Old/New Testament
The Sin Offering
4 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel this: ‘A person might sin by accident. He might do some things the Lord has commanded not to be done. If so, that person must do these things:
3 “‘It may be the appointed priest who has sinned. If so, he has brought guilt on the people. So he must offer a young bull to the Lord. It must have nothing wrong with it. This will be a sin offering for the sin he has done. 4 He will bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. He must bring it in front of the Lord. Then he will put his hand on the bull’s head. And he will kill the bull before the Lord. 5 Then the appointed priest must bring some of the bull’s blood into the Meeting Tent. 6 The priest is to dip his finger into the blood. He must sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain. This curtain is in front of the Most Holy Place. 7 The priest must also put some of the blood on the corners of the altar of incense. It stands before the Lord in the Meeting Tent. Then the priest must pour out the rest of the bull’s blood. It must be poured at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. That altar is at the door of the Meeting Tent. 8 He must remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering. He must remove the fat on and around the inner organs. 9 He must remove both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. He must remove the best part of the liver with the kidneys. 10 He must do this in the same way the fat is removed from the bull of the fellowship offering. Then the priest must burn the animal parts on the altar of burnt offering. 11-12 But the priest must carry out the skin of the bull and all its meat. He must take these with the rest of the bull—its head, legs, intestines and other inner organs. He must take it outside the camp to the special clean place where the ashes are poured out. He must burn it on a wood fire on the pile of ashes.
13 “‘The whole nation of Israel might sin without knowing it. They might do something the Lord has commanded not to be done. If this happens, they are guilty. 14 When they learn about the sin they have done, a young bull must be offered. It is a sin offering for the whole nation. They must bring it and give it before the Meeting Tent. 15 The elders of the group of people must put their hands on the bull’s head. It must be done before the Lord. And the bull must be killed before the Lord. 16 Then the appointed priest must bring some of the bull’s blood into the Meeting Tent. 17 The priest will dip his finger in the blood. He must sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain. 18 Then he must put some of the blood on the corners of the altar. The altar is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent. The priest must pour out the rest of the blood. He must pour it at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. That altar is at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 19 The priest must remove all the fat from the animal. And he must burn it on the altar. 20 He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the first bull of the sin offering. In this way the priest removes the sins of the people so they will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive them. 21 Then the priest must carry the bull outside the camp and burn it. He must do this just as he did with the first bull. This is the sin offering for the whole community.
22 “‘A ruler might sin by accident. He might do something the Lord his God has commanded must not be done. If he does, he is guilty. 23 When he learns about his sin, he must bring a male goat. It must have nothing wrong with it. That will be his sin offering. 24 The ruler must put his hand on the goat’s head and kill it. This must be done where they kill the whole burnt offering before the Lord. The goat is a sin offering. 25 The priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger. He must put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. 26 He must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar. He must burn it in the same way he burns the fat of the fellowship offerings. In this way the priest removes the ruler’s sin so he belongs to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.
27 “‘A person in the community might sin by accident. He might do something which the Lord has commanded must not be done. He is guilty of sin. 28 When the person learns about his sin, he must bring a female goat. It must have nothing wrong with it. That will be his sin offering. 29 He must put his hand on the animal’s head. He must kill it at the place of the whole burnt offering. 30 Then the priest must take some of the goat’s blood on his finger. He must put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. He must pour out the rest of the goat’s blood at the bottom of the altar. 31 Then the priest must remove all the goat’s fat. He must do it in the same way the fat is removed from the fellowship offerings. He must burn it on the altar. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. In this way the priest will remove that person’s sin so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.
32 “‘This person may bring a lamb as his sin offering. If he does, he must bring a female. It must have nothing wrong with it. 33 The person must put his hand on the animal’s head. He must kill it as a sin offering. He must kill it where they kill the whole burnt offering. 34 The priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering on his finger. He must put it on the corners of the altar of burnt offering. Then he must pour out the rest of the lamb’s blood at the bottom of the altar. 35 The priest must remove all the lamb’s fat. He must do it in the same way that the lamb’s fat is removed from the fellowship offerings. He must burn the pieces on the altar. They go on top of the offerings made by fire for the Lord. In this way the priest will remove that person’s sins so he will belong to the Lord. And the Lord will forgive him.
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.”
29 “Soon after the trouble of those days, this will happen:
‘The sun will grow dark.
And the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall from the sky.
And everything in the sky will be changed.’ Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
30 “At that time, there will be something in the sky that shows the Son of Man is coming. All the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky. He will come with great power and glory. 31 He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the world.
32 “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. 34 I tell you the truth. All these things will happen while the people of this time are still living! 35 The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed!
When Will Jesus Come Again?
36 “No one knows when that day or time will be. Even the Son[a] and the angels in heaven don’t know. Only the Father knows. 37 When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as what happened during Noah’s time. 38 In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were marrying and giving their children to be married. They were still doing those things until the day Noah entered the boat. 39 They knew nothing about what was happening. But then the flood came, and all those people were destroyed. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 40 Two men will be working together in the field. One man will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill.[b] One woman will be taken and the other will be left.
42 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come. 43 Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, then the owner would be ready for him. The owner would watch and not let the thief enter his house. 44 So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time you don’t expect him.
45 “Who is the wise and trusted servant? The master trusts one servant to give the other servants their food at the right time. 46 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be very happy. 47 I tell you the truth. The master will choose that servant to take care of everything the master owns. 48 But what will happen if the servant is evil and thinks his master will not come back soon? 49 Then that servant will begin to beat the other servants. He will feast and get drunk with others like him. 50 And the master will come when the servant is not ready and is not expecting him. 51 Then the master will punish that servant. He will send him away to be among the hypocrites. There people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.