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Leviticus - Chapter 5

1 ' "If someone sins in any of these following cases: "He should have come forward to give evidence when he heard the formal adjuration, having seen the incident or known the facts; but he has not spoken out, and so bears the consequences of his guilt;

2 "or someone touches something unclean, whatever it may be -- the dead body of an unclean animal, wild or tame, or of one of the unclean reptiles -- and without realising it becomes unclean, he becomes answerable for it;

3 "or he touches some human uncleanness, whatever it may be, contact with which makes him unclean; he does not notice it, then, realising it later, he becomes answerable for it;

4 "or someone lets slip an oath to do something either evil or good, in any of those matters on which someone may let slip an oath; he does not notice it, then, realising it later, he becomes answerable for it;

5 "if he is answerable in any of those cases, he will have to confess the sin committed.

6 As a sacrifice of reparation for the sin committed, he will bring Yahweh a female from the flock (sheep or goat) as a sacrifice for sin; and the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him to free him from his sin.

7 "If he cannot afford an animal from the flock as a sacrifice of reparation for the sin he has committed, he will bring Yahweh two turtledoves or two young pigeons -- one as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a burnt offering.

8 He will bring them to the priest who will first offer the one intended for the sacrifice for sin. The priest will wring its neck but not remove the head.

9 He will sprinkle the side of the altar with the victim's blood, and then squeeze out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar. This is a sacrifice for sin.

10 He will then offer the other bird as a burnt offering according to the ritual. This is how the priest must perform the rite of expiation for the person for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

11 "If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he will bring a tenth of an ephah of wheaten flour as an offering for the sin committed; he must not mix oil with it or put incense on it, since this is a sacrifice for sin.

12 He will bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of it as a memorial, and burn this on the altar in addition to the offerings of food burnt for Yahweh. This is a sacrifice for sin.

13 This is how the priest must perform the rite of expiation for the person for the sin he has committed in any of those cases, and he will be forgiven. In this case, the priest has the same rights as in the case of a cereal offering." '

14 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

15 'If someone is unfaithful and sins inadvertently by infringing Yahweh's sacred rights, as a sacrifice of reparation he must bring Yahweh an unblemished ram from his flock, the value of which will be decided by you in silver shekels according to the rate of the sanctuary-shekel.

16 He will make amends for what his sin subtracted from the sacred rights, adding one-fifth to the value, and give it to the priest. The priest will then perform the rite of expiation for him with the ram for the sacrifice of reparation and he will be forgiven.

17 'If someone sins and without realising it does one of the things forbidden by Yahweh's commandments, he will answer for it and bear the consequences of his guilt.

18 As a sacrifice of reparation he must bring the priest an unblemished ram from his flock to the value which you decide, and the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him for the oversight unwittingly committed, and he will be forgiven.

19 This is a sacrifice of reparation; the man was certainly answerable to Yahweh.'

20 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

21 'If someone sins and is unfaithful against Yahweh by deceiving his fellow-countryman over a deposit or a security, or by withholding something due to him or by exploiting him;

22 'or if he finds lost property and denies it; 'or if he perjures himself about anything that a human being may do criminally in such matters;

23 'if he sins and so becomes answerable, he must restore what he has taken or demanded in excess: the deposit confided to him, the lost property that he has found,

24 or any object about which he has perjured himself. He will add one-fifth to the principal and pay the whole to the person who held the property rights on the day when he incurred the guilt.

25 He will then bring Yahweh an unblemished ram from his flock to the value which you decide, to the priest as a sacrifice of reparation,

26 and the priest will perform the rite of expiation for him before Yahweh and he will be forgiven, whatever the act by which he incurred guilt.'

Book of Leviticus Chapters

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