Leviticus 5

¹ If any one sins in any of these following cases: “A man 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 fault;

² or else he touches something unclean, whatever it may be – the dead body of an unclean animal, wild or tame, or of one of the unclean things that swarm – and without realising it becomes unclean, he becomes answerable for it;

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

⁴ or else a man lets slip some oath to do either evil or good, in any of those matters on which a man may swear unthinkingly; 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 and he must bring to Yahweh as a sacrifice of reparation for the sin committed a female of the flock (sheep or goat) as a sacrifice for sin; and the priest shall perform the rite of atonement over him to free him from his sin.

⁷ If he cannot afford an animal of the flock, he is to bring to Yahweh, as a sacrifice of reparation for the sin he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons – one for a sacrifice for sin and the other for a holocaust.

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

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

¹⁰ Of the other bird he is to make a holocaust according to the ritual. This is how the priest is to perform the rite of atonement over the man for the sin he has committed. and he will be forgiven.

¹¹ If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he is to 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, for it is a sacrifice for sin.

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

¹³ This is how the priest is to perform the rite of atonement over the man 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 oblation.”‘

¹⁴ Yahweh spoke to Moses; he said:

¹⁵ If anyone is guilty of fraud and sins inadvertently by not observing Yahweh’s sacred rights, he is to bring to Yahweh as a sacrifice of reparation an unblemished ram from his flock. This ram is to be valued in silver shekels according to the rate of the shekel of the sanctuary. This is a sacrifice of reparation.

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

¹⁷ If anyone sins and without realising it does one of the things forbidden by the commandments of Yahweh, he must answer for it and must bear the consequences of his fault.

¹⁸ As a sacrifice of reparation he is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of his flock, subject to valuation. The priest shall perform the rite of atonement over him for the oversight he has committed without realising it and he will be forgiven.

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

²⁰ Yahweh spoke to Moses; he said:

²¹ If anyone sins and is guilty of fraud against Yahweh by deceiving his neighbour over a deposit or a security, or by withholding something due to him or exploiting him;

²² or if he finds lost property and denies it; ‘or if he perjures himself about any sin that a man may commit;

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

²⁴ or any object about which he has perjured himself. He must add one-fifth to the principal and pay the whole to whoever held the property rights on the day when he became answerable.

²⁵ Then he is to bring an unblemished ram of his flock to Yahweh as a sacrifice of reparation: it must be valued according to the rate paid to the priest for a sacrifice of reparation.

²⁶ The priest shall perform the rite of atonement over him before Yahweh and he will be forgiven, whatever the act for which he became answerable.