Leviticus 16

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they were destroyed for offering strange fire.

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

2 And he instructed him, saying: Speak to your brother Aaron, so that he may not, at any time, enter into the Sanctuary, which is within the veil, before the propitiatory by which the ark is covered, so that he may not die, (for I will appear in a cloud above the oracle)

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.

3 unless he will have done these things beforehand. He shall offer a calf for sin, and a ram as a holocaust.

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.

4 He shall be vested with a linen tunic. He shall conceal his nakedness with linen undergarments. He shall be wrapped with a linen belt, and he shall impose a linen headdress on his head. For these are holy vestments. All of these he shall put on, after he has been washed.

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.

5 And he shall receive, from the entire multitude of the sons of Israel, two he-goats for sin, and one ram as a holocaust.

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

6 And when he has presented the calf, and has prayed for himself and for his own house,

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

7 he shall cause the two he-goats to stand in the sight of the Lord at the entrance to the tabernacle of the testimony.

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

8 And casting lots over them both, one is to be offered to the Lord, and the other is to be the emissary goat.

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

9 The one whose lot fell out to be offered to the Lord, he shall offer for sin.

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

10 But the one who is to be the emissary goat shall stand before the Lord, so that he may pour the prayers upon him, and may send him away into the wilderness.

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.

11 After these things have been duly celebrated, he shall offer the calf, and praying for himself and for his own house, he shall immolate it.

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.

12 And taking up the censer, which he has filled from the burning coals of the altar, and drawing up with his hands the aromatic compound for incense, he shall enter within the veil, into the holy place,

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.

13 so that when the aromatics are placed upon the fire, its cloud and vapor may cover the oracle, which is above the testimony, and he may not die.

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.

14 Likewise, he shall take some of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle it with his finger seven times opposite the propitiatory, toward the east.

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.

15 And when he has slain the he-goat for the sin of the people, he shall carry its blood within the veil, just as he was instructed to do with the blood of the calf, so that he may sprinkle it away from the area of the oracle,

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.

16 and so that he may expiate the Sanctuary from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and from their prevarications and every one of their sins. According to this rite, he shall act toward the tabernacle of the testimony, which is fixed among them in the midst of the filth of their habitation.

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.

17 Let no man be in the tabernacle when the high priest enters the Sanctuary in order to pray for himself, and for his house, and for the entire assembly of Israel, until he exits.

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.

18 And when he has exited to the altar which is before the Lord, let him pray for himself, and taking the blood of the calf, and of the he-goat, let him pour it upon its horns all around.

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.

19 And sprinkling with his finger seven times, let him expiate and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.

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.

20 After he has cleansed the Sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the altar, then let him offer the living goat.

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

21 And placing both hands upon its head, let him confess all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all of their offenses and sins. And calling these down upon its head, he shall send it away, by means of a man prepared to do so, into the desert.

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.

22 And when the goat has carried all their iniquities into a solitary land, and has been released into the desert,

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

23 Aaron shall return into the tabernacle of the testimony. And placing aside the vestments, which he had worn before when he entered into the Sanctuary, and leaving them there,

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.

24 he shall wash his flesh in the holy place, and he shall be clothed in his own garments. And departing afterwards, he shall present his own holocaust and that of the people: he shall pray as much for himself as for the people.

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.

25 And the fat which is offered for sins, he shall burn upon the altar.

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

26 Yet truly, he who has sent away the emissary goat shall wash his clothes and his body with water, and so he shall enter into the camp.

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

27 But the calf and the he-goat, which were immolated for sin, and whose blood was brought into the Sanctuary to complete the expiation, these shall be carried outside the camp and be burned with fire: as with their skins, so also with their flesh and dung.

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.

28 And whoever will have burned them shall wash his clothes and flesh with water, and so he shall enter into the camp.

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

29 And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall do no work, neither someone native born, nor the newcomer who sojourns among you.

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—

30 On this day, there shall be atonement for you, and also a cleansing from all your sins. You shall be cleansed in the sight of the Lord.

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.

31 For it is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls as a perpetual observance.

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

32 And the priest who has been anointed, and whose hands have been consecrated to exercise the priesthood in the place of his father, shall make atonement. And he shall be clothed with the linen robe and the holy vestments.

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

33 And he shall expiate the Sanctuary and the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar, likewise the priest and all the people.

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.

34 And this shall be to you a perpetual law, that you pray for the sons of Israel, and for all their sins once a year. Therefore, he did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.

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.