Leviticus 4:1

Contemporary English Version

The Lord told Moses

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD spoke to Moshe, saying,

King James Version
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Lexham English Bible
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

New Century Version
The Lord said to Moses,

New English Translation
Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

Amplified Bible
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Moreouer the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Complete Jewish Bible
(v) Adonai said to Moshe,

Darby Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord spoke to Moses and said,

English Standard Version
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

George Lamsa Translation
AND the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

Good News Translation
The Lord commanded Moses

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

Literal Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the LORDE spake vnto Moses, & sayde:

American Standard Version
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said to Moses,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde spake vnto Moyses, saying:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

English Revised Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Moses,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord spak to Moises, and seide, Speke thou to the sones of Israel,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Update Bible Version
And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

World English Bible
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

New King James Version
Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

New Living Translation
Then the Lord said to Moses,

New Life Bible
The Lord said to Moses,

New Revised Standard
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Yahweh spake, unto Moses, saying:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Revised Standard Version
And the LORD said to Moses,

THE MESSAGE
God spoke to Moses: "Tell the Israelites, When a person sins unintentionally by straying from any of God 's commands, breaking what must not be broken, if it's the anointed priest who sins and so brings guilt on the people, he is to bring a bull without defect to God as an Absolution-Offering for the sin he has committed. Have him bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in the presence of God , lay his hand on the bull's head, and slaughter the bull before God . He is then to take some of the bull's blood, bring it into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God , before the curtain of the Sanctuary. He is to smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar of Fragrant Incense before God which is in the Tent of Meeting. He is to pour the rest of the bull's blood out at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the Absolution-Offering, the fat which covers and is connected to the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is around them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he takes out along with the kidneys—the same procedure as when the fat is removed from the bull of the Peace-Offering. Finally, he is to burn all this on the Altar of Burnt Offering. Everything else—the bull's hide, meat, head, legs, organs, and guts—he is to take outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are dumped and is to burn it on a wood fire.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Contextual Overview

¹ The Lord told Moses ² to say to the community of Israel: Offer a sacrifice to ask forgiveness when you sin by accidentally doing something I have told you not to do. ³ The Lord said: When the high priest sins, he makes everyone else guilty too. And so, he must sacrifice a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. ⁴ The priest will lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, lay his hand on its head, and kill it there. ⁵ He will take a bowl of the blood inside the tent, ⁶ dip a finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred chest behind the curtain. ⁷ Then, in my presence, he will smear some of the blood on each of the four corners of the incense altar, before pouring out the rest at the foot of the bronze altar near the entrance to the tent. ⁸The priest will remove the fat from the bull, just as he does when he sacrifices a bull to ask my blessing. This includes the fat on the insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. He will then send it all up in smoke. ¹¹The skin and flesh of the bull, together with its legs, insides, and the food still in its stomach, are to be taken outside the camp and burned on a wood fire near the ash heap.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Leviticus 4:13 - through ignorance Leviticus 7:37 - sin

Cross-References

Genesis 3:15
You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel."

Genesis 4:25
Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, "God has given us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain."

Genesis 5:29
Lamech said, "I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the Lord has put under a curse."

Numbers 31:17
You must put to death every boy and all the women who have ever had sex.

1 John 3:12
Don't be like Cain, who belonged to the devil and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? He did it because his brother was good, and he was evil.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying. Continued to speak to him, or, after some pause made, proceeded to speak to him, and give things in commandment concerning the sin offering, what it should be, and for whom, as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake ... Israel - This formula is the commencement of a distinct section of the Law.

Leviticus 4:2

If a soul shall sin - The sin-offering was a new thing, instituted by the Law. The older kinds of sacrifice Leviticus 2:1; Leviticus 3:1 when offered by individuals were purely voluntary: no special occasions were prescribed. But it was plainly commanded that he who was conscious that he had committed a sin should bring his sin-offering. In the abridged rules for sin-offerings in Numbers 15:22-31, the kind of sin for which sin-offerings were accepted is contrasted with that which cut off the perpetrator from among his people (compare Leviticus 4:22 with Leviticus 4:30). The two classes are distinguished in the language of our Bible as sin through ignorance and presumptuous sin. The distinction is clearly recognized in Psalms 19:12-13 and Hebrews 10:26-27. It seems evident that the classification thus indicated refers immediately to the relation of the conscience to God, not to outward practices, nor, immediately, to outward actions.

The presumptuous sinner, literally he who sinned “with a high hand,” might or might not have committed such a crime as to incur punishment from the civil law: it was enough that he had with deliberate purpose rebelled against God (see Proverbs 2:13-15), and ipso facto was “cut off from among his people” and alienated from the divine covenant (see Leviticus 7:20; Exodus 31:14; compare Matthew 12:31; 1 John 5:16). But the other kind of sin, that for which the sin-offering was appointed, was of a more complicated nature. It appears to have included the entire range of “sins, negligences and ignorances” for which we are accustomed to ask forgiveness. sin-offerings were required not only when the conscience accused the offender of having yielded to temptation, but sometimes for what were breaches of the Law committed strictly in ignorance Leviticus 4:13, Leviticus 4:23, Leviticus 4:28; Leviticus 5:17, and sometimes on account of ceremonial pollution. They are thus to be regarded as protests against everything which is opposed to the holiness and purity of the divine Law. They were, in short, to be offered by the worshipper as a relief to the conscience whenever he felt the need of atonement.

Sin through ignorance - Sin through error; that is, through straying from the right way. See Psalms 119:67; Ecclesiastes 5:6.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER IV

The law concerning the sin-offering for transgressions committed

through ignorance, 1, 2.

For the priest thus sinning, 3-12.

For the sins of ignorance of the whole congregation, 13-21.

For the sins of ignorance of a ruler, 22-26.

For the sins of ignorance of any of the common people, 27-35.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV.