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.

Yahweh spoke to Moses—this was after the death of Aaron's two sons, when they had gone near to Yahweh and then died.

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.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron your brother and tell him not to come at just any time into the most holy place inside the curtain, before the atonement lid that is on the ark. If he does, he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement lid.

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.

So here is how Aaron must come into the most holy place. He must enter with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering.

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.

He must put on the holy linen tunic, and he must put the linen undergarments on himself, and he must wear the linen sash and linen turban. These are the holy garments. He must bathe his body in water and then dress himself with these clothes.

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

He must take from the assembly of the people of Israel two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

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

Then Aaron must present the bull as the sin offering, which will be for himself, to make atonement for himself and his family.

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 take the two goats and set them before Yahweh at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

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

Then Aaron must cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

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

Aaron must then present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer that goat as a sin offering.

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.

But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat must be brought alive before Yahweh, to make atonement by sending him away as a scapegoat into the wilderness.

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 present the bull for the sin offering, which will be for himself. He must make atonement for himself and for his family, so he must kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.

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.

Aaron must take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, with his hands full of finely ground sweet incense, and bring these things inside the curtain.

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 fire before Yahweh so that the cloud from the incense may cover the atonement lid over the covenant decrees. He must do this so he will not die.

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 take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the atonement lid. He must sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times before the atonement lid.

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.

Then he must kill the goat for the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain. There he must do with the blood as he did with the blood of the bull: He must sprinkle it on the atonement lid and then before the atonement lid.

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.

He must make atonement for the holy place because of the unclean actions of the people of Israel, and because of their rebellion and all their sins. He must also do this for the tent of meeting, where Yahweh lives among them, in the presence of their unclean actions.

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.

No one must be in the tent of meeting when Aaron enters it to make atonement in the most holy place, and until he comes out and has finished making atonement for himself and for his family, and for all the assembly of Israel.

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.

He must go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and he must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put it on the horns of the altar all around.

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.

He must sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and set it apart to Yahweh, away from the unclean actions of the people of Israel.

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 he has finished atoning for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he must present the live goat.

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.

Aaron must lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over him all the wickedness of the people of Israel, all their rebellion, and all their sins. Then he must put that sinfulness on the head of the goat and send the goat away in the care of a man who is ready to lead the goat into the wilderness.

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

The goat must carry on himself all the people's wickedness to a solitary place. There in the wilderness, the man must let the goat go free.

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.

Then Aaron must go back into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments that he had put on before going into the most holy place, and he must leave those garments 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.

He must bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his normal garments; then he must go out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering for the people, and in this way make atonement for himself and for the people.

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

He must burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

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 let the scapegoat go free must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that, he may come back into 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 bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, must be carried outside the camp. There they must burn their hides, flesh, and dung.

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 parts must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that, he may come back into 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—

It will always be a statute for you that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work, whether the native born or a foreigner who is 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.

This is because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you from all your sins so you will be clean before Yahweh.

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

It is a solemn Sabbath of rest for you, and you must humble yourselves and do no work. This will always be a statute among you.

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

The high priest, the one who will be anointed and ordained to be high priest in his father's place, he must make this atonement and put on the linen garments, that is, the holy garments.

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.

He must make atonement for the most holy place; he must make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he must make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

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 always be a statute for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel because of all their sins, once in every year.” This was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.