Leviticus 16

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had come near before the Lord, and died:

After the two sons of Aaron died because they burned incense to Yahweh [in a manner that was contrary to what Yahweh commanded], Yahweh spoke to Moses/me.

2 And the Lord 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 in the cloud will I appear upon the mercy-seat.

He said to him/me, “Warn your [older] brother Aaron that he must not enter the Very Holy Place inside the curtain that is in the Sacred Tent whenever he wants to, because the cover of the sacred chest is there. That is the place where the priest (makes atonement for/requests me to forgive) sins. I am present in the cloud that is over the cover of the sacred chest. If Aaron goes in that room when it is not the proper time, he will die!

3 With this shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering.

“When Aaron enters the Sacred Tent area, he must bring a bull that [will be killed] to become an offering/sacrifice for sins, and a ram [to be killed] to be an offering that will be completely burned [on the altar].

4 A holy linen coat shall be put on, and linen breeches shall he have upon his flesh, and with a linen girdle shall he gird himself, and a linen mitre shall he bind on his head; these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and then put them on.

Then he must bathe his whole body, and put on the linen underwear/undershorts and the linen gown. He must tie the linen sash/waistbands around his waist and wrap the turban around his head. Those are his sacred garments.

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

The Israeli people must then bring to him two male goats [to be killed] as an offering/sacrifice for sin, and a ram to be [killed and] burned completely [on the altar].

6 And Aaron shall bring near the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

“Aaron must offer the bull [to me] to be a sacrifice in order that (I will forgive his sins and the sins of his family/his sins and the sins of his family will be forgiven).

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

Then he must bring the two male goats to me at the entrance to the Sacred Tent.

8 And Aaron shall put lots upon the two goats; one lot “for the Lord,” and the other lot “for 'Azazel.”

He must (cast lots/throw down stones that have been marked) to determine which goat will be [sacrificed] to me, and which will be the goat that will be set free.

9 And Aaron shall bring near the goat upon which fell the lot “for the Lord,” and offer him for a sin-offering.

Aaron must bring to me the goat that was chosen to be sacrificed. It will be an offering for the people’s sins.

10 But the goat on which fell the lot “for 'Azazel,” shall be placed alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, by sending him away to 'Azazel into the wilderness.

Aaron must also bring to me the other goat, but it is not to be killed. It will be freed while it is still alive. As a result of Aaron sending it into the desert, the people’s sins will be forgiven.

11 And Aaron shall bring near the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and he shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house; and he shall kill the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself.

“Then Aaron must bring the young bull to me, to be an offering/sacrifice for himself and for his family. He must slaughter that bull to be an offering for their sins, [and he must drain the blood into a basin].

12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and both his hands full of incense of spices, pounded fine, and bring it within the vail;

Then he must take some burning coals from the [bronze] altar and put them in the incense burner. Then he must fill his hands with fragrant finely-ground incense. Then he must take the incense and the incense burner inside the curtain into the Very Holy Place [of the Sacred Tent].

13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire, before the Lord; that the cloud of the incense may envelop the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not.

There he must put the incense on the burning coals, with the result that a cloud of burning incense will rise up over the lid of the sacred chest. If he obeys these instructions, he will not die [like Korah’s two sons did because of offering incense incorrectly] (OR, [because of being in God’s presence]).

14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger above toward the mercy-seat, eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle seven times of the blood with his finger.

Then he must dip his finger into [the basin] and sprinkle some blood on the lid of the sacred chest, and also sprinkle some blood seven times against the front of the chest.

15 And he shall kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood to within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it above the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat.

[“Aaron must then go outside the Sacred Tent] and slaughter the goat to be an offering for the sins of the people. Then he must bring its blood into the Very Holy Place behind the curtain. There he must sprinkle [some of] that blood on the lid of the sacred chest and against the front of the chest, like he did with the bull’s blood.

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 abideth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

By doing that, he will purify the Very Holy Place. And he must sprinkle more of the blood on the Sacred Tent, because the tent is in the midst of the camp of the Israeli people who have become unacceptable to me [because of their sins].

17 And there shall not be any man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out: and so shall he make an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for the whole congregation of Israel.

