The Law · Chapter 5 of 27

Leviticus 5

The law of the sin offering continues with specific cases: failing to testify, touching something unclean, or making a rash oath. When guilty, a person must confess and bring an offering. God graciously grades it by means: a lamb or goat, or two birds, or even a little flour for the poor. A related trespass offering covers wrongs against holy things, adding restitution with a fifth part more.

What happens in Leviticus 5

Several everyday cases of guilt are named: a witness who stays silent when he should speak, a person who unknowingly touches something unclean, or one who blurts out a rash oath. When the guilt becomes known, the person must confess the specific sin and bring an offering. Then comes a striking mercy: the sacrifice is scaled to what the offender can afford. Those who can bring a female lamb or goat; those who cannot may bring two turtledoves or pigeons; and the truly poor may bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, with the priest still making atonement.

The chapter then turns to the trespass, or guilt, offering for unintentional wrongs against the LORD's holy things. Here the offender brings a ram and also makes restitution, repaying the value plus an added fifth, so that both God and the injured party are made whole again.

Leviticus 5 in context

Chapter 5 continues the sin offering and introduces the trespass, or guilt, offering. Where chapter 4 sorted offerings by the offender's rank, this chapter sorts them by his means and by the nature of the wrong.

It reflects a community living close to God's holiness, where speech, contact, and vows all mattered, and where confession and, when possible, restitution accompanied the sacrifice.

Main themes of Leviticus 5

Confession before sacrificeBefore bringing the offering, the guilty person must confess the specific sin. Atonement was never merely mechanical; it began with honest acknowledgment. The ritual gave shape to repentance, joining the plain admission of wrong to the God given means of cleansing.

Grace scaled to the poorGod grades the offering by ability to pay, from a lamb down to a handful of flour, so that no one is shut out of forgiveness by poverty. The same atonement is promised whether the gift is costly or cheap. Mercy is not sold to the highest bidder.

Restitution with the wrongThe trespass offering pairs sacrifice with repayment, restoring the value harmed and adding a fifth. Being right with God included making right with others. Worship did not float above real damage; it required repairing what sin had actually broken.

This is part of the Law, the foundation of the whole story: creation, covenant, and a God who binds Himself to a people. As you read, watch for God's character and His promises, which all lead toward Christ.

Leviticus 5 (KJV)

1And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. 2Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty. 3Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. 4Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. 5And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: 6And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin. 7And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder: 9And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering. 10And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. 11But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering. 12Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering. 13And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest’s, as a meat offering. 14And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 15If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: 16And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. 17And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 18And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. 19It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.

Verses to carry from Leviticus 5

“And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:”Leviticus 5:5

“But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering.”Leviticus 5:11

“And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.”Leviticus 5:16

Christian typology

How Leviticus 5 points to Jesus

This chapter's mercy, an offering the poorest could afford, meets us again in Jesus, whose own family was too poor to bring a lamb. The provision for a tenth of an ephah of flour, and the pair of birds, shows a God who makes forgiveness reachable by the humblest hands. The insistence on confession before atonement is echoed in the promise that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us.

And the guilt offering's demand for restitution finds its answer in the one who restored what we had taken, not by adding a fifth but by giving all, repaying a debt we never could. These are thematic and typological connections; the chapter itself names no messiah. Yet its graded grace and its call to confess prepare the heart for the gospel.

Questions about Leviticus 5

Why does Leviticus 5 allow different offerings for rich and poor?

The chapter grades the sin offering by what a person can afford, from a lamb or goat, to two birds, to a mere tenth of an ephah of flour. God did not want poverty to bar anyone from forgiveness, so the same atonement was promised regardless of the gift's cost. It reveals a God whose mercy is not for sale, reaching the poorest worshipper as fully as the wealthiest.

What is the difference between the sin offering and the trespass offering?

The sin offering mainly cleansed the defilement that sin brought on the worshipper and the sanctuary. The trespass, or guilt, offering addressed specific wrongs, especially against the LORD's holy things or a neighbor's property, and it uniquely required restitution: repaying the value harmed plus an added fifth. So the trespass offering joined sacrifice to repair, insisting that being right with God included making right with those one had wronged.

Reflection

Leviticus 5 refuses to let worship stay abstract. It asks us to name the sin out loud, to make right what we have damaged, and it assures the poorest that forgiveness is still within reach. Grace here is honest and practical: confess, restore, and come, for the way to God is open even to empty hands.

A prayer from Leviticus 5

Lord, teach me to confess plainly what I have done, to repair the harm I have caused, and to come with whatever is in my hands. Thank You that Your mercy is not priced beyond the poor. Amen.

Continue the thread← Leviticus 4 Leviticus 6 →All of Leviticus Who is Jesus?The Kingdom of God Begin with Jesus

← Leviticus 4 Leviticus 6 →

Read the whole Bible with the family

Open it in the app, study it live with someone, and let it lead you to Christ.

Open the Bible Read it together See what God is doing

When you need a wordVerses for gratitude Verses for healing Verses for comfort All of Leviticus