Leviticus 4:1-35, NLT

Leviticus 4

Procedures for the Sin Offering

1Then the Lord said to Moses,

2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. This is how you are to deal with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything that violates one of the Lord’s commands.

3“If the high priest*4:3 Hebrew the anointed priest; also in 4:5, 16. sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects.

4He must bring the bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle,*4:4 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 4:5, 7, 14, 16, 18. lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. 5The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 6dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain of the sanctuary. 7The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 8Then the priest must remove all the fat of the bull to be offered as a sin offering. This includes all the fat around the internal organs, 9the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. He must remove these along with the kidneys, 10just as he does with cattle offered as a peace offering, and burn them on the altar of burnt offerings. 11But he must take whatever is left of the bull—its hide, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and dung—12and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.

13“If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty.

14When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. 15The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord. 16The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 17dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain. 18He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 19Then the priest must remove all the animal’s fat and burn it on the altar, 20just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord,*4:20 Or will make atonement for the people; similarly in 4:26, 31, 35. and they will be forgiven. 21Then the priest must take what is left of the bull and carry it outside the camp and burn it there, just as is done with the sin offering for the high priest. This offering is for the sin of the entire congregation of Israel.

22“If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the Lord his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty.

23When he becomes aware of his sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat with no defects. 24He must lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the Lord. This is an offering for his sin. 25Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 26Then he must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar, just as he does with the peace offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the leader from his sin, making him right with the Lord, and he will be forgiven.

27“If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty.

28When they become aware of their sin, they must bring as an offering for their sin a female goat with no defects. 29They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.

32“If the people bring a sheep as their sin offering, it must be a female with no defects.

33They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 34Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 35Then he must remove all the sheep’s fat, just as he does with the fat of a sheep presented as a peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar on top of the special gifts presented to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people from their sin, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.