Leviticus 5 – The Guilt Offering: Confession, Restitution, and Mercy
Leviticus 5 outlines the guilt (trespass) offering—a sacrifice given when someone sinned through omission, deception, or misuse of sacred things. It emphasizes confession, responsibility, and restoring what was lost, revealing a God who desires both justice and mercy.
Restoring What Was Broken
Leviticus 5 continues God’s teaching on sin—this time focusing on guilt, especially when damage is done to others or to the things of God. The guilt offering required more than sacrifice—it demanded honest confession and full restitution. God desires not just repentance, but restoration.
✔ Guilt offerings covered sins of silence, touching unclean things, and rash oaths.
✔ Confession was required.
✔ Restitution + a 20% penalty was made when damage occurred.
✔ Even the poor could bring a smaller offering—and God still forgave.
📖 Key Verse: “He shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing.” – Leviticus 5:5
🔎 Healing begins with honesty.
Leviticus Chapter 5 Overview
Leviticus 5:1–6 – Sins of Omission and Everyday Guilt
📖 Leviticus 5:1 – “If a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness… if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.”
🔎 Guilt by silence:
🔹 Failing to speak when truth or justice is needed is itself sin.
🔹 God holds us accountable for what we withhold, not just what we commit.
📖 Leviticus 5:2 – “Or if a soul touch any unclean thing…”
🔎 Ritual impurity, though unintentional, still required atonement.
🔎 Foolish words—spoken hastily—carried guilt if not corrected.
📖 Leviticus 5:5 – “And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess…”
➡️ Faith Insight: True repentance isn’t just feeling bad—it’s speaking truthfully, owning our fault, and seeking cleansing.
Leviticus 5:7–13 – Mercy for the Poor
📖 Leviticus 5:7 – “If he be not able to bring a lamb… then he shall bring two turtledoves.”
🔎 God’s mercy makes a way:
🔹 Sacrifice was never a privilege of the wealthy—God allowed smaller offerings without reducing His grace.
🔹 Even fine flour was accepted if birds were unaffordable.
📖 Leviticus 5:10,13 – “The priest shall make an atonement for him… and it shall be forgiven him.”
➡️ Spiritual Insight: Forgiveness is not about how much we bring—it’s about who we trust and the heart with which we come.
Leviticus 5:14–19 – Restitution for Sacred Wrongs
📖 Leviticus 5:15 – “If a soul commit a trespass… in the holy things of the Lord…”
🔎 Sin against the sacred:
🔹 Misusing sacred offerings, spaces, or responsibilities required a ram without blemish, plus restitution + 20%.
🔹 Even unintentional misuse demanded restoration—God’s holy things were not to be treated lightly.
📖 Leviticus 5:17–19 – Even when unaware at the time, guilt must be addressed.
➡️ Faith Insight: We must honor what is holy. When sacred things are misused—by ignorance or neglect—God provides a way back, but He still requires we make it right.
Leviticus Chapter 5 - Deeper Study
Overview: Guilt, Grace, and Getting Right
🔹 Theme: Guilt must be confessed and addressed through sacrifice and restoration.
🔹 Focus: Justice paired with mercy—truth told, wrongs righted.
🔹 Outcome: God forgives when confession and restitution meet His provision.
Living the Guilt Offering Today
🔎 The guilt offering reveals God’s heart—not just to forgive, but to rebuild what sin has broken.
🔹 When we’ve harmed someone, we must confess it and make it right (Matthew 5:23–24).
🔹 When we’ve neglected what belongs to God—our time, gifts, or worship—we return with humility and restoration.
🔹 When we speak rashly or stay silent when truth is needed, we must own it and step forward in courage.
📖 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” – Proverbs 28:13
➡️ Modern Application: God still calls us to integrity. Real repentance doesn’t just say “I’m sorry”—it seeks to restore what’s been lost, and walk humbly in grace.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Silence in the face of truth is sin.
🔑 Confession is not optional—it’s the path to cleansing.
🔑 God makes room for the poor in His mercy.
🔑 Restitution reflects the seriousness of wrongdoing and the grace of restoration.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Jesus is our guilt offering (Isaiah 53:10)—He paid for our sin and restored what we damaged.
🔮 The required restitution reflects the fruit of repentance (Luke 19:8–10).
🔮 The poor being accepted with smaller offerings points to salvation being available to all who believe (Romans 10:12–13).
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Guilt Offering vs. Sin Offering – The guilt offering emphasized damage and restoration, while the sin offering focused on defilement and purification.
📜 Economic Inclusion – No one was excluded from forgiveness due to poverty—God made access for all.
📜 Sacred Responsibility – The people were expected to understand, honor, and make right what pertained to God’s holy things.
Final Reflection: Restoring the Breach
Leviticus 5 teaches that forgiveness is not a cover-up—it’s a cleanup. God not only forgives sin, but invites us into honest confession and active restoration. This is what righteousness looks like: truth, grace, and a willing heart to make things right.
📌 Have you confessed what you’ve been hiding?
📌 Is there someone you’ve wronged that God is calling you to make peace with?
📌 Have you neglected what belongs to God—time, honor, worship?
🚀 Don’t just bring the offering—bring the truth. God is ready to restore.
Lev 5:1 And 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.
Lev 5:2 Or 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.
Lev 5:3 Or 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.
Lev 5:4 Or 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.
Lev 5:5 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:
Lev 5:6 And 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.
Lev 5:7 And 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.
Lev 5:8 And 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:
Lev 5:9 And 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.
Lev 5:10 And 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.
Lev 5:11 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.
Lev 5:12 Then 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.
Lev 5:13 And 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.
Laws for Guilt Offerings
Lev 5:14 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 5:15 If 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:
Lev 5:16 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.
Lev 5:17 And 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.
Lev 5:18 And 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.
Lev 5:19 It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.
Date Written
1445–1405 BC
Written By
Moses
Language
Hebrew
Verses
19