The guilt offering

5:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 5:15 “When a person commits a trespass and sins by straying unintentionally from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, then he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, for a guilt offering. 5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.” Unknown trespass 5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated (although he did not know it at the time, but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity 5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his error which he committed (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. 5:19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty before the Lord.” 6:1 (5:20) Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, 6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin – 6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, or the lost thing that he had found, 6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely. He must restore it in full and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty. 6:6 Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. 6:7 So the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven for whatever he has done to become guilty.” Sacrificial Instructions for the Priests: The Burnt Offering

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

This passage teaches that guilt before the Lord must be faced honestly. Some sins wrong holy things. Some sins wrong a neighbor. In both cases, the wrong must be made right, the loss must be restored, and a flawless ram must be offered so the priest can make atonement and forgiveness can be given.

Leviticus 5:14–6:7 continues the instructions for the guilt offering. The Lord speaks through Moses about sins that bring real guilt, even when the person did not know the wrong at first. If someone wrongly used something holy, he had to restore it and add one fifth. If someone deceived, stole, extorted, or lied about lost property, he had to return it in full and add one fifth. Only then did he bring a flawless ram as a guilt offering. The priest made atonement, and the person was forgiven. The passage shows that sin against a neighbor is also sin before the Lord, and that sacrifice does not replace justice but goes with restitution.

• Guilt before the Lord is real, even when the sin was not known at first.
• Wronging holy things and wronging a neighbor are both offenses before God.
• Restitution had to be complete, and one fifth was added.
• A flawless ram was required as the guilt offering.
• The priest made atonement, and forgiveness was given by the Lord’s appointed means.
• Sacrifice did not cancel justice; the wrong had to be made right.

• Do not ignore guilt when sin is later recognized.
• Restore what was taken, deceived, held back, or wrongly found.
• Add one fifth to the value when restitution is required in this passage.
• Bring the appointed guilt offering to the priest.
• Trust God’s provided way for atonement and forgiveness.
• Do not separate worship from honest treatment of others.

This passage belongs to the Mosaic covenant at Sinai, where Israel lived under God’s holy law with priests and sacrifices. It shows that God provided a way for guilt to be dealt with through atonement and restitution. In the wider Bible, this sacrificial pattern points forward to the need for final forgiveness and complete cleansing, later fulfilled in Christ, while keeping the original Leviticus setting in view.

God’s people should take sin seriously, especially when it harms others or touches what is holy. If we have taken, hidden, lied about, or failed to return something, we should put it right as far as we can. True repentance includes honesty, restitution when possible, and humble trust in God’s mercy. Worship and daily conduct must not be separated.

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