God told Moses to speak to the children of Israel about the soul that sins because of ignorance against any of His commandments by doing what they should not do.

If the person that sins is the anointed priest, bringing guilt on the people, then he should offer to the Lord for the sin, a young bull without blemish as a sin offering. He should take the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, and lay his hand on the bull’s head and kill it before the Lord. Then he should take some of the bull’s blood and take it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest should dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. He should put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense, before the Lord in the tabernacle of meeting. The remainder of the bull’s blood should be poured at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. He should remove from the bull all the fat as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails, both kidneys and the fat on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys should be removed. This is done in the same manner as with the bull sacrifice of the peace offering. The priest should burn them on the altar of the burnt offering. The whole bull – its hide and all its flesh, including the head and legs, the entrails and offal – should be taken outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes were poured out and burned on wood with fire.

If the whole congregation of Israel is guilty of sinning out of ignorance against any of the Lord’s commandments and it’s hidden from the eyes of the assembly, when the sin becomes known, the assembly should offer a young bull for the sin. The bull should be brought before the tabernacle of meeting. The elders of the congregation should lay their hands on the head of the bull and kill it before the Lord. The anointed priest should take some of the bull’s blood to the tabernacle of meeting. Then the priest should dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil. He should put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tabernacle of meeting. The remainder of the blood should be poured at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. The priest should take all the fat from the bull and burn it on the altar. He should do with the bull for the congregation’s sin, the same as he did with the sin offering for the priest. He should make atonement for them and they will be forgiven. The bull should be carried outside the camp and burned just like the first bull. This is a sin offering for the assembly.

When a ruler is guilty of sinning out of ignorance against any of the Lord’s commandments, or if his sin comes to his knowledge, he should take a male kid of the goats without blemish and offer it. He should lay his hand on the goat’s head and kill it at the place where they killed the burnt offering before the Lord. This is a sin offering. The priest should take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. The goat’s blood should be poured at the base of the altar of burnt offering. The priest should burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the sacrificial peace offering, making atonement for the ruler concerning his sin. The ruler will be forgiven for the sin.

If any of the common people is guilty of sinning in ignorance against the Lord’s commandments, or if his sin comes to his knowledge, then he should bring a female kid goat without blemish and offer it for his sin. He should lay his hand on the goat’s head and kill it at the place of the burnt offering. The priest should take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. The remaining blood should be poured at the base of the altar. The priest should remove all its fat just as it was done with the sacrificial peace offering. It should be burned as a sweet aroma to the Lord. The priest should make atonement for commoner and he will be forgiven.

If the common person brings a lamb as his sin offering, it should be a female without blemish. He should lay his hand on the lamb’s head and kill it as a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is killed. The priest should take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. The remaining blood would be poured at the base of the altar. The priest should remove all the fat just as the lamb’s fat is removed from the sacrificial peace offering. Then he should burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord. The priest should make atonement for him and his sin will be forgiven.

Many Bible translations use the word “unintentionally” instead of “ignorance”. According to bibletools.org, unintentionally does not mean unknowingly, but means “wander”, “err”, “make a mistake” and “go astray”. “The sin is done without a deep understanding of the seriousness of the sin involved. In other words, regarding this sin, the person did not know any better.”

When I read about all of these different sacrifices, all I can say is “Thank God for Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice!”

Our next stop is Leviticus 5.

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