Old Testament

Leviticus 4
Regulations for the Sin Offering
41The Lord again told Moses, 2“Tell these things to the Israelites.”
When a person sins unintentionally against any of the Lord's commands by doing something which the Lord has prohibited, this is what you must do:
For the Priest
3If it is the anointed priest who sins and thereby brings guilt on the people, for the sin that he has committed he shall present a young bull without blemish as a sin offering to the Lord. 4He shall bring the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and lay his hand on the head of the bull. Then he shall slaughter the bull in the presence of the Lord. 5The anointed priest shall take some of the blood from the bull and bring it into the Tent of Meeting. 6The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood in front of the curtain of the Holy Place seven times in the presence of the Lord. 7The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the Tent of Meeting, as a fragrant incense in the presence of the Lord. All the rest of the bull's blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is in front of the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8He is to reserve all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the inner organs and all the fat that is around the inner organs, 9the two kidneys with the fat that is around them on the muscles and sinews, and the protruding lobe of the liver, which he shall remove together with the kidneys. 10It is to be reserved just as it is reserved from the cattle[] for the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. Then the priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar for burnt offerings. 11But the hide of the bull and all its meat, together with its head and its lower legs, its intestines and their contents— 12all the rest of the bull—he is to carry to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash dump, and burn it on a wood fire. It is to be burned on the ash dump.
For the Community
13If the whole community of Israel goes astray unintentionally and the offense is not noticed by the assembly, so that they violate one of the Lord's commands by doing something that should not be done, but they later realize their guilt, 14when the sin which they have committed has been made known to them, the assembly shall present a young bull as a sin offering and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. 15The elders of the community shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord. 16The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the Tent of Meeting, 17and the priest shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times on the curtain in the presence of the Lord. 18He shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. All the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 19He is to reserve all its fat and send it up in smoke on the altar. 20He is to perform the same procedure for this bull as he performed for the bull of the sin offering. He shall perform the same procedure for it.[] This is the way the priest is to make atonement for them, so that they may be forgiven. 21The bull is to be carried outside the camp, and it is to be burned just as the first bull was burned. It is a sin offering for the assembly.
For a Leader
22When a tribal leader sins by unintentionally disobeying any of the commands of the Lord his God and doing something that should not be done, and he then realizes his guilt, 23or the sin which he has committed has been made known to him, he shall bring a male goat without blemish as his offering. 24He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat. It is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings, and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. 26He shall turn all its fat into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, so that he may be forgiven.
For a Layperson
27If any common person from the land sins by unintentionally violating any of the Lord's commands by doing something that should not be done, and he then realizes his guilt, 28or the sin that he committed has been made known to him, he shall bring a female goat without blemish as his offering for the sin that he has committed. 29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place for the burnt offering. 30Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 31After he removes all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of the fellowship offering, the priest shall send it up in smoke on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him, so that he may be forgiven.
32If he brings a sheep as his sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. 33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where he would slaughter the burnt offering. 34Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35After he removes all its fat, just as the fat of the sheep was removed from the sacrifice of the fellowship offering, the priest shall send it up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, so that he may be forgiven.

Footnotes

  • 4:10 Shor is a different word than bull(par). Shor can refer to cattle of either sex.
  • 4:20 These regulations have much emphatic repetition. Such repetition is typical of law codes.