Leviticus
Chapter 4

1

The LORD said to Moses,

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¹ "Tell the Israelites: When a person inadvertently commits a sin against some command of the LORD by doing one of the forbidden things,

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² if it is the anointed priest who thus sins and thereby makes the people also become guilty, he shall present to the LORD a young, unblemished bull as a sin offering for the sin he committed.

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Bringing the bullock to the entrance of the meeting tent, before the LORD, he shall lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the LORD.

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The anointed priest shall then take some of the bullock's blood and bring it into the meeting tent,

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where, dipping his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, toward the veil of the sanctuary.

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The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the LORD in the meeting tent. The rest of the bullock's blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of holocausts which is at the entrance of the meeting tent.

8

From the sin-offering bullock he shall remove all the fat: the fatty membrane over the inner organs, and all the fat that adheres to them,

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as well as the two kidneys, with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he must sever above the kidneys.

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This is the same as is removed from the ox of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar of holocausts.

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The hide of the bullock and all its flesh, with its head, legs, inner organs and offal,

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in short, the whole bullock, shall be brought outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are deposited and there be burned up in a wood fire. At the place of the ash heap, there it must be burned.

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"If the whole community of Israel inadvertently and without even being aware of it does something that the LORD has forbidden and thus makes itself guilty,

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should it later on become known that the sin was committed, the community shall present a young bull as a sin offering. They shall bring it before the meeting tent,

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and here, before the LORD, the elders of the community shall lay their hands on the bullock's head. When the bullock has been slaughtered before the LORD,

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the anointed priest shall bring some of its blood into the meeting tent,

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and dipping his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, toward the veil.

18

He shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the LORD in the meeting tent. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of holocausts which is at the entrance of the meeting tent.

19

All of its fat he shall take from it and burn on the altar,

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doing with this bullock just as he did with the other sin-offering bullock. Thus the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.

21

This bullock must also be brought outside the camp and burned, just as has been prescribed for the other one. This is the sin offering for the community.

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"Should a prince commit a sin inadvertently by doing one of the things which are forbidden by some commandment of the LORD, his God, and thus become guilty,

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if later on he learns of the sin he committed, he shall bring as his offering an unblemished male goat.

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Having laid his hands on its head, he shall slaughter the goat as a sin offering before the LORD, in the place where the holocausts are slaughtered.

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The priest shall then take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of holocausts. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of this altar.

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All of the fat he shall burn on the altar like the fat of the peace offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement for the prince's sin, and it will be forgiven.

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"If a private person commits a sin inadvertently by doing one of the things which are forbidden by the commandments of the LORD, and thus becomes guilty,

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should he later on learn of the sin he committed, he shall bring an unblemished she-goat as the offering for his sin.

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Having laid his hand on the head of the sin offering, he shall slaughter it at the place of the holocausts.

30

The priest shall then take some of its blood on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of holocausts. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

31

All the fat shall be removed, just as the fat is removed from the peace offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for an odor pleasing to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

32

"If, however, for his sin offering he presents a lamb, he shall bring an unblemished female.

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Having laid his hand on its head, he shall slaughter this sin offering in the place where the holocausts are slaughtered.

34

The priest shall then take some of the blood of the sin offering on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of holocausts. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

35

All the fat shall be removed, just as the fat is removed from the peace-offering lamb, and the priest shall burn it on the altar with the other oblations of the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement for the man's sin, and it will be forgiven.

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Footnotes

¹ [2] A sin: not necessarily a moral fault; included are all the cases of ritual uncleanness which people necessarily incurred in certain unavoidable circumstances.

² [3] The anointed priest: his violation of the ceremonial law brought a sort of collective guilt on all the people whom he represented before God. Sin offering: more exactly, "sacrifice for remitting sin"; sin is here understood as explained above.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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