When Aaron goes into the Very Holy Place [in the Sacred Tent] to purify it, no one else is permitted to enter [the other part of] the Sacred Tent. Only after Aaron has performed rituals to enable me to forgive him and his family, and all the Israeli people, is any priest permitted to enter the Sacred Tent.

18 And he shall then go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement upon it; and he 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 Aaron must go outside the tent to purify my altar. He must do this by smearing some of the blood from the bull and some of the blood from the goat on each of the projections at the corners of the altar.

19 And he shall sprinkle upon it of the blood with his finger seven times; and he shall cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

Then Aaron must dip his finger into the [basin of] blood and sprinkle some of the blood over the altar seven times. By doing that, he will cleanse it from being unholy [because of the sins] of the Israeli people, and it will become holy again.

20 And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: then shall he bring near the live goat.

“When Aaron has finished purifying the Very Holy Place [inside the Sacred Tent] and all of the Sacred Tent and the altar, he must bring the goat that was chosen to be set free.

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 he shall send him away by the hand of a man appointed thereto into the wilderness:

He must put both of his hands on the head of the goat and confess all the sins [DOU] of the Israeli people. By doing that, he will put [the guilt of] their sins on the head of the goat. Then he must give the goat to a man who is chosen, and that man will send the goat out into the desert.

22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and so shall he send away the goat into the wilderness.

[It is as though] the goat will carry away into the desert [the guilt for] the sins of all the people.

23 And Aaron shall then go into the tabernacle of the congregation, and he shall take off the linen garments, which he had put on when he went into the holy place, and he shall leave them there:

“When Aaron approaches the Sacred Tent, he must take off the linen clothes that he wore when he [previously] entered the Very Holy Place, and he must leave those clothes there.

24 And he shall bathe his flesh with water in a holy place, and put on his garments; and come then forth, and offer his burnt-offering, and the burnt-offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.

Then he must bathe in a sacred place, put on his regular/ordinary clothes, and sacrifice the animals that will be burned completely on the altar for his own sins and for the sins of the Israeli people. By doing that he will enable me to forgive him and them.

25 And the fat of the sin-offering shall he burn upon the altar.

He must also burn on the altar all the fat of the bull and the goat that were sacrificed.

26 And he that carrieth the goat to 'Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

“The man who was chosen to send the other goat into the desert and free it there must afterwards wash his clothes and bathe. Then he may return to the camp.

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

The carcasses of the bull and the goat that were slaughtered to be an offering/sacrifice for the people’s sins, whose blood was taken inside the Very Holy Place to enable Yahweh to forgive the Israeli people, must be carried outside the camp and burned. The hides/skins of the animals, the inner organs, and the dung must also be burned.

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

The man who burns those things must then wash his clothes and bathe before he returns to the camp.

29 And it shall be unto you a statute for ever: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict yourselves [by fasting], and no work shall ye do, whether it be one of your own country, or the stranger that sojourneth among you;

“On (October/the month after the dry season ends), on the day that I have appointed, you all must (fast/abstain from eating food) and not do any work. This is a rule/law that will never end. It must be obeyed by you people who have been Israelis all your lives, and also by foreigners who are living among you.

30 For on that day shall [the high-priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins before the Lord shall ye be clean.

On that day, Aaron will perform rituals to enable me to forgive you all, and then I will cleanse/free you all from [the guilt of] all your sins and you will become acceptable to me.

31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict yourselves [by fasting], as a statute for ever.

That will be a day for you to rest and not do any work, like the Sabbath days, and you must (fast/abstain from eating food) all that day. That is a permanent command/law for you all to obey.

32 And the priest, who shall be anointed, and who shall be consecrated to minister as priest in his father's stead, shall make the atonement; and he shall put on the linen clothes, the holy garments.

In future years, [after Aaron has died], this ritual/ceremony to enable me to forgive you all [DOU] will be performed by the Supreme Priest who is anointed [with olive oil] and appointed to serve instead of his ancestor Aaron. He must put on the sacred clothes made of linen

33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy of holies; and for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar shall he make an atonement; and also for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation shall he make an atonement.

and offer sacrifices to purify the Very Holy Place, all of the Sacred Tent, the altar, the priests, and all the Israel people [like Aaron did].

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

This will be a permanent command/law for you to obey once every year, to enable me to forgive you Israeli people for the sins that you have committed.” Moses/I obeyed all those instructions/commands that Yahweh had given to him/me.