Leviticus 4
4
The Absolution-Offering
1-12 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, When a person sins unintentionally by straying from any of God’s commands, breaking what must not be broken, if it’s the anointed priest who sins and so brings guilt on the people, he is to bring a bull without defect to God as an Absolution-Offering for the sin he has committed. Have him bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in the presence of God, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter the bull before God. He is then to take some of the bull’s blood, bring it into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God, before the curtain of the Sanctuary. He is to smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar of Fragrant Incense before God which is in the Tent of Meeting. He is to pour the rest of the bull’s blood out at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the Absolution-Offering, the fat which covers and is connected to the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is around them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he takes out along with the kidneys—the same procedure as when the fat is removed from the bull of the Peace-Offering. Finally, he is to burn all this on the Altar of Burnt Offering. Everything else—the bull’s hide, meat, head, legs, organs, and guts—he is to take outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are dumped and is to burn it on a wood fire.
13-21“If the whole congregation sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commandments of God that must not be broken, they become guilty even though no one is aware of it. When they do become aware of the sin they’ve committed, the congregation must bring a bull as an Absolution-Offering and present it at the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the congregation will lay their hands on the bull’s head in the presence of God and one of them will slaughter it before God. The anointed priest will then bring some of the blood into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God in front of the curtain. He will smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar which is before God in the Tent of Meeting and pour the rest of it at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He will remove all the fat and burn it on the Altar. He will follow the same procedure with this bull as with the bull for the Absolution-Offering. The priest makes atonement for them and they are forgiven. They then will take the bull outside the camp and burn it just as they burned the first bull. It’s the Absolution-Offering for the congregation.
22-26“When a ruler sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commands of his God which must not be broken, he is guilty. When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring a goat for his offering, a male without any defect, lay his hand on the head of the goat, and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering in the presence of God—it’s an Absolution-Offering. The priest will then take some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. He will burn all its fat on the Altar, the same as with the fat of the Peace-Offering.
“The priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he’s forgiven.
27-31“When an ordinary member of the congregation sins unintentionally, straying from one of the commandments of God which must not be broken, he is guilty. When he is made aware of his sin, he shall bring a goat, a female without any defect, and offer it for his sin, lay his hand on the head of the Absolution-Offering, and slaughter it at the place of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will take some of its blood with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. Finally, he’ll take out all the fat, the same as with the Peace-Offerings, and burn it on the Altar for a pleasing fragrance to God.
“In this way, the priest makes atonement for him and he’s forgiven.
32-35“If he brings a lamb for an Absolution-Offering, he shall present a female without any defect, lay his hand on the head of the Absolution-Offering, and slaughter it at the same place they slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will take some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. He shall remove all the fat, the same as for the lamb of the Peace-Offering. Finally, the priest will burn it on the Altar on top of the gifts to God.
“In this way, the priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he’s forgiven.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Leviticus 4
4
Purification Offerings. 1The Lord said to Moses: 2#Lv 6:17–23; Nm 15:22–31. Tell the Israelites: When a person inadvertently#Inadvertently: the concern in this chapter, and much of chap. 5, is wrongs done unintentionally. Intentional (“high-handed”) sins are punished with being “cut off” from the people (Nm 15:30–31). See note on Lv 7:20. Lord’s prohibitions: not included in the faults figured here is failure to perform positive commandments. Failing to perform positive commands, however, still renders the individual liable to other punishment (e.g., failing to observe the Passover, Nm 9:13). Cf. Nm 15:22–31. does wrong by violating any one of the Lord’s prohibitions—
