Leviticus 5

₁The Lord said to Moses: ‘If they call a person to be a witness because he saw someone doing something wrong, but he does not want to tell them what he saw, then he is guilty, and he has sinned. ₂Or if someone touches something that is impure, but he does not know it, he becomes impure and he is guilty. Or if he touches a dead or impure animal, ₃or something impure that comes from a man or woman, or he touches anything that makes him impure, but he does not know it, then he is guilty when he realises it later.

₄Or if someone does not think about what he is saying and he promises something and says God is his Witness, but he forgets to do what he said, then he is guilty. A person sometimes does that. He promises something good or something bad and does not do it, but when he remembers it, he is guilty. ₅When he realises that he is guilty because he has done one of these things, then he must confess that he has sinned ₆and he must sacrifice a guilt-offering to the Lord for the sin that he has done. For a sin-offering it must be a sheep ewe or a goat ewe. The priest must make atonement for the sin of the person.

₇If the person does not have a sheep or a goat, then he may sacrifice 2 doves for the sin-offering. One dove is a sin-offering and the other dove is a burnt-offering. ₈He must bring the doves to the priest and the priest must first sacrifice the dove that is for the sin-offering. The priest must break the dove's neck but he must not pull off the head. ₉Then he must sprinkle some of the dove's blood onto the sides of the altar and he must pour out the blood that is left over at the bottom of the altar. This is a sin-offering. ₁₀The priest must then sacrifice the 2nd dove as he always does with a burnt-offering. This is how the priest makes atonement for the person and God will forgive his sins.

₁₁If the person can not buy 2 doves, then he must give one 10th of an ephah of the best flour as a sin-offering for the sin that he has done. He must not pour oil onto the flour or put incense on it, because it is a sin-offering. ₁₂He must give the flour to the priest. The priest must take a handful of flour and burn it on the altar with the fire-offering to the Lord. The handful of flour shows that all of the flour belongs to the Lord. It is a sin-offering. ₁₃This is how the priest makes atonement for the person's sin and God will forgive him. The priest may take the flour that is left over, like with a grain-offering.’

₁₄The Lord said to Moses: ₁₅‘If someone did not want to do something wrong, but he has done wrong with the holy things of God, then he is guilty. He has to sacrifice a healthy sheep ram to the Lord as a guilt-offering. ₁₆The person must pay the money for the sin that he has done against the holy things. He must also pay one 5th more and give it to the priest. The priest must then make atonement for the person with the ram which is the guilt-offering, and the Lord will forgive the person's sin.

₁₇If someone sins because he has not obeyed one of the commandments of the Lord, but he does not know that he has sinned, then he is guilty and he must pay. ₁₈He must bring a healthy sheep ram to the priest for the guilt-offering. The priest must say how big the ram must be and he must then make atonement for the sin that the person has done. He did not know that he was doing wrong, but he did it. The Lord will forgive him. ₁₉This is the guilt-offering for when someone is really guilty before the Lord.’