Leviticus 4
Sin Offerings
The Existing One continued telling Moses,
“Tell the Israelites that this is what they should do if any of them accidentally disobeys my orders by doing something I’ve forbidden:
Sin offerings for priests
If a priest disobeys me and brings guilt upon the people, then he should offer a perfectly healthy bull to the Existing One as a sin offering for his disobedience. He must bring the bull to the entrance of the meeting tent, lay his hand on its head, and kill it in front of me. The anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood, bring it to the meeting tent, dip his finger in it, and then he needs to sprinkle some of its blood in front of the sanctuary’s veil seven times in my sight. Then the priest will proceed to wipe some of the blood on the incense altar’s horns in the meeting tent, and pour the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar used for burnt offerings (which is located at the entrance of the meeting tent). All the bull’s fat should be removed including the fat from the guts, the two kidneys (along with their fat), and the liver. (It should be removed in the same way that it gets removed from the peace offerings.) Then the priest needs to burn all that fat on the altar used for burnt offerings. Then the priest will take the rest of the bull’s body (including its head, skin, legs, guts, and feces), and carry it to the ash heap outside the camp and burn it on a wood fire.
Sin offerings for the nation
“If the whole nation of Israel collectively disobeys me unintentionally, and then they realize their guilt, then the assembly needs to bring a bull to the meeting tent as a sin offering. The elders will then lay their hands on the bull’s head and kill it in front of me. The anointed priests will then bring some of its blood into the meeting tent where the priest will dip his finger in it and sprinkle it seven times in front of the veil that keeps me concealed. He will then smear some of the blood on the altar’s horns in front of me and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar used for burnt offerings (which is located at the meeting tent’s entrance). He will take all its fat and burn it on the altar. (He should do the same thing with these bulls as he does with the bulls for the sin offerings.) The priest will make amends for the people and they will be forgiven. Then he’ll need to carry the bull outside the camp and burn it like he did the first bull. That concludes the procedure for the sin offerings made on the entire assembly’s behalf.
Sin offerings for leaders
“Whenever a leader realizes that he unintentionally disobeyed one of my orders, he needs to bring a male goat in perfect condition. He should lay his hand on its head and kill it as a sin offering in front of me (in the same place where the burnt offerings are killed). Then the priest should take some of its blood with his finger and wipe it on the horns of the altar which is used for burnt offerings and pour the rest of its blood at the base of that altar. He will then burn all of its fat on the altar (just like he does with the peace offerings). By doing this, the priest makes amends for both himself and his failures, and he will be forgiven.
Sin offerings for common people
“If a common person realizes that he has unintentionally disobeyed my orders, he needs to bring a female goat in perfect condition as an offering for his offense. He should lay his hand on the goat’s head and kill it in the same place as the burnt offerings. Then the priest will take some of its blood with his finger and wipe it on the horns of the altar which is used for burnt offerings and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He will remove all of its fat (just like he does with the peace offerings) and burn it on the altar as a nice fragrance for me. By doing this, the priest will make amends for that person, and he will be forgiven.
“If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, it needs to be a female in perfect condition. He will lay his hand on its head and kill it in the same place that the burnt offerings are killed. Then the priest will take some of its blood on his finger and smear it on the horns of the altar used for burnt offerings and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He will then remove all its fat just like he does with the lambs used for peace offerings. By doing all this, the priest makes amends for the offense that the person committed, and that person will be forgiven.