The Daily Audio Bible

Rules for Sin Offerings

4 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Suppose someone sins without meaning to. And that person does something the Lord commands us not to do.

³ “ ‘Suppose it is the anointed priest who sins. And suppose he brings guilt on the people. Then he must bring a young bull to the Lord. It must not have any flaws. He must bring it as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. ⁴ He must bring the bull to the entrance to the tent of meeting in the sight of the Lord. He must place his hand on its head. He must kill it there in the sight of the Lord. ⁵ Then the anointed priest must take some of the bull’s blood. He must carry it into the tent of meeting. ⁶ He must dip his finger into the blood. He must sprinkle some of it seven times in the sight of the Lord. He must do it in front of the curtain of the Most Holy Room. ⁷ Then the priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for burning incense. The horns stick out from the upper four corners of the altar. The incense burned on that altar has a sweet smell. The altar stands in front of the Lord in the tent of meeting. The priest must pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. That altar stands at the entrance to the tent. ⁸ He must remove all the fat from the bull for the sin offering. It includes the fat that is connected to the inside parts. ⁹ It includes both kidneys with the fat on them next to the lower back muscles. It also includes the long part of the liver. He must remove all of it together with the kidneys. ¹⁰ He must remove it in the same way the fat is removed from an ox sacrificed as a friendship offering. Then the priest must burn all of it on the altar for burnt offerings. ¹¹ But the bull’s hide must be taken away. So must all its meat. So must its head and legs. And so must its inside parts and guts. ¹² In other words, all the rest of the bull must be taken away. The priest must take it outside the camp. He must take it to a “clean” place. He must take it to the place where the ashes are thrown. Then he must burn it there in a wood fire on a pile of ashes.

¹³ “ ‘Or suppose the whole community of Israel sins without meaning to. They do something the Lord commands us not to do. Suppose they realize their guilt. ¹⁴ And suppose their sin becomes known. Then they must bring a young bull as a sin offering. They must offer it in front of the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ The elders of the community must place their hands on the bull’s head in the sight of the Lord. The bull must be killed in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the anointed priest must take some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. ¹⁷ He must dip his finger into the blood. He must sprinkle it seven times in the sight of the Lord. He must do it in front of the curtain. ¹⁸ He must put some of the blood on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar. The altar stands in front of the Lord in the tent of meeting. The priest must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. That altar stands at the entrance to the tent. ¹⁹ He must remove all the fat from the bull. He must burn it on the altar. ²⁰ He must do the same thing with that bull as he did with the bull for the sin offering. When he does, he will pay for the sin of the community. And they will be forgiven. ²¹ Then he must take the bull outside the camp. He must burn it just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the whole community.

²² “ ‘Or suppose a leader sins without meaning to. He disobeys any of the commands of the Lord his God. ²³ And suppose he realizes his guilt and his sin becomes known. Then he must bring an offering. It must be a male goat. It must not have any flaws. ²⁴ He must place his hand on the goat’s head. He must kill it. He must do it at the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed in the sight of the Lord. His offering is a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest must dip his finger into some of the blood of the sin offering. He must put it on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burnt offerings. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. ²⁶ He must burn all the fat on the altar. He must burn it in the same way he burned the fat of the friendship offering. When he does, he will pay for the sin of the leader. And the leader will be forgiven.

²⁷ “ ‘Or suppose someone in the community sins without meaning to. They disobey any of the Lord’s commands. ²⁸ And suppose they realize their guilt and their sin becomes known. Then they must bring an offering for the sin they have committed. It must be a female goat. It must not have any flaws. ²⁹ They must place their hand on the head of the animal for the sin offering. It must be killed at the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed. ³⁰ Then the priest must dip his finger into some of the blood. He must put it on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burnt offerings. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. ³¹ They must remove all the fat in the same way the fat is removed from the friendship offering. The priest must burn it on the altar. Its smell pleases the Lord. When the priest burns the offering, he will pay for their sin. And they will be forgiven.

³² “ ‘Suppose someone brings a lamb as their sin offering. Then they must bring a female animal. It must not have any flaws. ³³ They must place their hand on its head. They must kill it as a sin offering. They must do it at the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed. ³⁴ Then the priest must dip his finger into some of the blood of the sin offering. He must put it on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burnt offerings. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. ³⁵ They must remove all the fat in the same way the fat is removed from the lamb for the friendship offering. The priest must burn it on the altar on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. When he does, he will pay for the sin they have committed. And they will be forgiven.

5 “ ‘Suppose someone has been called as a witness to something they have seen or learned about. Then if they do not tell what they know, they have sinned. And they will be held responsible for it.

