Offering for an unintentional sin
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses; he said:
2 Ą°Speak to the people of Israel and say: Anyone may sin without intending
to do so against any of the commandments of Yahweh and do one of the
forbidden things; in such a case:
3 If the one who sins is the anointed priest, his sin defiles the people.
Then, for the sin which he has committed, he is to offer to Yahweh a young
bull, an animal from the herd without any defect, as a sacrifice for sin.
4 He is to bring the bull before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of
Meeting, and lay his hand on its head and kill it before Yahweh.
5 Then the anointed priest shall take a little of the blood of the bull and
take it into the Tent of Meeting.
6 He shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it over the veil of the
sanctuary seven times, before Yahweh.
7 Then the priest shall put a little of the blood of the bull on the corners
of the altar of incense that sends up smoke before Yahweh in the Tent of
Meeting and he is to pour all the rest of the bullĄ¯s blood at the foot of
the altar for burnt offerings that is at the entrance to the Tent of
Meeting.
8 From this bull offered as a sacrifice for sin, the priest will remove all
the fat: the fat that covers the internal organs, all the fat that is on the
internal organs,
9 the two kidneys, the fat that is on them and on the loins, the best part
which he will remove from the liver and kidneys,
10 exactly as was done with what was set apart in the peace offering, and
the priest shall burn these on the altar for burnt offerings.
11 The bullĄ¯s skin, all its flesh, its head, legs, internal organs and
intestines,
12 the whole of the bull, must be carried outside the camp to a place that
is clean, the place where the ashes from the fat are thrown away, and the
bull must be burnt there.
13 If the whole community of Israel has sinned without intending to do so,
and, without being aware of it, has done something that is forbidden by the
commandments of Yahweh,
14 the community is to offer a young bull as sacrifice for sin, an animal of
the herd without any defect, as soon as the sin of which they have been
guilty is discovered. The animal must be brought before the Tent of Meeting;
15 the elders of the community shall lay their hands on the bullĄ¯s head
before Yahweh, and it must be killed before Yahweh.
16 Then the anointed priest is to carry a little of the blood of the bull
into the Tent of Meeting.
17 He is to dip his finger in the blood and sprin kle it on the veil before
Yahweh seven times.
18 Then he shall put a little of the blood on the corners of the altar that
stands before Yahweh inside the Tent of Meeting, and pour out all the rest
of the blood at the foot of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to
the Tent of Meeting.
19 Then the priest shall remove all the fat from the animal and burn it on
the altar.
20 He shall do the same thing with this bull as he did with the bull for the
sacrifice of sin. When the priest has performed the sacrifice for the peo
pleĄ¯s sin, they will be forgiven.
21 The priest must have the bull taken out of the camp and burn it as he
burned the first one. This is the sacrifice for the sin of the community.
22 When a leader sins and without intending to do so does one of the things
forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh his God, thus becoming guilty,
23 and after that he recalls it, or anyone calls his attention to the sin
thus committed, he is to bring a goat as an offering, a male without any
defect.
24 He is to lay his hand on the goatĄ¯s head and kill it in the place where
the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is a sacrifice for sin:
25 the priest shall take a little of the goatĄ¯s blood on his finger and put
it on the corners of the altar for burnt offerings. Then he shall pour out
its blood at the foot of the altar for burnt offering
26 and burn all the fat on the altar, as with the fat in the peace offer
ing. This is how the priest is to offer the sacrifice for the sin of this
leader to free him from his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27 If one of the people sins without intending to do so and makes himself
guilty by doing something forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh,
28 and after that he recalls it or anyone calls his attention to the sin he
has committed, he is to bring a goat as an offering, a female without any
defect.
29 He is to lay his hand on the goatĄ¯s head and kill it in the place where
the animals for the burnt offerings are killed.
30 The priest shall take a little of the goatĄ¯s blood on his finger and put
it on the corners of the altar for burnt offerings. Then he shall pour out
all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar.
31 He shall remove all the fat, as the fat was removed for the peace
offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar as a sweet-smelling
sacrifice pleasing to Yahweh. This is how the priest is to offer the
sacrifice for the manĄ¯s sin, and he will be forgiven.
32 If anyone wishes to bring a lamb as an offering for this kind of
sacrifice, he is to bring a female without any defect.
33 He is to lay his hand on the lambĄ¯s head and kill it as a sacrifice for
sin in the place where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed.
34 The priest shall take a little of the blood of this sacrifice on his
finger and put it on the corners of the altar for burnt offerings. Then he
shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar.
35 He shall remove its fat as was done for the sheep in the peace offering,
and the priest shall burn it all on the altar, in addition to the burnt
offering for Yahweh. This is how the priest is to offer the sacrifice for
the manĄ¯s sin, and he will be forgiven.
------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Leviticus, Chapter 4
• 4.1 Next come the sin offerings. It is not a question of real sin, the
inner sin (Mt 5:22) coming from man (Mk 7:20), but of faults against the
laws regarding worship. In verses 22 and 27, we read: when a leader sins and
with -out intending to do so. This constitutes another kind of fault, a
matter of carelessness, 5:1-13.
But in 5:20-26 we deal with other faults which require an offering in
reparation because they are real sins.
Paul tells us that the purpose of the Law is to make sin evident (Rom 4:15;
7:7). It is true that an cient texts rarely identify real sin: indifference
towards God, or rebellion against his established order, errors or
ignorance. It would take time to wait for enlightenment, but this fear of
sin re minds us that the force of evil is at work in us, even when we are
not conscious of it. The day we discover what the love of God is, and how he
keeps waiting for us, we shall realize how deeply sinful we are.
The Tent of Meeting (5, 7, 16) is the temple.