Leviticus 4

Then God told Moses

to say this to the Israelite people, "This is what anyone must do if he sins without intending to sin, that is, if he does something that breaks any of God's commands.

If the high priest sins and that causes all the people to be guilty, he must bring to God a young bull that has no defects. That will be an offering for the sin that he has committed.

He must bring the bull to the entrance to the sacred tent. He must lay his hands on its head. Then he must slaughter it in front of God and catch some of the blood in a bowl.

Then the priest must take some of that blood into the sacred tent.

He must dip one of his fingers into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of God, in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the very holy place.

Then he must put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the altar where fragrant incense is burned in the sacred tent in the presence of God. The remaining part of the bull's blood that is still in the bowl, he must pour out at the base of the altar, where sacrifices are burned, at the entrance to the sacred tent.

From that offering the high priest must separate these things from the bull that is to be burned: the fat that covers the inner parts of the bull or that is attached to them—

the kidneys and the fat that is attached to them near the lower back muscle, and the fat that covers the liver.

Then the high priest must completely burn those things on the altar. That will be just like when the fat is removed from an animal that is sacrificed to promised friendship with God.

But all the other parts of the animal—its skin and all its other meat, its head and its legs, its inner parts and the intestines—

he must take outside the camp and throw them in a place that is made acceptable to God, where the ashes are thrown, and he must burn them in a fire on the pile of ashes.

If all the Israelite people sin without intending to sin, doing something that is forbidden in any of God's commands, they will be guilty, even if they do not realize that they have sinned.

When they realize that they have committed a sin, together they must bring a young bull to be an offering for their sin, to the front of the sacred tent.

The elders must lay their hands on the bull's head in the presence of God and slaughter it and catch some of the blood in a bowl.

Then the high priest must take some of that blood into the sacred tent.

He must dip one of his fingers into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of God, in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the very holy place.

Then he must put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the altar that is in the presence of God in the sacred tent. The remaining part of the bull's blood he must pour out at the base of the altar where sacrifices are burned, at the entrance of the sacred tent.

He must remove all the animal's fat and burn it on the altar.

He must do with this bull the same things that he did with the bull that was an offering for his own sins, and they will be forgiven.

Then the priest must take the other parts of the bull outside the camp and burn them, like he does when he himself has sinned. That will be the offering for the sin that all the people have committed, and they will be forgiven.

When one of the leaders sins without intending to sin, doing something that is forbidden in any of the commands of God his God, he will be guilty.

When he realizes that he has committed a sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat that has no defects.

He must lay his hands on the goat's head in the presence of God and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter the animals that will be completely burned on the altar. That will be an offering for his sin.

Then the priest must put some of the animal's blood into a bowl and dip one of his fingers in it and put some of the blood on the corners of the projections of the altar. Then he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

Then he must burn all the fat on the altar, like was done with the fat of the offering to promise friendship with God. As a result of the priest's doing that, the leader will no longer be guilty for his sin and he will be forgiven.

If one of the Israelite people who is not a priest sins without intending to sin, and does something that is forbidden in any of the commands of God his God, he will be guilty.

When he realizes that he has committed a sin, he must bring as his offering a female goat that has no defects.

He must lay his hands on the goat's head and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter the animals that they will burn completely on the altar, and catch some of the blood in a bowl.

Then the priest must dip one of his fingers in it, and put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the altar. Then he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

Then he must remove all the goat's fat, and burn all the fat on the altar, like was done with the fat of the offering to maintain fellowship with God. And the good odor will be pleasing to God. As a result of the priest doing that, the person will no longer be guilty for his sin, and he will be forgiven.

If that person brings a lamb to be his offering for sin, he must bring a female lamb that has no defects.

He must lay his hands on the lamb's head and slaughter it at the place where they slaughter the animals that will be completely burned on the altar, and catch some of the blood in a bowl.

Then the priest must dip one of his fingers in it and put some of the blood on the projections at the corners of the altar. Then he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

Then he must remove all the lamb's fat, and burn all the fat on the altar, like was done with the fat of the offering to promise friendship with God. He must burn it on top of the other offerings to God that are being burned. As a result, the priest will request God to forgive that person for his sin, and he will be forgiven.