Leviticus 16

1 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.

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

2 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!

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.

3 “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].

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;

4 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.

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.

5 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].

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;

6 “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).

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;

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

and he has taken the two goats, and has caused them to stand before YHWH, at the opening of the Tent of Meeting.

8 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.

And Aaron has given lots over the two goats, one lot for YHWH and one lot for a goat of departure;

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

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

10 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.

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.

11 “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].

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,

12 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].

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;

13 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]).

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.

14 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.

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.

15 [“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.

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,

16 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].

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.

17 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.

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.

18 “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.

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;

19 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.

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.

20 “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.

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;

21 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.

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;

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

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,

23 “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.

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;

24 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.

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;

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

and with the fat of the sin-offering he makes incense on the altar.

26 “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.

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.

27 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.

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;

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

and he who is burning them washes his garments, and has bathed his flesh with water, and afterward he comes into the camp.

29 “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.

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;

30 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.

for on this day he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you; you are clean from all your sins before YHWH;

31 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.

it [is] a Sabbath of rest for you, and you have humbled yourselves—a continuous statute.

32 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

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;

33 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].

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.

34 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.

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.