< Leviticus 4 >
1 The Lord told Moses,
2 “Tell the Israelites that these are the rules to handle cases of those who sin unintentionally against any of the Lord's commandments and do what is not permitted.
3 If it is the high priest who sins and brings guilt on everyone, he must present to the Lord a young bull without defects as a sin offering for his sin.
4 He must take the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, put his hand on its head and kill it before the Lord.
5 Then the high priest shall take some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting.
6 The high priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
7 The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of aromatic incense that stands before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. The rest of the bull's blood he is to pour out at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
8 Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering: all the fat that covers the insides,
9 both kidneys with the fat on them by the loins, and the best part of the liver, which he is to remove together with the kidneys
10 in the same way as the fat is removed from the bull of the peace offering. Then the priest shall then burn this on the altar of burnt offering.
11 But the skin of the bull, all its flesh, head, legs, insides and waste—
12 all the rest of it—he has to take outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean, where the ashes are dumped, and he must burn it on a wood fire there on the ash heap.
13 If the whole Israelite community goes astray unintentionally, and even though they are unaware of doing what is not permitted by any of the Lord's commandments, they are all still guilty.
14 When they realize their sin, then they must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting.
15 The elders of Israel are to put their hands on its head and kill it before the Lord.
16 Then the high priest shall take some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting.
17 He shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil.
18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that stands before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. Then he is to pour out the rest of the bull's blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
19 Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull and burn it on the altar.
20 He shall offer this bull in the same way he did for the sin offering. This is how the priest will make them right, and they will be forgiven.
21 Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burned the bull previously mentioned. It is the sin offering for the whole community.
22 If a leader sins unintentionally and does what is not permitted by any of the commandments of the Lord his God, he is guilty.
23 When he realizes his sin, he must bring a male goat without defects as his offering.
24 He must put his hand on the head of the goat and kill it at the place where the burnt offering is killed before the Lord. It is a sin offering.
25 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.
26 He shall burn all its fat on the altar like the fat of the peace offerings. In this way the priest will make the man's sin right, and he will be forgiven.
27 If any other Israelite sins unintentionally and does what is not permitted by any of the commandments of the Lord his God, he is guilty.
28 When he realizes his sin, he must bring a female goat without defects as his offering for that sin.
29 He must put his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it at the place at the place of the burnt offering.
30 Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.
31 He shall remove all its fat like the fat of the peace offerings and burn it on the altar and it will be to be accepted by the Lord. In this way the priest will make the man's sin right, and he will be forgiven.
32 If he brings a lamb as a sin offering, he is to bring a female without defects.
33 He must put his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it as a sin offering at the place at the place where the burnt offering is killed.
34 Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.
35 He shall remove all its fat like the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings and burn it on the altar and it will be to be accepted by the Lord. In this way the priest will make the man's sin right, and he will be forgiven.