"5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9 And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”"
Numbers 5:5-10
We should also note the twofold emphasis, on confession and restitution. Confession is putting things right with God, restitution putting things right with one's fellows. Both are necessary, in the making things right, i.e. in making atonement. In this regard, we may observe that the Mosaic law is considerably in advance of our own. Restitution does not figure at all in our criminal law. If one's house is burgled, and valuables stolen, if caught the thief will receive a prison sentence, but we may never recover our lost property, and the court will not help us with compensation. We may take the criminal to the civil court and sue him for dam- ages, but the process is so cumbersome that it could take years for the case even to be heard.
It may be opportune at this point to add a word or two about confession, as a general guide. The Bible does not encourage indiscriminate confession (which can sometimes be un- healthy and morbid). Sins committed against God should be confessed to God, sins commit- ted against one's fellow confessed to him, and sins against the fellowship, confessed to the fellowship. Any marked crossing of these general boundaries is to be deprecated, since it is quite possible to become over-preoccupied with sins, especially other people’s. We should also remember that the peace of God will not come with mere confession, if it lies within a man's power to make restitution and he does not do so. Sometimes, alas, restitution is hardly possible, and this can be a matter of life-long regret. If I steal another man's goods, I can pay him back; but if I steal his good name, by vilifying him to others, this is something I may never be able to rectify. I may have done him permanent harm and hurt; I may have broken his heart. I can never make restitution there. Is not that a frightening thought?
Ah, give me, Lord, the tender heart That trembles at the approach of sin.