Leviticus 16

1 And Yhwh spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before Yhwh, and died;

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

2 And Yhwh said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

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 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt 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 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.

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 he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt 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 shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

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

7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before Yhwh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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

8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for Yhwh, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

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

9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which Yhwh's lot fell, and offer him 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, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before Yhwh, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

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 shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock 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 shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before Yhwh, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:

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 he shall put the incense upon the fire before Yhwh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:

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 he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger 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 shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:

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 he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

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 there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

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 shall go out unto the altar that is before Yhwh, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.

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 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of 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 hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:

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 shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

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 shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

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 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them 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 he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for 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 shall he burn upon the altar.

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

26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.

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 bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

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 he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

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

29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth 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 that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before Yhwh.

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 shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.

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

32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:

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 shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.

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 this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as Yhwh commanded 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.