Leviticus 16

1 And the Lord said to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they took in strange fire before the Lord and death overtook them;

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron's sons when they went into the Lord's presence.

2 The Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, your brother, that he may not come at all times into the holy place inside the veil, before the cover which is on the ark, for fear that death may overtake him; for I will be seen in the cloud on the cover of the ark.

The Lord told Moses: “Warn your brother Aaron not to come into the Most Holy Place whenever he wants, otherwise he'll die. For that's where I appear in the cloud above the atonement cover of the Ark, behind the veil.

3 Let Aaron come into the holy place in this way: with an ox for a sin-offering and a male sheep for a burned offering.

These are the instructions as to how Aaron is to enter the sanctuary. He is to come with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 Let him put on the holy linen coat, and the linen trousers on his body, and the linen band round him, and the linen head-dress on his head; for this is holy clothing, and before he puts them on his body is to be washed with water.

He is to be wearing the holy linen tunic, with linen underwear. He has to tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy clothes. He must wash himself with water before he puts them on.

5 And let him take from the children of Israel two he-goats for a sin-offering and one male sheep for a burned offering.

From the people of Israel he is to bring two male goats for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.

6 And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself, to make himself and his house free from sin.

Aaron will present the bull as his own sin offering to make himself and his household right.

7 And he is to take the two goats and put them before the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting.

Then he will bring the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

8 And Aaron will make selection from the two goats by the decision of the Lord, one goat for the Lord and one for Azazel.

Aaron will casts lots to choose between the goats, one for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.

9 And the goat which is marked out for the Lord, let Aaron give for a sin-offering.

He will present the goat that was chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering.

10 But the goat for Azazel is to be placed living before the Lord, for the taking away of sin, that it may be sent away for Azazel into the waste land.

The goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat is to be presented alive before the Lord to make things right by sending it away into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

11 And Aaron is to give the ox of the sin-offering for himself and take away sin from himself and his house, and put to death the ox of the sin-offering which is for himself.

Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering to make things right for himself and his household by killing the bull as his own sin offering.

12 And he is to take a vessel full of burning coal from the altar before the Lord and in his hand some sweet perfume crushed small, and take it inside the veil;

Then he will fill up a incense burner with burning coals from the altar that is before the Lord, and with his hands full of finely-ground sweet-smelling incense, take them behind the veil.

13 And let him put the perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the ark may be covered with a cloud of the smoke of the perfume, in order that death may not overtake him.

In the presence of the Lord he will put the incense on the burning coals, and the smoke from the incense will cover the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that he will not die.

14 And let him take some of the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it from his finger on the cover of the ark on the east side, and before it, seven times.

He will take some of the bull's blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He shall also sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times in front of the atonement cover.

15 Then let him put to death the goat of the sin-offering for the people, and take its blood inside the veil and do with it as he did with the blood of the ox, shaking drops of it on and before the cover of the ark.

Then Aaron will 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.

16 And let him make the holy place free from whatever is unclean among the children of Israel and from their wrongdoing in all their sins; and let him do the same for the Tent of meeting, which has its place among an unclean people.

This is how he will set right the Most Holy Place and purify it from the uncleanness of the Israelites, their acts of rebellion, and all their sins. He will do the same for the Tent of Meeting which is in the middle of their camp, surrounded by their unclean lives.

17 And no man may be in the Tent of meeting from the time when Aaron goes in to take away sin in the holy place till he comes out, having made himself and his house and all the people of Israel free from sin.

No one can be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron enters to purify the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made things right for himself, his household, and all the Israelites.

18 And he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make it free from sin; and he is to take some of the blood of the ox and the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar and round it;

Then he shall go to the altar that is before the Lord and purify it. He is to take some of the blood from the bull and the goat and put it on all the horns of the altar.

19 Shaking drops of the blood from his finger on it seven times to make it holy and clean from whatever is unclean among the children of Israel.

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

20 And when he has done whatever is necessary to make the holy place and the Tent of meeting and the altar free from sin, let him put the living goat before the Lord;

Once Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live goat.

21 And Aaron, placing his two hands on the head of the living goat, will make a public statement over him of all the evil doings of the children of Israel and all their wrongdoing, in all their sins; and he will put them on the head of the goat and send him away, in the care of a man who will be waiting there, into the waste land.

Then he will put both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wrongs of the Israelites, all their acts of rebellion, and all their sins. He is to put them on the goat's head and send it away into the desert, taken there by a man chosen to do it.

22 And the goat will take all their sins into a land cut off from men, and he will send the goat away into the waste land.

The goat will take upon itself all their sins and go into a distant place, and the man will send it away into the desert.

23 Then let Aaron come into the Tent of meeting and take off the linen clothing which he put on when he went into the holy place, and put them down there;

Aaron is to return to the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen clothes he put on before he went into the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.

24 And after bathing his body in water in a holy place, he is to put on his clothing and come out and give his burned offering and the burned offering of the people, to take away his sin and the sin of the people.

He is to wash himself with water in the sanctuary and put on his own clothes. Then he will go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people's burnt offering that makes him and the people right.

25 And the fat of the sin-offering is to be burned by him on the altar.

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

26 And the man who takes away the goat for Azazel is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and then he may come back to the tent-circle.

The man who went and sent away the scapegoat must wash his clothes and wash himself with water; then he may come back into the camp.

27 And the ox of the sin-offering and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood was taken in to make the holy place free from sin, are to be taken away outside the tent-circle and their skins and their flesh and their waste are to be burned with fire.

The remains of the bull used for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to purify it, must be taken outside the camp. Their skin, meat, and waste must be burned.

28 And the man by whom they are burned is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water, and then he may come back to the tent-circle.

The person who burns them must wash his clothes and wash himself with water; then he may come back into the camp.

29 And let this be an order to you for ever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day, you are to keep yourselves from pleasure and do no sort of work, those who are Israelites by birth and those from other lands who are living among you:

This regulation applies to you for all time. The tenth day of the seventh month is a day of self-denial for you. You are not to do any work. This applies to all who are native-born and also any foreigner who living among you,

30 For on this day your sin will be taken away and you will be clean: you will be made free from all your sins before the Lord.

for on this day the process of making you right will be done, to make you clean from all your sins, clean before the Lord.

31 It is a special Sabbath for you, and you are to keep yourselves from pleasure; it is an order for ever.

It is a Sabbath of Sabbaths, a day of rest and self-denial. This regulation applies for all time.

32 And the man on whose head the holy oil has been put, and who has been marked out to be a priest in his father's place, will do what is necessary to take away sin, and will put on the linen clothing, even the holy robes:

The priest who is anointed and dedicated to succeed his father as high priest shall carry out the ceremony of making things right, and put on the holy linen clothes.

33 And he will make the holy place and the Tent of meeting and the altar free from sin; he will take away sin from the priests and from all the people.

He will carry out the purification of the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, also making right the priests and all the people.

34 And let this be an order for ever for you, so that the sin of the children of Israel may be taken away once every year. And he did as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

This regulation applies to you for all time: once a year the Israelites have all their sins made right.” Moses did everything as the Lord had ordered.