Leviticus 4

1 Then Yahweh said to Moses/me,

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Say this to the Israeli people: This is what must be done if someone sins without intending to sin, doing something that is forbidden in any of Yahweh’s commands.

“Tell the people of Israel, 'When anyone sins without wanting to sin, doing any of the things that Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and if he does something that is prohibited, the following must be done.

3 'If the Supreme [MTY] Priest sins, and that causes all the people to be guilty, he must bring to Yahweh a young bull that has no defects. That will be an offering for the sin that he has committed.

If it is the high priest who sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin which he has committed a young bull without blemish to Yahweh as a sin offering.

4 He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Sacred Tent. He must lay his hands on its head. Then he must slaughter it in front of Yahweh [and drain some of the blood into a bowl].

He must bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, lay his hand on its head, and kill the bull before Yahweh.

5 Then the Supreme Priest must take some of that blood into the Sacred Tent.

The anointed priest will take some of the blood of the bull and take it to the tent of meeting.

6 He must dip [one of] his fingers into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of Yahweh, in front of the curtain [that separates the Holy Place from the Very Holy Place].

The priest will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before Yahweh, before the curtain of the most holy place.

7 Then he must put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the altar where fragrant incense is burned in the Sacred Tent in the presence of Yahweh. The remaining part of the bull’s blood [that is still in the bowl], he must pour out at the base of the altar, where sacrifices are burned, at the entrance to the Sacred Tent.

Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before Yahweh, which is in the tent of meeting, and he will pour out all the rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

8 From that offering the Supreme Priest must separate these things from the bull that is to be burned: The fat that covers the inner parts of the bull or which is attached to them—

He will cut away all the fat of the bull of the sin offering; the fat that covers the inner parts, all the fat that is attached to the inner parts,

9 the kidneys and the fat that is attached to them near the lower back muscle, and the fat that covers the liver.

the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the lobe of the liver, with the kidneys—he will cut away all this.

10 Then the Supreme Priest must completely burn those things on the altar. That will be just like when the fat is removed from an animal that is sacrificed to maintain good fellowship [with Yahweh].

He will cut it all away, just as he cuts it off from the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Then the priest will burn these parts on the altar for burnt offerings.

11 But all the other parts of the animal—its skin/hide and all its other meat, its head and its legs, its inner parts and the intestines,

The skin of the bull and any remaining meat, with its head and with its legs and its inner parts and its dung,

12 he must take outside the camp and throw them in a place that is acceptable to Yahweh, where the ashes are thrown, and he must burn them in a fire on the pile of ashes.

all the rest of the parts of the bull—he will carry all these parts outside the camp to a place that they have cleansed for me, where they pour out the ashes; they will burn those parts there on wood. They must burn those parts where they pour out the ashes.

13 ‘If all the Israeli people sin without intending to sin, doing something that is forbidden in any of Yahweh’s commands, they will be guilty, even if they do not realize that they have sinned.

If the whole assembly of Israel sins without wanting to sin, and the assembly is unaware that they have sinned and done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and if they are guilty,

14 When they realize that they have committed a sin, together they must bring a young bull to be an offering for their sin, to the front of the Sacred Tent.

then, when the sin they have committed becomes known, then the assembly must offer a young bull for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting.

15 The elders must lay their hands on the bull’s head in the presence of Yahweh and slaughter it [and catch some of the blood in a bowl].

The elders of the assembly will lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh, and the bull will be killed before Yahweh.

16 Then the Supreme [MTY] Priest must take some of that blood into the Sacred Tent.

The anointed priest will bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting,

17 ‘He must dip [one of] his fingers into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of Yahweh, in front of the curtain [that separates the Holy Place from the Very Holy Place].

and the priest will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the curtain.

18 Then he must put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the altar that is in the presence of Yahweh in the Sacred Tent. The remaining part of the bull’s blood, he must pour out at the base of the altar where sacrifices are burned, at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.

He will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before Yahweh, which is in the tent of meeting, and he will pour out all the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

19 He must remove all the animal’s fat and burn it on the altar.

He will cut off all the fat from it and burn it on the altar.

20 He must do with this bull the same things that he did with the bull that was an offering for his own sins, and they will be forgiven {Yahweh will forgive them}.

That is what he must do with the bull. Just as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so will he also do with this bull, and the priest will make atonement for the people, and they will be forgiven.

21 Then the priest must take [the other parts of] the bull outside the camp and burn them, like he does when he himself has sinned. That will be the offering for the sin that all the people have committed, and they will be forgiven.

He will carry the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the assembly.

22 ‘When one of the leaders sins without intending to sin, doing something that is forbidden in any of the commands of Yahweh his God, he will be guilty.

When a ruler sins without intending to sin, doing any one of all the things that Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and he is guilty,

23 When he realizes that he has committed a sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat that has no defects.

then his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he must bring for his sacrifice a goat, a male without blemish.

24 He must lay his hands on the goat’s head in the presence of Yahweh and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter {are slaughtered} the animals that will be completely burned [on the altar]. That will be an offering for his sin.

He will lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. This is a sin offering.

25 Then the priest must put some of the animal’s blood [into a bowl] and dip [one of] his fingers in it and put some of the blood on the corners of the projections of the altar. Then he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

The priest will take the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings, and he will pour out its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.

26 Then he must burn all the fat on the altar, as was done with the fat of the offering to maintain good fellowship [with Yahweh]. As a result of the priest’s doing that, the leader will no longer be guilty for his sin and he will be forgiven.

He will burn all the fat on the altar, just like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest will make atonement for the ruler concerning his sin, and the ruler will be forgiven.

27 ‘If one of the Israeli people who is not a priest sins without intending to sin, and does something that is forbidden in any of the commands of Yahweh his God, he will be guilty.

If anyone of the common people sins without intending to sin, doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded him not to be done, and when he realizes his guilt,

28 When he realizes that he has committed a sin, he must bring as his offering a female goat that has no defects.

then his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he will bring a goat for his sacrifice, a female without blemish, for the sin that he has committed.

29 He must lay his hands on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter the animals that will be completely burned [on the altar, and catch some of the blood in a bowl].

He will lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering at the place of burnt offering.

30 Then the priest must dip [one of] his fingers in the blood, and put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar. Then he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

The priest will take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

31 Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, and burn all the fat on the altar, like was done with the fat of the offering to maintain fellowship [with Yahweh]. And the aroma while it burns will be pleasing to Yahweh. As a result of the priest doing that, the person will no longer be guilty for his sin, and he will be forgiven.

He will cut away all the fat, just as the fat is cut away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest will burn it on the altar to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. The priest will make atonement for the man, and he will be forgiven.

32 ‘If that person brings a lamb to be his offering for sin, he must bring a female lamb that has no defects.

If the man brings a lamb as his sacrifice for a sin offering, he will bring a female without blemish.

33 He must lay his hands on the lamb’s head and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter the animals that will be completely burned [on the altar, and catch some of the blood in a bowl].

He will lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering.

34 Then the priest must dip [one of] his fingers in the blood and put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar. Then he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

The priest will 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 he will pour out all its blood at the base of the altar.

35 Then he must remove all the lamb’s fat, and burn all the fat on the altar, like was done with the fat of the offering to maintain fellowship [with Yahweh]. He must burn it on top of the other offerings to Yahweh that are being burned. As a result, the priest will request God to forgive that person for his sin, and he will be forgiven.’”

He will cut away all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is cut away from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest will burn it on the altar on top of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. The priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and the man will be forgiven.