Of offerings for sins of ignorance.

¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² Say to the sons of Israel: The soul which will have sinned through ignorance, and concerning any of the commandments of the Lord that he instructed not to be done, if anything at all has been done:¹

1. 4:2Ignorance: To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful; and for such culpable ignorance, these sacrifices, prescribed in this and the following chapter, were appointed.(Challoner)

³ if the priest, who is anointed, will have sinned, causing the people to commit a transgression, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin an immaculate calf.

⁴ And he shall lead it to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony in the sight of the Lord. And he shall place his hand upon its head, and he shall immolate it to the Lord.

⁵ Likewise, he shall take from the blood of the calf, carrying it into the tabernacle of the testimony,¹

1. 4:5The blood: As the figure of the blood of Christ shed for the remission of our sins, and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven.(Challoner)

⁶ and having dipped his finger into the blood, he shall sprinkle it seven times in the sight of the Lord, opposite the veil of the Sanctuary.

⁷ And he shall place some of the same blood over the horns of the altar of most pleasing incense to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the testimony. Then he shall pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar of holocaust at the entrance of the tabernacle.

⁸ And, on behalf of the sin, he shall take the fat of the calf, both that which covers the vital organs and all that is interior,

⁹ the two little kidneys, and the mesh that is on them near the sides, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys,

¹⁰ just as it is taken from the calf of the sacrifice of peace offerings. And he shall burn them upon the altar of holocaust.

¹¹ Yet truly, the skin and all the flesh, with the head and the feet, and the intestines and the dung,

¹² and the remainder of the body, he shall carry away, beyond the camp, to the clean place where the ashes are usually poured out. And he shall burn them upon a stack of wood. There, in the place where the ashes have been poured out, they will be burned.

¹³ But if all the crowd of Israel will have been ignorant, and through inexperience will have done what is contrary to the commandment of the Lord,

¹⁴ and afterwards shall understand their sin: they shall offer a calf on behalf of their sin, and they shall lead it to the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁵ And the elders of the people shall place their hands upon its head in the sight of the Lord. And when the calf has been immolated in the sight of the Lord,

¹⁶ the priest who is anointed shall carry some of its blood into the tabernacle of the testimony.

¹⁷ and he shall dip his finger in it, sprinkling it seven times opposite the veil.

¹⁸ And he shall place some of the same blood on the horns of the altar, which is in the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony. But the remainder of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of holocaust, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

¹⁹ And he shall take all its fat and burn it upon the altar,

²⁰ doing so with this calf in the same manner as he did before. And while the priest is praying for them, the Lord will forgive them.

²¹ But the calf itself he shall carry away, beyond the camp, and he shall also burn it, just as with the previous calf, because it is for the sin of the multitude.

²² If a leader will have sinned, and through ignorance will have done one of the many things which the law of the Lord prohibits,

²³ and afterwards he shall understand his sin: he shall offer an immaculate he-goat from among the goats, as a sacrifice to the Lord.

²⁴ And he shall place his hand upon its head. And when he will have immolated it, in the place where the holocaust is usually slain, in the sight of the Lord, because it is for sin,

²⁵ the priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the victim for sin, touching the horns of the altar of holocaust, and pouring out the remainder at its base.

²⁶ Yet truly, the fat he shall burn upon it, just as is usually done with the victims of peace offerings. And the priest shall pray for him and for his sin, and he shall be released from it.

²⁷ But if a soul from the people of the land will have sinned through ignorance, so as to have done any of those things that the law of the Lord prohibits, and so commit a transgression,

²⁸ and he shall realize his sin: he shall offer an immaculate she-goat.

²⁹ And he shall place his hand upon the head of the victim which is for sin. And he shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust.

³⁰ And the priest shall take some of the blood with his finger, and touching the horns of the altar of holocaust, he shall pour out the remainder at its base.

³¹ But taking away all the fat, just as it is usually taken away from the victims of peace offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar as a sweet odor to the Lord. And he shall pray for him, and he shall be released from it.

³² But if instead he will offer from the flock a victim for his sin, specifically, an immaculate female sheep:¹

1. 4:32It is more expedient to use the translation ‘female sheep’ than ‘ewe’ because Scripture is often read aloud, in which case ‘ewe’ sounds identical to ‘you’.(Conte)

³³ he shall place his hand upon its head, and he shall immolate it in the place where the victims of holocausts are usually slain.

³⁴ And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and touching the horns of the altar of holocaust, he shall pour out the remainder at its base.

³⁵ Likewise, all of the fat shall be taken away, just as the fat of the ram, which is immolated for peace offerings, is usually taken away. And he shall burn it upon the altar as an incense of the Lord. And he shall pray for him and for his sin, and he shall be released from it.