Offerings for Unintentional Wrongdoing
4 Yahweh spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of Yahweh’s commands—this is what he must do.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Chief Priest
3 “If the anointed priest does something wrong and brings guilt on the people, he must bring a bull that has no defects as an offering for sin to Yahweh. 4 He must bring the bull into Yahweh’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will place his hand on the bull’s head. He will then slaughter the bull in Yahweh’s presence. 5 Then the anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting. 6 The priest will dip his finger in it and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in Yahweh’s presence facing the canopy in the holy place. 7 Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for sweet-smelling incense in Yahweh’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the bull’s blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He will remove all of the fat from the bull that is the offering for sin, the fat that covers the internal organs, 9 and the two kidneys with the fat on them. He will also remove the lobe of the liver and the kidneys 10 the same way they were removed from the bull used for the fellowship offering. The priest will lay them on the altar for burnt offerings. 11 Then he will take the entire bull (the skin, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and excrement) 12 to a clean[a] place outside the camp where the ashes are dumped. He will burn it there on a wood fire.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by the Whole Congregation
13 “If the whole congregation of Israel unintentionally does something wrong, without the assembly being aware of it, if they do even one thing that is forbidden by any of Yahweh’s commands, they will be guilty. 14 When the wrong they have done becomes known, the congregation must sacrifice a bull as an offering for sin. They must bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15 The leaders of the congregation will place their hands on the bull’s head in Yahweh’s presence. One of them will slaughter it in Yahweh’s presence. 16 Then the anointed priest will bring some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 17 The priest will dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times in Yahweh’s presence facing the canopy. 18 He will also put some blood on the horns of the altar in Yahweh’s presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 He will remove all the fat and burn it on the altar. 20 He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then he will take the bull outside the camp and will burn it the same way he burned the first bull. It is an offering for sin for the community.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Leader
22 “When a leader unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the commands of Yahweh his Elohim—he will be guilty. 23 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a male goat that has no defects as his offering. 24 He will place his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it in Yahweh’s presence where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. It is an offering for sin. 25 Then the priest will take some of the blood of the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. 26 He will burn all the fat on the altar the same way the fat of the fellowship offering is burned. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what the leader did wrong, and the leader will be forgiven.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Common Person—Goats
27 “If a common person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing forbidden by Yahweh’s commands—he will be guilty. 28 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a female goat that has no defects as his offering for what he has done wrong. 29 He will place his hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it where animals for burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30 The priest will take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. 31 He will remove all the fat the same way it is removed from the fellowship offering. The priest will burn it on the altar for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for that person, and that person will be forgiven.
Offerings for Wrongdoing by a Common Person—Lambs
32 “If someone brings a lamb as his offering for sin, he must bring a female that has no defects. 33 He will place his hand on the animal’s head and slaughter it where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. 34 Then the priest will take some of the blood from the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. 35 He will remove all the fat the same way the fat of the lamb is removed from the fellowship offerings. Then the priest will burn it on the altar with the offering by fire to Yahweh. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for what that person did wrong, and that person will be forgiven.”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 4:12 “Clean” refers to anything that is presentable to God.