Different Accidental Sins

5 “A person might hear a warning. Or a person might see or hear something that he should tell to other people. If that person does not tell what he saw or heard, then that person is guilty of doing wrong. ²Or a person might touch something unclean.* It might be the dead body of a tame animal, or it might be the dead body of an unclean animal. That person might not know that he touched those things, but he will still be guilty of doing wrong. ³There are many things that come from a person that make a person unclean. A person might touch any of these things from another person, but not know about it. When that person learns that he has touched something unclean, he will be guilty. ⁴Or a person might make a quick promise to do something—it makes no difference if it is bad or good. People make many kinds of quick promises. A person might make such a promise and forget it.* When he remembers* his promise, then he will be guilty, because he didn’t keep his promise. ⁵So, if a person is guilty of any of these things, then he must confess (admit) the thing he did wrong. ⁶He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin he did. He must bring a female lamb or a female goat as a sin offering. Then the priest will {do the things that will} make that person pure* from the sin that person did. ⁷“If the person can’t afford a lamb, he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord. These will be the guilt offering for his sin. One bird must be for a sin offering, and the other must be for a burnt offering. ⁸The person must bring them to the priest. First, the priest will offer one bird for the sin offering. The priest will pull off the bird’s head from its neck. But the priest will not divide the bird {into two parts}. ⁹The priest must sprinkle the blood from the sin offering on the side of the altar.* Then the priest must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. ¹⁰Then the priest must offer the second bird according to the rules for a burnt offering. In this way, the priest will make that person pure* from the sin that person did. And God will forgive that person. ¹¹“If the person can’t afford two doves or two pigeons, then he must bring 8 cups* of fine flour. This will be his sin offering. The person must not put oil on the flour. He must not put frankincense* on it, because it is a sin offering. ¹²The person must bring the flour to the priest. The priest will take a handful of the flour. It will be a memorial offering. The priest will burn the flour on the altar.* It will be an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sin offering. ¹³In this way, the priest will make that person pure.* And God will forgive that person. The part that is left will belong to the priest, just like the grain offering.” ¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁵“A person might accidentally do something wrong with the holy things of the Lord.* Then that person must bring a ram that has nothing wrong with it. This will be his guilt offering to the Lord. You must use the official measure* and set the price of the ram. ¹⁶That person must pay for the sin he did with the holy things. He must give the things he promised, add one fifth to the value, and give this money to the priest. In this way, the priest will make that person pure* with the ram of the guilt offering. And God will forgive that person. ¹⁷“If a person sins and does any of the things that the Lord has commanded not to be done, it does not matter if that person did not know. That person is guilty. That person must accept the responsibility for his sin. ¹⁸That person must bring a ram that has nothing wrong with it to the priest. The ram will be a guilt offering. In this way, the priest will make that person pure* from the sin that person did without knowing. And God will forgive that person. ¹⁹The person is guilty, {even if he did not know he was sinning}. So he must give the guilt offering to the Lord.”

unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. forget it Literally, “it is hid from him.” remembers Literally, “knows of.” make ... pure Or, “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means “to cover,” “to hide,” or “to erase sins.” altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. 8 cups Literally, “1/10 of an ephah.” frankincense Very special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweet-smelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. holy things ... Lord These are probably special gifts that a person promised but forgot to give to the Lord. official measure Literally, “holy shekel,” the official standard of measure used in the tabernacle or temple.

Guilt Offerings for Other Sins

6 The Lord said to Moses, ²“A person might do wrong against the Lord by doing one of these sins: A person might lie about {what happened} to something he was taking care of for someone else. Or a person might lie about a deposit* he received. Or a person might steal something. Or a person might cheat someone. ³Or a person might find something that was lost and then lie about it. Or a person might promise to do something and then not do what he promised. Or a person might do some other bad thing. ⁴If a person does any of those things, then that person is guilty of sin. That person must bring back whatever he stole, or whatever he took by cheating, or whatever he took that {the other person asked him to hold for him}, or whatever he found and lied about, or ⁵whatever he made a false promise about. He must pay the full price. And then he must pay an extra fifth of {the value of} the thing. He must give the money to the true owner. He must do this on the day he {brings} his guilt offering. ⁶“That person must bring a guilt offering to the priest. It must be a ram from the flock. The ram must not have anything wrong with it. It must be worth the amount that the priest says. It will be a guilt offering to the Lord. ⁷Then the priest will go to the Lord and {do the things that will} make that person pure.*And God will forgive that person for all the things that made him guilty.”

