Offering for an unintentional sin
1 ① Yahweh spoke to Moses; he said: 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say: Anyone may sin without intending to do so against any of the commandments of Yahweh and do one of the forbidden things; in such a case: 3If the one who sins is the anointed priest, his sin defiles the people. Then, for the sin which he has committed, he is to offer to Yahweh a young bull, an animal from the herd without any defect, as a sacrifice for sin. 4He is to bring the bull before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and lay his hand on its head and kill it before Yahweh. 5Then the anointed priest shall take a little of the blood of the bull and take it into the Tent of Meeting. 6He shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it over the veil of the sanctuary seven times, before Yahweh. 7Then the priest shall put a little of the blood of the bull on the corners of the altar of incense that sends up smoke before Yahweh in the Tent of Meeting and he is to pour all the rest of the bull’s blood at the foot of the altar for burnt offerings that is at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
8From this bull offered as a sacrifice for sin, the priest will remove all the fat: the fat that covers the internal organs, all the fat that is on the internal organs, 9the two kidneys, the fat that is on them and on the loins, the best part which he will remove from the liver and kidneys, 10exactly as was done with what was set apart in the peace offering, and the priest shall burn these on the altar for burnt offerings.
11The bull’s skin, all its flesh, its head, legs, internal organs and intestines, 12the whole of the bull, must be carried outside the camp to a place that is clean, the place where the ashes from the fat are thrown away, and the bull must be burnt there.
13If the whole community of Israel has sinned without intending to do so, and, without being aware of it, has done something that is forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh, 14the community is to offer a young bull as sacrifice for sin, an animal of the herd without any defect, as soon as the sin of which they have been guilty is discovered. The animal must be brought before the Tent of Meeting; 15the elders of the community shall lay their hands on the bull’s head before Yahweh, and it must be killed before Yahweh.
16Then the anointed priest is to carry a little of the blood of the bull into the Tent of Meeting. 17He is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it on the veil before Yahweh seven times. 18Then he shall put a little of the blood on the corners of the altar that stands before Yahweh inside the Tent of Meeting, and pour out all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
19Then the priest shall remove all the fat from the animal and burn it on the altar. 20He shall do the same thing with this bull as he did with the bull for the sacrifice of sin. When the priest has performed the sacrifice for the people’s sin, they will be forgiven. 21The priest must have the bull taken out of the camp and burn it as he burned the first one. This is the sacrifice for the sin of the community.
22When a leader sins and without intending to do so does one of the things forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh his God, thus becoming guilty, 23and after that he recalls it, or anyone calls his attention to the sin thus committed, he is to bring a goat as an offering, a male without any defect. 24He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and kill it in the place where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is a sacrifice for sin: 25the priest shall take a little of the goat’s blood on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar for burnt offerings. Then he shall pour out its blood at the foot of the altar for burnt offering 26and burn all the fat on the altar, as with the fat in the peace offering. This is how the priest is to offer the sacrifice for the sin of this leader to free him from his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27If one of the people sins without intending to do so and makes himself guilty by doing something forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh, 28and after that he recalls it or anyone calls his attention to the sin he has committed, he is to bring a goat as an offering, a female without any defect. 29He is to lay his hand on the goat’s head and kill it in the place where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. 30The priest shall take a little of the goat’s blood on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar for burnt offerings. Then he shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. 31He shall remove all the fat, as the fat was removed for the peace offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar as a sweet-smelling sacrifice pleasing to Yahweh. This is how the priest is to offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
32If anyone wishes to bring a lamb as an offering for this kind of sacrifice, he is to bring a female without any defect. 33He is to lay his hand on the lamb’s head and kill it as a sacrifice for sin in the place where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. 34The priest shall take a little of the blood of this sacrifice on his finger and put it on the corners of the altar for burnt offerings. Then he shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. 35He shall remove its fat as was done for the sheep in the peace offering, and the priest shall burn it all on the altar, in addition to the burnt offering for Yahweh. This is how the priest is to offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
- Lev 4,1 Next come the sin offerings. It is not a question of real sin, the inner sin (Mt 5:22) coming from man (Mt 7:20), but of faults against the laws regarding worship. In verses 22 and 27, we read: when a leader sins and without intending to do so. This constitutes another kind of fault, a matter of carelessness, 5:1-13. But in 5:20-26 we deal with other faults which require an offering in reparation because they are real sins. Paul tells us that the purpose of the Law is to make sin evident (Rom 4:15; 7:7). It is true that ancient texts rarely identify real sin: indifference towards God, or rebellion against his established order, errors or ignorance. It would take time to wait for enlightenment, but this fear of sin reminds us that the force of evil is at work in us, even when we are not conscious of it. The day we discover what the love of God is, and how he keeps waiting for us, we shall realize how deeply sinful we are. The Tent of Meeting (5, 7, 16) is the temple.