For the Anointed Priest. 3If it is the anointed priest#The anointed priest: the chapter presents four cases of inadvertent wrong, arranged in descending order according to the status of the wrongdoer: high priest (vv. 3–12), entire community (vv. 13–21), tribal leader (vv. 22–26), and general populace (vv. 27–35). The higher one’s position, the more deeply the sin affects the sanctuary (vv. 5–7, 17–18 versus vv. 25, 29, 34). See note on 16:6. Purification offering: the Hebrew verb ḥiṭṭē’ means “remove sin, purify” (Lv 8:15; Ez 43:20–23; 45:18–19; cf. Ex 29:36). The offering cleansed the various places to which the blood was applied or the rooms in which it was sprinkled. who thus does wrong and thereby makes the people guilty, he shall offer to the Lord an unblemished bull of the herd as a purification offering for the wrong he committed. 4Bringing the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord, he shall lay his hand on its head#Lv 1:4. and slaughter it before the Lord. 5#On the structure of the sanctuary, see Ex 26–27. The anointed priest shall then take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the tent of meeting, 6where, dipping his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord, toward the veil of the sanctuary.#Lv 4:17–18; 16:16; cf. 4:25. 7The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which stands before the Lord in the tent of meeting. The rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8He shall remove all the fat of the bull of the purification offering: the fat that covers the inner organs, and all the fat that adheres to them, 9as well as the two kidneys, with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which is removed with the kidneys, 10just as the fat pieces are removed from the ox of the communion sacrifice.#Lv 3:3. The priest shall burn these on the altar for burnt offerings. 11#See note on 6:17–23. But the hide of the bull and its meat, with its head, shanks, inner organs and dung, 12that is, the whole bull, shall be brought outside the camp to a clean place#Clean place: i.e., ritually “clean” or pure. It has nothing to do with the presence of dirt or waste. See 6:4. where the ashes are deposited and there be burned in a wood fire. At the place of the ash heap, there it must be burned.#Lv 6:23.
For the Community. 13If the whole community of Israel errs#Whole community…errs: this case probably complements that of vv. 3–12. There the high priest sins so that the people become guilty. Those verses deal with his requirements for atonement; vv. 13–21 deal with the people’s requirements. inadvertently and without even being aware of it violates any of the Lord’s prohibitions, and thus are guilty, 14when the wrong that was committed becomes known, the community shall offer a bull of the herd as a purification offering. They shall bring it before the tent of meeting. 15The elders of the community shall lay their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord. When the bull has been slaughtered before the Lord, 16the anointed priest shall bring some of its blood into the tent of meeting, 17and dipping his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, toward the veil. 18He shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19He shall remove all of its fat and burn it on the altar, 20doing with this bull just as he did with the other bull of the purification offering; he will do the same thing. Thus the priest shall make atonement#Lv 1:4. on their behalf, that they may be forgiven. 21This bull shall also be brought outside the camp and burned,#Lv 6:23. just as the first bull. It is a purification offering for the assembly.
For the Tribal Leader. 22Should a tribal leader#Nm 10:4; 25:14. do wrong inadvertently by violating any one of the prohibitions of the Lord his God, and thus be guilty, 23when he learns of the wrong he committed, he shall bring as his offering an unblemished male goat. 24He shall lay his hand on its head and it shall be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, before the Lord. It is a purification offering. 25The priest shall then take some of the blood of the purification offering on his finger and put it on the horns#Lv 4:30, 34; 8:15; 9:9; 16:18; Ex 29:12; Ez 43:20; cf. Lv 4:7. of the altar for burnt offerings. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 26All of its fat he shall burn on the altar like the fat of the communion sacrifice. Thus the priest shall make atonement on the tribal leader’s behalf for his wrong, that he may be forgiven.
For the General Populace. 27If anyone of the general populace does wrong inadvertently by violating one of the Lord’s prohibitions, and thus is guilty, 28upon learning of the wrong committed, that person shall bring an unblemished she-goat as the offering for the wrong committed. 29The wrongdoer shall lay a hand on the head of the purification offering, and the purification offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offerings. 30The priest shall then take some of its blood on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 31He shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the communion sacrifice. The priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet odor to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement, so that the individual may be forgiven.
32If, however, a person brings a lamb as a purification offering, that person shall bring an unblemished female, and 33lay a hand on its head. It shall be slaughtered as a purification offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34The priest shall then take some of the blood of the purification offering on his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35He shall remove all its fat just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the communion sacrifice. The priest shall burn these on the altar with the other oblations for the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf for the wrong committed, that the individual may be forgiven.
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