘A person might bring a fellowship offering just to give a gift to God. Or it may be done because of a special promise to God. Then, the sacrifice should be eaten the same day he offers it. If there is any left, it may be eaten the next day. ¹⁷ If any meat from this sacrifice is left on the third day, it must be burned up. ¹⁸ Any meat of the fellowship offering eaten on the third day will not be accepted. The Lord will not count the sacrifice for the person who offered it. It will become unclean. Anyone who eats the meat will be guilty of sin.

¹⁹ “‘People must not eat meat that touches anything unclean. They must burn this meat with fire. But anyone who is clean may eat other meat. ²⁰ But a person who is unclean might eat the meat from the fellowship offering that belongs to the Lord. If he does, he must be separated from his people.

²¹ “‘Someone might touch something unclean that comes from people. Or the unclean thing might be an animal or some hated thing. Touching it will make him unclean. If he then eats meat from the fellowship offering that belongs to the Lord, he must be separated from his people.’”

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Tell the people of Israel: ‘You must not eat any of the fat from cattle, sheep or goats. ²⁴ If an animal is found dead or torn by wild animals, you may use its fat for other things. But you must not eat it. ²⁵ Someone might eat fat from an animal offering made by fire to the Lord. That person must be separated from his people. ²⁶ It does not matter where you live. You must not eat blood from any bird or animal. ²⁷ Anyone who eats blood must be separated from his people.’”

The Priests’ Share

²⁸ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁹ “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Someone may bring a fellowship offering to the Lord. He must give part of it as his sacrifice to the Lord. ³⁰ He must carry that part of the gift in his own hands. It will be an offering made by fire to the Lord. He must carry the fat and the breast of the animal to the priest. The breast must be presented to the Lord as the priests’ share. ³¹ Then the priest must burn the fat on the altar. But the breast of the animal will belong to Aaron and the priests. ³² You must also give the right thigh from the fellowship offering to the priest as a gift. ³³ It will belong to the priest who offers the blood and fat of the fellowship offering. ³⁴ I have taken the breast and the thigh of the fellowship offering. And I have given these parts to Aaron and the priests as their share from the Israelites.’”

³⁵ This is the portion that belongs to Aaron and his sons. It is from the offerings made by fire to the Lord. Aaron and his sons were given this share on the day they were presented to the Lord as priests. ³⁶ On the day the Lord appointed the priests, he commanded Israel to give this share to them. It is to be given to the priests as their share from now on.

³⁷ These are the teachings about the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering and the penalty offering. They are the teachings about the appointment of priests. And they are the teachings about the fellowship offerings. ³⁸ The Lord gave these teachings to Moses on Mount Sinai. It was on the day he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to him in the Sinai Desert.