Burnt Offerings

⁸The Lord said to Moses, ⁹“Give this command to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering must {stay} on the hearth* of the altar* all night until morning. The altar’s fire must be kept burning on the altar. ¹⁰The priest must put on his linen robe. He must put on his linen underwear next to his body. Then the priest must pick up the ashes left by the fire when it burned the burnt offering on the altar. The priest must put these ashes beside the altar. ¹¹Then the priest must take off his clothes and put on other clothes. Then he must carry the ashes outside the camp to a special place. ¹²But the altar’s fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not {be allowed to} stop burning. The priest must burn wood on the altar every morning. He must put the wood on the altar. He must burn the fat of the fellowship offerings. ¹³Fire must be kept burning on the altar without stopping. It must not go out.

Grain Offerings

¹⁴“This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron must bring it to the Lord in front of the altar.* ¹⁵The priest must take a handful of the fine flour from the grain offering. The oil and the frankincense* must be on the grain offering. The priest must burn the grain offering on the altar. It will be a memorial {offering} to the Lord. Its smell will please the Lord. ¹⁶“Aaron and his sons must eat the grain offering that is left. The grain offering is a kind of bread made without yeast. The priests must eat this bread in a holy place. They must eat it in the courtyard around the Meeting Tent.* ¹⁷The grain offering must not be cooked with yeast. I have given it as the priests’ share of the offerings made to me by fire. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. ¹⁸Every male among the children of Aaron may eat from the offerings made to the Lord by fire. This is a rule forever through your generations. Touching these offerings makes those men holy.”

The Priests’ Grain Offering

¹⁹The Lord said to Moses, ²⁰“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must bring to the Lord. They must do this on the day they anoint* Aaron {to be high priest}. They must bring 8 cups* of fine flour for a grain offering. (This will be offered at the times of the daily offering.) They must bring half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. ²¹The fine flour must be mixed with oil and made on a baking pan. When it is cooked, then you must bring it in. You must break the offering into pieces. Its smell will please the Lord. ²²“The priest from among Aaron’s descendants* that is chosen to take Aaron’s place must make this grain offering to the Lord. This rule will continue forever. The grain offering must be completely burned for the Lord. ²³Every grain offering of the priest must be completely burned. It must not be eaten.”

The Law of the Sin Offering

²⁴The Lord said to Moses, ²⁵“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering. The sin offering must be killed in the place where the burnt offering is killed before the Lord. It is most holy. ²⁶The priest that offers the sin offering must eat it. But he must eat it in a holy place, in the courtyard around the Meeting Tent.* ²⁷Touching the meat {of the sin offering} makes a person or a thing holy. “If any of the sprinkled blood falls on a person’s clothes, then you must wash the clothes in a holy place. ²⁸If the sin offering was boiled in a clay pot, then the pot must be broken. If the sin offering was boiled in a bronze* pot, then the pot must be washed and rinsed in water. ²⁹“Any man in a priest’s family may eat the sin offering. It is very holy. ³⁰But if the blood of the sin offering was taken into the Meeting Tent* and used in the Holy Place to make {people} pure,* then that sin offering must not be eaten. It must be burned in the fire.

deposit Literally, “pledge” or “security.” This is something like a down payment given as proof that something more important will be done. make … pure Or, “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means “to cover,” “to hide,” or “to erase sins.” hearth The place where a sacrifice is burned. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. frankincense Very special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweet-smelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. anoint To pour olive oil on things or people to show they were chosen for a special work or purpose. 8 cups Literally, “1/10 of an ephah.” descendant(s) A person’s children and their future families. bronze A metal. The Hebrew word can mean “copper,” “bronze,” or “brass.”