Leviticus 4

Offerings for sins that are mistakes

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Say to Israel's people, “Someone may do a wrong thing when he did not want to do it. He may do something that is against one of the Lord's commands. People should always obey those commands, so it is a sin. This is what that person must do.

Offerings for a priest's sins

3 The person who does a wrong thing might be the leader of the priests. If that is so, his sin will cause the people to be guilty. He must bring a perfect young bull as an offering to the Lord. That will be his sin offering. 4 He must bring the young bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He must put his hand on the bull's head. Then he must kill it in front of the Lord.

5 The leader of the priests must take some of the blood into the Tent of Meeting. 6 He must put his finger in the blood. Then he must shake the blood seven times towards the curtain of the Lord's Most Holy Place. 7 He must also put some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar. That altar is in the Lord's Holy Place, inside the Tent of Meeting. He must pour all the bull's blood that remains onto the ground in front of the great altar. That is the altar for burnt offerings which is outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

8 Then the leader of the priests must remove all the fat from the bull which is his sin offering. He must remove the fat that is around the inside parts of the animal. 9 He must remove the two kidneys and the fat that is around them. And he must remove the bottom part of the liver. 10 That is the same as the priest does with a bull which is a friendship offering. The priest must burn all the fat on the altar which is for burnt offerings.

11 But this is what the priest must do with all the other parts of the bull. He must take its skin, its meat, its head and its legs, as well as its inside parts and the food in its stomach. 12 He must take all those parts to a clean place which is outside the camp. He must burn them on a fire of wood on the heap of ashes.

Offerings for sins of all the people

13 The whole group of Israel's people might do a wrong thing when they did not want to do it. They might do something that is against one of the Lord's commands. People should always obey those commands. They are guilty even if they did not know about it.

14 When they realize that they have done a sin, they must offer a young bull to the Lord. That will be their sin offering. They must bring it to the Tent of Meeting. 15 The leaders of the people must put their hands on the bull's head. Then one of them must kill it in front of the Lord. 16 The leader of the priests must take some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting. 17 He must put his finger in the blood. Then he must shake the blood seven times towards the curtain of the Lord's Most Holy Place. 18 He must also put some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar. That altar is in the Lord's Holy Place, inside the Tent of Meeting. He must pour all the bull's blood that remains onto the ground in front of the great altar. That is the altar for burnt offerings which is outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

19 Then the priest must remove all the fat from the dead animal. He will burn all the fat on the altar for burnt offerings. 20 He will do the same things with the other parts of this bull as he did with his own sin offering.

This is how the priest will make the people clean from their sins. God will forgive them when the priest does this. 21 The priest must take the other parts of the bull outside the camp. He must burn them as he did with the first bull. This is the sin offering for the whole group of Israel's people.

Offerings for sins of a leader

22 A leader might do a wrong thing when he did not want to do it. He might do something that is against one of the Lord's commands. People should always obey those commands, so he is guilty.

23 When he realizes that he has done a sin, he must bring a perfect male goat as an offering to the Lord. 24 He must put his hand on the goat's head. Then he must kill it in the place where they kill animals for burnt offerings to the Lord. It is a sin offering for the leader. 25 The priest must put his finger in the goat's blood. He will put some of it on the horns of the altar which is for burnt offerings. He must pour the blood that remains onto the ground in front of that altar.

26 Then the priest must remove all the fat from the goat. He must burn the fat on the altar, as he does for the sacrifices which are friendship offerings.

This is how the priest will make the leader clean from his sin. God will forgive the leader when the priest does this.

Offerings for sins of an ordinary person

27 One of the ordinary people might do a wrong thing when he did not want to do it. He might do something that is against one of the Lord's commands. People should always obey those commands, so he is guilty.

28 When he realizes that he has done a sin, he should bring a perfect female goat as an offering to the Lord. 29 He must put his hand on the head of the goat which is his sin offering. Then he must kill it in the place where they kill animals for burnt offerings. 30 The priest must put his finger in the goat's blood. He will put some of it on the horns of the altar which is for burnt offerings. He must pour the blood that remains onto the ground in front of that altar.

31 Then the priest must remove all the fat from the goat, as he did with the sacrifice for the friendship offering. He must burn the fat on the altar so that its smell gives pleasure to the Lord.

This is how the priest will make the person clean from his sin. God will forgive the person when the priest does this.

32 If the person chooses to offer a sheep as his sin offering, it must be a perfect female sheep. 33 He must put his hand on the head of the sheep which is his sin offering. He must then kill it at the place where they kill animals for burnt offerings. 34 The priest must put his finger in the sheep's blood. He will put some of it on the horns of the altar which is for burnt offerings. He must pour all the blood that remains onto the ground in front of the altar. 35 He must remove all the fat from the sheep. This is the same as they do with fat from sheep which are sacrifices for friendship offerings. The priest must then burn the fat on the altar. He will burn it on top of the other offerings that people give to the Lord.

This is how the priest will make the person clean from their sin. God will forgive the person when the priest does this.