Daily Bread

The Guilt Offering

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses: ¹⁵ “When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning unintentionally^(A) in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things, they are to bring to the Lord as a penalty^(B) a ram^(C) from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.^[a](D) It is a guilt offering.^{(E) 16} They must make restitution^(F) for what they have failed to do in regard to the holy things, pay an additional penalty of a fifth of its value^(G) and give it all to the priest. The priest will make atonement for them with the ram as a guilt offering, and they will be forgiven.

¹⁷ “If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though they do not know it,^(H) they are guilty and will be held responsible.^{(I) 18} They are to bring to the priest as a guilt offering^(J) a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the wrong they have committed unintentionally, and they will be forgiven.^{(K) 19} It is a guilt offering; they have been guilty of^[b] wrongdoing against the Lord.”^(L)

6 ^[c]The Lord said to Moses: ² “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord^(M) by deceiving a neighbor^(N) about something entrusted to them or left in their care^(O) or about something stolen, or if they cheat^(P) their neighbor, ³ or if they find lost property and lie about it,^(Q) or if they swear falsely^(R) about any such sin that people may commit— ⁴ when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return^(S) what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, ⁵ or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution^(T) in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering.^{(U) 6} And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, their guilt offering,^(V) a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.^{(W) 7} In this way the priest will make atonement^(X) for them before the Lord, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.”