Old/New Testament
Chapter 4[a]
Sin Offerings.[b] 1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say: If anyone unknowingly sins against one of the commandments of the Lord, doing one of the things he was not supposed to do,
For an Anointed Priest. 3 “if it be an anointed priest who has sinned, thus bringing guilt upon the people, let him offer up a young bull without defect as a sin offering to the Lord. 4 He shall bring the young bull before the Lord at the entrance to the meeting tent, and will lay his hand on the head of the young bull and slay it before the Lord. 5 The priest who has been anointed shall take the blood of the young bull and carry it into the meeting tent. 6 He will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the sanctuary veil. 7 The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense which is before the Lord in the meeting tent. He shall pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offerings which is at the entrance to the meeting tent. 8 He shall take all of the fat that is around the entrails and all the fat that is above, 9 the two kidneys and their fat, the fat around the loins, and the lobe of the liver that he will detach along with the kidneys. 10 He shall do just as he does with the ox of the sacrifice of a peace offering. He shall burn it all upon the altar of burnt offerings. 11 But as to the skin of the young bull, the meat with its head, the entrails, the legs and the dung, 12 that is, the young bull, he shall carry it outside of the camp to a pure place,[c] where they throw the ashes. He shall burn it upon a wood fire, in the place where they throw the ashes.
13 For the Whole Assembly.“If the whole assembly of Israel unknowingly commits a sin, for the thing was not clear to them, and they do one of the things that they were commanded by the Lord not to do and they incur guilt, 14 when they realize their sin, the assembly shall offer as a sin offering a young bull and bring it in front of the meeting tent. 15 The elders of the community shall lay their hands on the head of the young bull and they shall slay it before the Lord. 16 The priest who has been anointed shall take the blood of the young bull inside of the tent of meeting. 17 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil. 18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense which is before the Lord in the meeting tent. He will pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offerings which is at the entrance to the meeting tent. 19 He shall take all of its fat and burn it on the altar. 20 He shall perform the same ceremony with this young bull as with the offering of a sin offering: all done the same way. The priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.[d] 21 Then he shall carry the young bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first young bull. It is a sin offering for the assembly.
22 For a Leader.“When a leader has sinned, unknowingly doing any one of the things that the Lord God has commanded not to do, and he is guilty, 23 when he comes to know of the sin that he has committed, he shall bring as an offering a kid he-goat without defect. 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and slay it in the place where they slay burnt offerings before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 25 The priest shall take the blood of the sin offering with his finger and he shall put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. He shall pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offerings. 26 He shall then burn every fat part on the altar like the fat of a peace offering. The priest shall make atonement for his sin and he shall be forgiven.
27 For the Common People.“If any of the common people has unknowingly sinned, doing any one of the things that the Lord has commanded them not to do, and he is guilty, 28 when he comes to know of the sin that he has committed, he shall bring a she-goat as an offering, without defect, for the sin that he has committed. 29 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay it in the place of burnt offerings. 30 The priest shall take a bit of its blood with his finger and place it on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. He shall then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 He shall take out all of the fat parts, as one takes out all of the fat parts of a peace offering, and the priest shall burn them on the altar, a pleasing fragrance in honor of the Lord. The priest will make atonement for him and he shall be forgiven. 32 If he brings a lamb as a sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect. 33 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and he shall slay it in the place of burnt offerings. 34 The priest shall take a bit of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and he shall place it on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings. He shall then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 35 He shall take out all of the fat parts, as one takes out the fat parts of a lamb in a peace offering, and he shall burn them on the altar upon the burnt offerings in honor of the Lord. The priest shall make atonement for him and the sin that he committed and he shall be forgiven.
Chapter 5
Other Ways to Atone. 1 “If anyone sins in that he heard a call to testify and he is a witness, having seen or heard of the matter, and he does not make it known, then he shall bear his guilt. 2 Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it be the carcass of an unclean animal or the carcass of unclean cattle or the carcass of any unclean creeping thing, even if he did not know it, he shall be unclean and be held guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness,[e] of whatever type of uncleanness one might touch and become unclean, and he did not know it, when he comes to know of it he shall be guilty. 4 Or if someone rashly lets an oath slip from his lips, to do evil or to do good, in anything by which a person who swears a rash oath, and he does not realize it, when he comes to know it, he shall be guilty for any one of these thing s. 5 Therefore, when someone is guilty of any one of these things, he shall confess the sin he has committed. 6 He shall bring a guilt offering to the Lord for the sin that he has committed: a female goat or sheep from the flock as a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for him and for his sin.
7 “If someone cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring as his guilt offering to the Lord two turtledoves or two pigeons for the sin that he has committed. One will be for a sin offering and the other will be a burnt offering. 8 He shall bring them to the priest who shall offer the first for the sin offering. He will wring its head from its neck, but he will not rip it apart. 9 He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the sides of the altar, while the rest he shall pour out at the base of the altar. This is a sin offering. 10 The other bird will be offered as a burnt offering, following the normal procedure. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, for the sin he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
11 “But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, let him bring a tenth of an ephah[f] of fine flour for his sin offering, as the offering for the sin he has committed. He shall not put any oil or incense upon it, for it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring the flour to the priest who will take a handful of it as a memorial portion, burning it upon the altar, on the burnt offerings to the Lord. It is a sin offering. 13 Thus the priest shall make atonement for the sin he has committed in any one of these things and he shall be forgiven. The rest of the offering will be for the priest, as with the cereal offering.”
14 Guilt Offerings.[g] And the Lord said to Moses, 15 “If anyone commits a trespass against God and unknowingly sins against any of the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord. He shall bring a ram from the flock, without defect, for a guilt offering. It is to be worth a certain number of shekels of silver according to the measure of the shekel of the sanctuary. 16 He shall make amends for having sinned against the holy thing, and he shall add a fifth to its value and give it to the priest. The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven. 17 When someone sins and does any of the things that the Lord has forbidden, even if he does not realize he did it, he has still committed an offense and must bear his guilt. 18 He shall bring a ram without defect from the flock that is the value of the price of a guilt offering. The priest shall make atonement for the sin which he unknowingly committed and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering, for he was certainly guilty before the Lord.”
29 The Coming of the Son of Man.[a]“Immediately after the distress of those days,
‘the sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give forth its light;
the stars will fall from the sky
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send forth his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Be Vigilant in Expectation of the End[b]
32 The Parable of the Fig Tree.[c]“Learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things take place, know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
36 The Day and Hour Unknown.[d]“As for the exact day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. 39 They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and swept them all away.
“That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other will be left. 42 Therefore, keep watch, for you do not know the day when your Lord is coming.
43 The Parable of the Owner of the House.[e]“But keep this in mind: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore, you must also be prepared, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45 The Parable of the Faithful Servant.[f]“Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give its members their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant if his master finds him doing so when he returns home. 47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
48 “But if that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is detained,’ 49 and he proceeds to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. 51 He will punish him and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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