‏ Leviticus 4

Rules for Sin Offerings

1The 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. 4He 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. 5Then the anointed priest must take some of the bull’s blood. He must carry it into the tent of meeting. 6He 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. 7Then 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. 8He must remove all the fat from the bull for the sin offering. It includes the fat that is connected to the inside parts. 9It 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. 10He 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. 11But 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. 12In 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. 14And 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. 15The 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. 16Then the anointed priest must take some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting. 17He 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. 18He 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. 19He must remove all the fat from the bull. He must burn it on the altar. 20He 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. 21Then 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. 23And 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. 24He 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. 25Then 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. 26He 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. 28And 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. 29They 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. 30Then 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. 31They 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. 33They 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. 34Then 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. 35They 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.