Leviticus

Special Cases

Sacrifice for sin is required in the following instances:

A man should have come forward to give evidence in court when officially summoned, but he did not speak or provide information about anything he had seen or heard; he is subject to punishment.

Otherwise, he becomes unclean and guilty if he accidentally touches something unclean—the dead body of an unclean animal, whether wild or tame, or the dead body of one of the unclean beings that swarm, without realizing it.

If he accidentally touches any human uncleanness—regardless of its nature—this contact makes him unclean. He becomes guilty as soon as he recognizes what he has done.

Alternatively, a man may make a careless vow to do either good or evil in any matter he swears about without thinking. He doesn’t notice it at the time, but when he realizes it later, he becomes guilty.

Anyone guilty in any of these cases must confess the sin they committed

and bring to the Lord a female from the flock (sheep or goat) as a sacrifice for that sin. The priest shall then offer the sacrifice to atone for the man’s sin and to free him from it.

Cases of Poverty

If a man cannot afford a sheep or a goat, he shall offer to the Lord, as payment for his sin, two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

He will bring them to the priest, who will first offer the one intended for a sin offering. The priest shall wring its neck without removing the head.

He shall sprinkle the blood on the side of the altar and then drain out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. This is a sin sacrifice.

For the other birds, he is to make a burnt offering according to the regulations. He will be forgiven when the priest offers the sacrifice for his sin.

If this man cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he must bring two pounds of flour as an offering for his sin. However, he should not mix oil with it or add incense, as it is a sin sacrifice.

He is to bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of incense and place it on the burnt offering for the Lord to remind the Lord of this man. This is a sin offering.

This is how the priest is to offer the sacrifice for the sin the man committed in any of these cases, and he will be forgiven. In this case, as in the case of a grain offering, the rest of the flour belongs to the priest.”

Penitential Sacrifice

The Lord spoke to Moses; he said:

“If anyone is guilty of unintentionally cheating by failing to hand over the sacred payments to the Lord, he must bring a ram without defects to the Lord as a payment sacrifice. This ram should be valued according to the official standard. This is a sacrifice of repayment.

He must make the payments he failed to hand over, pay an extra fifth, and give it to the priest. The priest shall offer the ram as a sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

If anyone sins and commits one of the things forbidden by the commandments of the Lord without realizing it, he is guilty and must pay the penalty for his fault.

As a sacrifice of repayment, he must bring a ram without defects to the priest. Its value will be according to the official standard. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin he committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven.

This is a sacrifice of repayment because the man was guilty in the eyes of the Lord.

Fraud Against One’s Neighbor

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“This refers to the man who sins against the Lord by not returning a deposit or security to his neighbor or by withholding what is due to him or cheating him;

and also to the one who finds lost property and swears he has not found it; and also to the man who swears falsely in situations where people typically take oaths.

In all these cases, the man who sins and becomes guilty must return what he has taken or claimed that does not belong to him: the deposit entrusted to him, the lost property he found,

or any object he has sworn about untruthfully. He must repay the owner in full and add an extra fifth on the day he is found guilty.

Then, he is to bring a ram without defect to the Lord as a sacrifice of repayment.

The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven, regardless of the act for which he became guilty.”