Leviticus 16

1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD.

After the two sons of Aaron died because they burned incense to Yahweh [in a manner that was contrary to what Yahweh commanded], Yahweh spoke to Moses/me.

2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

He said to him/me, “Warn your [older] brother Aaron that he must not enter the Very Holy Place inside the curtain that is in the Sacred Tent whenever he wants to, because the cover of the sacred chest is there. That is the place where the priest (makes atonement for/requests me to forgive) sins. I am present in the cloud that is over the cover of the sacred chest. If Aaron goes in that room when it is not the proper time, he will die!

3 This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

“When Aaron enters the Sacred Tent area, he must bring a bull that [will be killed] to become an offering/sacrifice for sins, and a ram [to be killed] to be an offering that will be completely burned [on the altar].

4 He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them.

Then he must bathe his whole body, and put on the linen underwear/undershorts and the linen gown. He must tie the linen sash/waistbands around his waist and wrap the turban around his head. Those are his sacred garments.

5 And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

The Israeli people must then bring to him two male goats [to be killed] as an offering/sacrifice for sin, and a ram to be [killed and] burned completely [on the altar].

6 Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.

“Aaron must offer the bull [to me] to be a sacrifice in order that (I will forgive his sins and the sins of his family/his sins and the sins of his family will be forgiven).

7 Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then he must bring the two male goats to me at the entrance to the Sacred Tent.

8 After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat,

He must (cast lots/throw down stones that have been marked) to determine which goat will be [sacrificed] to me, and which will be the goat that will be set free.

9 he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.

Aaron must bring to me the goat that was chosen to be sacrificed. It will be an offering for the people’s sins.

10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

Aaron must also bring to me the other goat, but it is not to be killed. It will be freed while it is still alive. As a result of Aaron sending it into the desert, the people’s sins will be forgiven.

11 When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering.

“Then Aaron must bring the young bull to me, to be an offering/sacrifice for himself and for his family. He must slaughter that bull to be an offering for their sins, [and he must drain the blood into a basin].

12 Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.

Then he must take some burning coals from the [bronze] altar and put them in the incense burner. Then he must fill his hands with fragrant finely-ground incense. Then he must take the incense and the incense burner inside the curtain into the Very Holy Place [of the Sacred Tent].

13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.

There he must put the incense on the burning coals, with the result that a cloud of burning incense will rise up over the lid of the sacred chest. If he obeys these instructions, he will not die [like Korah’s two sons did because of offering incense incorrectly] (OR, [because of being in God’s presence]).

14 And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.

Then he must dip his finger into [the basin] and sprinkle some blood on the lid of the sacred chest, and also sprinkle some blood seven times against the front of the chest.

15 Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.

[“Aaron must then go outside the Sacred Tent] and slaughter the goat to be an offering for the sins of the people. Then he must bring its blood into the Very Holy Place behind the curtain. There he must sprinkle [some of] that blood on the lid of the sacred chest and against the front of the chest, like he did with the bull’s blood.

16 So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities.

By doing that, he will purify the Very Holy Place. And he must sprinkle more of the blood on the Sacred Tent, because the tent is in the midst of the camp of the Israeli people who have become unacceptable to me [because of their sins].

17 No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.

When Aaron goes into the Very Holy Place [in the Sacred Tent] to purify it, no one else is permitted to enter [the other part of] the Sacred Tent. Only after Aaron has performed rituals to enable me to forgive him and his family, and all the Israeli people, is any priest permitted to enter the Sacred Tent.

18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.

“Then Aaron must go outside the tent to purify my altar. He must do this by smearing some of the blood from the bull and some of the blood from the goat on each of the projections at the corners of the altar.

19 He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

Then Aaron must dip his finger into the [basin of] blood and sprinkle some of the blood over the altar seven times. By doing that, he will cleanse it from being unholy [because of the sins] of the Israeli people, and it will become holy again.

20 When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat.

“When Aaron has finished purifying the Very Holy Place [inside the Sacred Tent] and all of the Sacred Tent and the altar, he must bring the goat that was chosen to be set free.

21 Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.

He must put both of his hands on the head of the goat and confess all the sins [DOU] of the Israeli people. By doing that, he will put [the guilt of] their sins on the head of the goat. Then he must give the goat to a man who is chosen, and that man will send the goat out into the desert.

22 The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.

[It is as though] the goat will carry away into the desert [the guilt for] the sins of all the people.

23 Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.

“When Aaron approaches the Sacred Tent, he must take off the linen clothes that he wore when he [previously] entered the Very Holy Place, and he must leave those clothes there.

24 He is to bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people.

Then he must bathe in a sacred place, put on his regular/ordinary clothes, and sacrifice the animals that will be burned completely on the altar for his own sins and for the sins of the Israeli people. By doing that he will enable me to forgive him and them.

25 He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

He must also burn on the altar all the fat of the bull and the goat that were sacrificed.

26 The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

“The man who was chosen to send the other goat into the desert and free it there must afterwards wash his clothes and bathe. Then he may return to the camp.

27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung must be burned up.

The carcasses of the bull and the goat that were slaughtered to be an offering/sacrifice for the people’s sins, whose blood was taken inside the Very Holy Place to enable Yahweh to forgive the Israeli people, must be carried outside the camp and burned. The hides/skins of the animals, the inner organs, and the dung must also be burned.

28 The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.

The man who burns those things must then wash his clothes and bathe before he returns to the camp.

29 This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—

“On (October/the month after the dry season ends), on the day that I have appointed, you all must (fast/abstain from eating food) and not do any work. This is a rule/law that will never end. It must be obeyed by you people who have been Israelis all your lives, and also by foreigners who are living among you.

30 because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

On that day, Aaron will perform rituals to enable me to forgive you all, and then I will cleanse/free you all from [the guilt of] all your sins and you will become acceptable to me.

31 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.

That will be a day for you to rest and not do any work, like the Sabbath days, and you must (fast/abstain from eating food) all that day. That is a permanent command/law for you all to obey.

32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments

In future years, [after Aaron has died], this ritual/ceremony to enable me to forgive you all [DOU] will be performed by the Supreme Priest who is anointed [with olive oil] and appointed to serve instead of his ancestor Aaron. He must put on the sacred clothes made of linen

33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly.

and offer sacrifices to purify the Very Holy Place, all of the Sacred Tent, the altar, the priests, and all the Israel people [like Aaron did].

34 This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.

This will be a permanent command/law for you to obey once every year, to enable me to forgive you Israeli people for the sins that you have committed.” Moses/I obeyed all those instructions/commands that Yahweh had given to him/me.