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.

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;

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)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

And the goat which is marked out for the Lord, let Aaron give for 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 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.

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.

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.

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,

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;

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.

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.

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 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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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;

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

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.

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

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;

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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;

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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:

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

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.

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.

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.