Chapter 5

Here is a sin men commit; a man hears the call that puts him under oath, and can bear witness of what he has seen or known, yet witness he bears none; he must pay the penalty.

A man may have touched what has been killed by a wild beast or has fallen dead, or the carcase of a reptile,2 or some other unclean thing, unaware of his defilement at the time; yet he has incurred guilt by the fault.

Or he has touched some defilement of the human body; there are many such; he may be unaware of it till afterwards, but he has incurred guilt.

Or he has taken an oath, pronounced with the lips, to do this or that;3 he has given his pledged word, and then forgotten that he gave it, but remembers it afterwards.

For all such faults as these a man must do penance,

offering up a ewe-lamb or a she-goat from his flock; so the priest will make intercession to have his fault pardoned.

If he has no beast to give, he must offer two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons to the Lord instead, one in amends for his fault, and the other as a burnt-sacrifice.

The priest, when these are brought to him, will offer the first as a transgression-victim, bending its head right back to the wings, but so that it is still attached to the neck, not completely severed,

and sprinkling some of its blood on the side of the altar; the rest he will allow to drip down at the altar’s foot, to make amends for the transgression.

Of the other he will make a burnt-sacrifice, in the customary way, and, at the priest’s intercession, the man will be pardoned.

If he cannot even lay his hand on two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, the transgression-offering must be a tenth of a bushel of flour; but he will not mix oil with it, or lay incense on it; this is an offering for transgression.

He will hand it to the priest, who will take a handful and burn it on the altar, as a token-sacrifice for the man who brought it,

praying and making atonement on his behalf; the rest of it the priest will keep as his own offering.

And this, too, was a commandment which the Lord gave Moses:

If anyone commits a fault by inadvertence, defrauding the Lord of his due over things consecrated, he must make amends for his guilt by offering a ram without blemish out of his flock, such a ram as is worth two silver pieces by sanctuary reckoning.

He must also make restitution of the sum that is lacking, and a fifth part of it besides, handing this to the priest, who will make intercession for him when he offers up the ram, and win him pardon.

Or, if the fault of inadvertence lies only in disobeying the law, it is enough that, when he becomes aware of his guilt,

he should bring the priest a ram without blemish out of his flock, of greater or less worth as the fault demands. And the priest shall intercede for the unwitting transgressor, winning him pardon

because he did the Lord a wrong inadvertently.