Leviticus 5
5
1“If you sin by not stepping up and offering yourself as a witness to something you’ve heard or seen in cases of wrongdoing, you’ll be held responsible.
2“Or if you touch anything ritually unclean, like the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or a dead reptile, and you weren’t aware of it at the time, but you’re contaminated and you’re guilty;
3“Or if you touch human uncleanness, any sort of ritually contaminating uncleanness, and you’re not aware of it at the time, but later you realize it and you’re guilty;
4“Or if you impulsively swear to do something, whether good or bad—some rash oath that just pops out—and you aren’t aware of what you’ve done at the time, but later you come to realize it and you’re guilty in any of these cases;
5-6“When you are guilty, immediately confess the sin that you’ve committed and bring as your penalty to God for the sin you have committed a female lamb or goat from the flock for an Absolution-Offering.
“In this way, the priest will make atonement for your sin.
7-10“If you can’t afford a lamb, bring as your penalty to God for the sin you have committed two doves or two pigeons, one for the Absolution-Offering and the other for the Whole-Burnt-Offering. Bring them to the priest who will first offer the one for the Absolution-Offering: He’ll wring its neck but not sever it, splash some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering against the Altar, and squeeze the rest of it out at the base. It’s an Absolution-Offering. He’ll then take the second bird and offer it as a Whole-Burnt-Offering, following the procedures step-by-step.
“In this way, the priest will make atonement for your sin and you’re forgiven.
11-12“If you cannot afford the two doves or pigeons, bring two quarts of fine flour for your Absolution-Offering. Don’t put oil or incense on it—it’s an Absolution-Offering. Bring it to the priest; he’ll take a handful from it as a memorial and burn it on the Altar with the gifts for God. It’s an Absolution-Offering.
13“The priest will make atonement for you and any of these sins you’ve committed and you’re forgiven. The rest of the offering belongs to the priest, the same as with the Grain-Offering.”
Compensation-Offering
14-16 God spoke to Moses: “When a person betrays his trust and unknowingly sins by straying against any of the holy things of God, he is to bring as his penalty to God a ram without any defect from the flock, the value of the ram assessed in shekels, according to the Sanctuary shekel for a Compensation-Offering. He is to make additional compensation for the sin he has committed against any holy thing by adding twenty percent to the ram and giving it to the priest.
“Thus the priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the Compensation-Offering and he’s forgiven.
17-18a “If anyone sins by breaking any of the commandments of God which must not be broken, but without being aware of it at the time, the moment he does realize his guilt he is held responsible. He is to bring to the priest a ram without any defect, assessed at the value of the Compensation-Offering.
18b-19 “Thus the priest will make atonement for him for his error that he was unaware of and he’s forgiven. It is a Compensation-Offering; he was surely guilty before God.”
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Leviticus 5: MSG
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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 5
5
Special Cases for Purification Offerings.#This differs from the prescriptions for purification offerings in chap. 4 by listing four specific wrongs for which a purification offering is brought and allowing the substitution of birds and grain offerings in the case of poverty. 1If a person, either having seen or come to know something, does wrong by refusing as a witness under oath to give information,#Jgs 17:2–3; Prv 29:24. that individual shall bear the penalty; 2or if someone, without being aware of it, touches any unclean thing, such as the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or an unclean domestic animal, or an unclean swarming creature,#Swarming creature: a rather imprecise categorization that includes various small creatures in the seas, such as fish that go about in large groups or swarms (Gn 1:20; Lv 11:10); or, similarly, various winged insects that mass in the skies (Lv 11:20; Dt 14:19); and, finally, various small creatures that move in swarms on land, whether crawlers, quadrupeds, or of the multilegged variety (Lv 11:41–42). According to 11:29–30, even various rodents and lizards can be included in this category. and thus is unclean and guilty;#Lv 11:1–45; 15:31; 17:15–16. 3or if someone, without being aware of it, touches some human uncleanness,#Lv 12:4; 13:35–36; 15:2–12, 19–27; Nm 19:14–22. whatever kind of uncleanness this may be, and then subsequently becomes aware of guilt; 4or if someone, without being aware of it, rashly utters an oath with bad or good intent,#Nm 30:3; Jgs 11:30–36; 1 Sm 14:24–30; Mk 6:23–26; Acts 23:12. whatever kind of oath this may be, and then subsequently becomes aware of guilt in regard to any of these matters— 5when someone is guilty in regard to any of these matters, that person shall confess the wrong committed, 6and make reparation to the Lord for the wrong committed: a female animal from the flock, a ewe lamb or a she-goat, as a purification offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement on the individual’s behalf for the wrong.
7If, however, the person cannot afford an animal of the flock,#Cf. Lv 5:11; 12:8; 14:21. that person shall bring to the Lord as reparation for the wrong committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a purification offering and the other for a burnt offering. 8The guilty party shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer the one for the purification offering first.#Lv 1:14–17. Wringing its head at the neck, yet without breaking it off, 9he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the purification offering against the side of the altar. The rest of the blood shall be drained out against the base of the altar. It is a purification offering. 10The other bird he shall offer as a burnt offering according to procedure. Thus the priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf for the wrong committed, so that the individual may be forgiven.
11If the person is unable to afford even two turtledoves or two pigeons, that person shall bring as an offering for the wrong committed one tenth of an ephah#Ephah: see note on Is 5:10. of bran flour for a purification offering. The guilty party shall not put oil or place frankincense on it, because it is a purification offering.#Lv 2:1–3; Nm 5:15. 12The individual shall bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful as a token of the offering and burn it on the altar with the other oblations for the Lord. It is a purification offering. 13Thus the priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf for the wrong committed in any of the above cases, so that the individual may be forgiven. The rest of the offering, like the grain offering, shall belong to the priest.
Reparation Offerings.#This last half of the chapter deals with a distinct sacrifice, the reparation offering (Heb. ’asham). The Hebrew root for this term has a basic meaning of “be guilty.” The noun can have a consequential sense of “that which is due from guilt,” i.e., “compensation, indemnification, reparation”; hence the translation “reparation offering,” rather than the alternatives “guilt offering” or “trespass offering.” This offering is brought most often in cases of sacrilege. 14The Lord said to Moses: 15#Lv 7:1–6; Nm 5:5–8. When a person commits sacrilege by inadvertently misusing any of the Lord’s sacred objects,#Lv 22:14. the wrongdoer shall bring to the Lord as reparation an unblemished ram from the flock, at the established value#At the established value: the Hebrew term ‘erkĕkā, which in context means “(established) value,” may indicate that a person could bring the monetary equivalent of a ram instead of an actual animal. See vv. 18, 25. in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel, as a reparation offering. 16The wrongdoer shall also restore what has been misused of the sacred objects, adding a fifth of its value,#Lv 22:14; 27:13, 15, 19, 27. and give this to the priest. Thus the priest shall make atonement for the person with the ram of the reparation offering, so that the individual may be forgiven.
17If someone does wrong and violates one of the Lord’s prohibitions without realizing it, that person is guilty#Ps 19:13; Jb 1:5. and shall bear the penalty. 18The individual shall bring to the priest an unblemished ram of the flock, at the established value, for a reparation offering. The priest shall then make atonement on the offerer’s behalf for the error inadvertently and unknowingly committed so that the individual may be forgiven. 19It is a reparation offering. The individual must make reparation to the Lord.
20The Lord said to Moses: 21When someone does wrong and commits sacrilege against the Lord by deceiving#Ps 59:13; Hos 4:2. a neighbor about a deposit or a pledge or a stolen article, or by otherwise retaining a neighbor’s goods unjustly;#Ex 22:6–12. 22or if, having found a lost article, the person lies about it, swearing falsely about any of the things that a person may do wrong— 23when someone has thus done wrong and is guilty, that person shall restore the thing that was stolen, the item unjustly retained, the item left as deposit, or the lost article that was found 24or whatever else the individual swore falsely about. That person shall make full restitution of the thing itself, and add one fifth of its value to it, giving it to its owner at the time of reparation. 25Then that person shall bring to the priest as reparation to the Lord an unblemished ram of the flock, at the established value, as a reparation offering. 26The priest shall make atonement on the person’s behalf before the Lord, so that the individual may be forgiven for whatever was done to incur guilt.
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