Leviticus 5:14-6:7

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'When any of you commit a trespass and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord,¹ you shall bring, as your guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, convertible into silver by the sanctuary shekel;² it is a guilt offering. And you shall make restitution for the holy thing in which you were remiss, and shall add one-fifth to it³ and give it to the priest. The priest shall make atonement on your behalf with the ram of the guilt offering, and you shall be forgiven.⁴

If any of you sin without knowing it, doing any of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done,⁵ you have incurred guilt, and are subject to punishment. You shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, or the equivalent, as a guilt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the error that you committed unintentionally, and you shall be forgiven. It is a guilt offering; you have incurred guilt before the Lord.'

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'When any of you sin and commit a trespass against the Lord by deceiving a neighbor in a matter of a deposit or a pledge, or by robbery, or if you have defrauded a neighbor, or have found something lost and lied about it⁶—if you swear falsely regarding any of the various things that one may do and sin thereby—when you have sinned and realize your guilt, and would restore what you took by robbery or by fraud or the deposit that was committed to you, or the lost thing that you found, or anything else about which you have sworn falsely, you shall repay the principal amount and shall add one-fifth to it.⁷ You shall pay it to its owner when you realize your guilt. And you shall bring to the priest, as your guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering.⁸ The priest shall make atonement on your behalf before the Lord, and you shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and incur guilt thereby.'

1 This verse seems to focus on violating the statutes in place around holy objects.

2 Difficult verse for me to understand. My Study Bible brings up the possibilities that it may mean that a certain payment could be made instead of a ram, or that the ram's value must match the converted value of the desecrated holy thing.

3 The first time an additional financial restitution is noted in addition to the payment of a sacrifice.

4 Though additional financial considerations are detailed here, the end result is the same: to get atonement and forgiveness from the priest.

5 This seems like an incredibly broad command. Does it mean to cover everything not covered by a specific command elsewhere? My Study Bible seems to assume that it only specifically referred to other potential violations of holy things, being in the context of the previous verse.

6 A number of things, all of which involve taking advantage of a neighbor financially.

7 Returning the thing is not enough, a penalty must be paid as well.

8 Confession of the sin, restoration of the thing, and paying the penalty may make it all right with the neighbor, but not with God – a sacrifice must still be made to gain atonement for the sin that was committed.


Take-home: The atonement actions to be taken in the cases of unintentionally desecrating a holy thing or intentionally financially hurting a neighbor are described. In these cases, a sacrifice, a restitution, and a penalty must all be paid to gain forgiveness. It is clear that after sins that hurt others, things must be made right both with those who were hurt and with God.