Leviticus 16

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, in their drawing near before YHWH, and they die;

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

2 indeed, YHWH says to Moses, “Speak to your brother Aaron, and he does not come in at all times to the holy place within the veil, to the front of the propitiatory covering, which [is] on the Ark, and he does not die, for I am seen in a cloud on the propitiatory covering.

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 With this Aaron comes into the holy place: with a bullock, a son of the herd, 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 puts on a holy linen coat, and linen trousers are on his flesh, and he girds himself with a linen girdle, and he wraps himself up with a linen turban; they [are] holy garments; and he has bathed his flesh with water and 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 from the congregation of the sons of Israel he takes 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 has brought the bullock of the sin-offering near, which is his own, and has made 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 has taken the two goats, and has caused them to stand before YHWH, at the opening 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 has given lots over the two goats, one lot for YHWH and one lot for a goat of departure;

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

9 and Aaron has brought the goat near, on which the lot for YHWH has gone up, and has made it a sin-offering.

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

10 And the goat on which the lot for a goat of departure has gone up is caused to stand living before YHWH to make atonement by it, to send it away for a goat of departure 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 has brought the bullock of the sin-offering near, which is his own, and has made atonement for himself and for his house, and has slaughtered the bullock of the sin-offering which [is] his own,

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 has taken the fullness of the censer of burning coals of fire from off the altar, from before YHWH, and the fullness of his hands of thin spice-incense, and has brought [it] within 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 he has put the incense on the fire before YHWH, and the cloud of the incense has covered the propitiatory covering which [is] on the Testimony, and he does not die.

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 has taken of the blood of the bullock, and has sprinkled with his finger on the front of the propitiatory covering eastward; even at the front of the propitiatory covering he sprinkles seven times of the blood with his finger.

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 And he has slaughtered the goat of the sin-offering which [is] the people’s, and has brought in its blood to the inside of the veil, and has done with its blood as he has done with the blood of the bullock, and has sprinkled it on the propitiatory covering, and at the front of the propitiatory covering,

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 has made atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so he does for the Tent of Meeting which is dwelling with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

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 is in the Tent of Meeting in his going in to make atonement in the holy place, until his coming out; and he has made atonement for himself, and for his house, and for all the assembly 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 has gone out to the altar which [is] before YHWH, and has made atonement for it; and he has taken of the blood of the bullock and of the blood of the goat, and has put [it] around the horns of the altar;

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 has sprinkled on it of the blood with his finger seven times, and has cleansed it, and has hallowed it from the uncleannesses of the sons 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 he has ceased from making atonement [for] the holy place, and the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and has brought the living goat near;

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 has laid his two hands on the head of the living goat, and has confessed over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and has put them on the head of the goat, and has sent [it] away by the hand of a ready 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 has borne on himself all their iniquities to a land of separation. And he has sent the goat away into 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 has come into the Tent of Meeting, and has stripped off the linen garments which he had put on in his going into the holy place, and has placed 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 has bathed his flesh with water in the holy place, and has put on his garments, and has come out, and has made his burnt-offering, and the burnt-offering of the people, and has made 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 with the fat of the sin-offering he makes incense on the altar.

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

26 And he who is sending the goat away for a goat of departure washes his garments, and has bathed his flesh with water, and afterward he comes 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 of the sin-offering and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood has been brought in to make atonement in the holy place, [one] brings out to the outside of the camp, and they have burned their skins, and their flesh, and their dung 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 he who is burning them washes his garments, and has bathed his flesh with water, and afterward he comes 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 it has been for a continuous statute to you, in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you humble yourselves, and do no work—the native and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst;

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 he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you; you are 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 [is] a Sabbath of rest for you, and you have humbled yourselves—a continuous statute.

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 anoints, and whose hand he consecrates to act as priest instead of his father, has made atonement, and has put on the linen garments, 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 has made atonement [for] the holy sanctuary; and [for] the Tent of Meeting, even [for] the altar he makes atonement; indeed, he makes atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

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 has been for a continuous statute to you, to make atonement for the sons of Israel, because of all their sins, once in a year”; and he does as YHWH has 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.