The Sin Offering

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: (A)‘If a person sins [a]unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them, (B)if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned (C)a young bull without blemish as a (D)sin offering. He shall bring the bull (E)to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord. Then the anointed priest (F)shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the (G)veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall (H)put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour (I)the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove, 10 (J)as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering. 11 (K)But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal— 12 the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, (L)where the ashes are poured out, and (M)burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

13 ‘Now (N)if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, (O)and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting. 15 And the elders of the congregation (P)shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord. Then the bull shall be killed before the Lord. 16 (Q)The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull’s blood to the tabernacle of meeting. 17 Then the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil. 18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 19 He shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. 20 And he shall do (R)with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus he shall do with it. (S)So the priest shall make [b]atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. 21 Then he shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for the assembly.

22 ‘When a [c]ruler has sinned, and (T)done something unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord his God in anything which should not be done, and is guilty, 23 or (U)if his sin which he has committed [d]comes to his knowledge, he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a male without blemish. 24 And (V)he shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it at the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 25 (W)The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like (X)the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offering. (Y)So the priest shall make [e]atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.

27 (Z)‘If [f]anyone of the [g]common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, 28 or (AA)if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29 (AB)And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. 30 Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. 31 (AC)He shall remove all its fat, (AD)as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a (AE)sweet aroma to the Lord. (AF)So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.

32 ‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, (AG)he shall bring a female without blemish. 33 Then he shall (AH)lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. 35 He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, (AI)according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord. (AJ)So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 4:2 through error
  2. Leviticus 4:20 Lit. covering
  3. Leviticus 4:22 leader
  4. Leviticus 4:23 is made known to him
  5. Leviticus 4:26 Lit. covering
  6. Leviticus 4:27 Lit. any soul
  7. Leviticus 4:27 Lit. people of the land

The Sin Offering

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally(A) and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands(B)

“‘If the anointed priest(C) sins,(D) bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull(E) without defect(F) as a sin offering[a](G) for the sin he has committed.(H) He is to present the bull at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord.(I) He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it there before the Lord. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood(J) and carry it into the tent of meeting. He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle(K) some of it seven times before the Lord,(L) in front of the curtain of the sanctuary.(M) The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns(N) of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. The rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar(O) of burnt offering(P) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He shall remove all the fat(Q) from the bull of the sin offering—all the fat that is connected to the internal organs, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys(R) 10 just as the fat is removed from the ox[b](S) sacrificed as a fellowship offering.(T) Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.(U) 11 But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, as well as the head and legs, the internal organs and the intestines(V) 12 that is, all the rest of the bull—he must take outside the camp(W) to a place ceremonially clean,(X) where the ashes(Y) are thrown, and burn it(Z) there in a wood fire on the ash heap.(AA)

13 “‘If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally(AB) and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, when they realize their guilt 14 and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly must bring a young bull(AC) as a sin offering(AD) and present it before the tent of meeting. 15 The elders(AE) of the community are to lay their hands(AF) on the bull’s head(AG) before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord.(AH) 16 Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood(AI) into the tent of meeting. 17 He shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle(AJ) it before the Lord(AK) seven times in front of the curtain. 18 He is to put some of the blood(AL) on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord(AM) in the tent of meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar(AN) of burnt offering at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 He shall remove all the fat(AO) from it and burn it on the altar,(AP) 20 and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement(AQ) for the community, and they will be forgiven.(AR) 21 Then he shall take the bull outside the camp(AS) and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the community.(AT)

22 “‘When a leader(AU) sins unintentionally(AV) and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Lord his God, when he realizes his guilt 23 and the sin he has committed becomes known, he must bring as his offering a male goat(AW) without defect. 24 He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord.(AX) It is a sin offering.(AY) 25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar(AZ) of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.(BA) 26 He shall burn all the fat on the altar as he burned the fat of the fellowship offering. In this way the priest will make atonement(BB) for the leader’s sin, and he will be forgiven.(BC)

27 “‘If any member of the community sins unintentionally(BD) and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, when they realize their guilt 28 and the sin they have committed becomes known, they must bring as their offering(BE) for the sin they committed a female goat(BF) without defect. 29 They are to lay their hand on the head(BG) of the sin offering(BH) and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering.(BI) 30 Then the priest is to take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering(BJ) and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 They shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar(BK) as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.(BL) In this way the priest will make atonement(BM) for them, and they will be forgiven.(BN)

32 “‘If someone brings a lamb(BO) as their sin offering, they are to bring a female without defect.(BP) 33 They are to lay their hand on its head and slaughter it(BQ) for a sin offering(BR) at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.(BS) 34 Then the priest shall 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 pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.(BT) 35 They shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar(BU) on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 4:3 Or purification offering; here and throughout this chapter
  2. Leviticus 4:10 The Hebrew word can refer to either male or female.