The Law of Sin Offerings

1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the [a]things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, 3if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then he is to offer to the LORD a [b]bull without defect as a sin offering for his sin which he has [c]committed. 4He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the LORD, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slaughter the bull before the LORD. 5Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, 6and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the LORD in the tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 8And he shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, 9and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the [d]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys 10(just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings); and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 11But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, along with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its refuse, 12[e]that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring out to a clean place outside the camp where the fatty ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the fatty ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

13‘Now if the entire congregation of Israel does wrong unintentionally and the matter [f]escapes the notice of the assembly, and they commit any of the [g]things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty; 14when the sin [h]which they have [i]committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a [j]bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD. 16Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting; 17and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil. 18He shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD [k]in the tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 19And he shall remove all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar. 20He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; he shall do the same with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. 21Then he is to bring the bull out to a place outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

22‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any of [l]the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, 23[m]if his sin [n]which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a [o]goat, a male without defect. 24And he shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering before the LORD; it is a sin offering. 25Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin, and he will be forgiven.

27‘Now if [p]anyone of the [q]common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the [r]things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, 28[s]if his sin which he has [t]committed is made known to him, then he shall bring as his offering a [u]goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has [v]committed. 29And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. 30The priest shall then take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 31Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as a soothing aroma to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for him, [w]and he will be forgiven.

32‘But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect. 33And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering. 34And the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer [x]it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin which he has [y]committed, and he will be forgiven.