² “ ‘Or suppose someone touches something not “clean.” It could be the dead bodies of wild animals or of livestock. Or it could be the dead bodies of creatures that move along the ground. Even though those people are not aware that they touched them, they have become “unclean.” And they are guilty. ³ Or suppose they touch something “unclean” that comes from a human being. It could be anything that would make them “unclean.” Suppose they are not aware that they touched it. When they find out about it, they will be guilty. ⁴ Or suppose someone makes a promise to do something without thinking it through. It does not matter what they promised. It does not matter whether they made the promise without thinking about it carefully. And suppose they are not aware that they did not think it through. When they find out about it, they will be guilty. ⁵ When someone is guilty in any of those ways, they must admit they have sinned. ⁶ They must bring a sin offering to pay for the sin they have committed. They must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock. The priest will sacrifice the animal. That will pay for the person’s sin.

⁷ “ ‘Suppose they can’t afford a lamb. Then they must get two doves or two young pigeons. They must bring them to the Lord to pay for their sin. One of them is for a sin offering. The other is for a burnt offering. ⁸ They must bring them to the priest. The priest will offer the one for the sin offering first. He must twist its head. But he must not twist it off completely. ⁹ Then he must splash some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar. He must empty out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰ Then the priest will offer the other bird as a burnt offering. He must do it in the way the law requires. That will pay for the sin they have committed. And they will be forgiven.

¹¹ “ ‘But suppose they can’t afford two doves or two young pigeons. Then they must bring three and a half pounds of the finest flour as an offering for their sin. It is a sin offering. They must not put olive oil or incense on it. That is because it is a sin offering. ¹² They must bring it to the priest. The priest must take a handful of it. He must burn that part on the altar. It will be a reminder that all good things come from the Lord. The priest must burn it on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. It is a sin offering. ¹³ In that way the priest will pay for any of the sins they have committed. And they will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest. It is the same as in the case of the grain offering.’ ”

Rules for Guilt Offerings

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ¹⁵ “Suppose someone is unfaithful to me and sins. And they do it without meaning to. Here is how they sin against me or my priests. They refuse to give the priests one of the holy things set apart for them. Then they must bring me a ram from the flock. It must not have any flaws. It must be worth the required amount of silver. The silver must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. The ram is a guilt offering. It will pay for their sin. ¹⁶ They must also pay for the holy thing they refused to give. They must add a fifth of its value to it. They must give all of it to the priest. The priest will pay for their sin with the ram. It is a guilt offering. And they will be forgiven.

¹⁷ “Suppose someone sins by doing something I command them not to do. Even though they do not know it, they are guilty. They will be held responsible for it. ¹⁸ They must bring to the priest a ram from the flock as a guilt offering. It must not have any flaws. And it must be worth the required amount of money. The priest will sacrifice the animal. That will pay for what they have done wrong without meaning to. And they will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering. They have been guilty of doing wrong against me.”

Jesus Chooses Levi and Eats With Sinners

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd came to him. He began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him. Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ Later Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house. Many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples. They were part of the large crowd following Jesus. ¹⁶ Some teachers of the law who were Pharisees were there. They saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors. So they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ Jesus heard that. So he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. I have not come to get those who think they are right with God to follow me. I have come to get sinners to follow me.”

Jesus Is Asked About Fasting

¹⁸ John’s disciples and the Pharisees were going without eating. Some people came to Jesus. They said to him, “John’s disciples are fasting. The disciples of the Pharisees are also fasting. But your disciples are not. Why aren’t they?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the groom go without eating while he is with them? They will not fast as long as he is with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. On that day they will go without eating.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of new cloth on old clothes. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old. That will make the tear worse. ²² No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins. Then the wine and the wineskins will both be destroyed. No, people pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath Day

²³ One Sabbath day Jesus was walking with his disciples through the grainfields. The disciples began to break off some heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! It is against the Law to do this on the Sabbath day. Why are your disciples doing it?”

²⁵ He answered, “Haven’t you ever read about what David did? He and his men were hungry. They needed food. ²⁶ It was when Abiathar was high priest. David entered the house of God and ate the holy bread. Only priests were allowed to eat it. David also gave some to his men.”

²⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath day was made for man. Man was not made for the Sabbath day. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day

3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue. A man with a weak and twisted hand was there. ² Some Pharisees were trying to find fault with Jesus. They watched him closely. They wanted to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day. ³ Jesus spoke to the man with the weak and twisted hand. “Stand up in front of everyone,” he said.

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “What does the Law say we should do on the Sabbath day? Should we do good? Or should we do evil? Should we save life? Or should we kill?” But no one answered.

⁵ Jesus looked around at them in anger. He was very upset because their hearts were stubborn. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand had become as good as new. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to make plans with the Herodians. They wanted to kill Jesus.

For the director of music. A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord.

The Proverbs of Solomon

10 These are the proverbs of Solomon.