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 Yahweh spake unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, —when they had offered strange fire before Yahweh and died.

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!

And Yahweh said unto Moses—Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he do not come at all times into the holy place, within the veil, —into the presence of the propitiatory, which is upon the ark, so shall he not die, for, in the cloud, will I appear upon the propitiatory.

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].

Herewith, shall Aaron come into the holy place, —With a bullock the choice of the herd as a sin-bearer, and a ram as an ascending-sacrifice.

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.

A holy tunic of linen, shall he put on and drawers of linen, shall be upon his flesh, and with a band of linen, shall he gird himself, and with a turban of linen, shall his head be wrapped about, —holy garments, they are, therefore shall he bathe in water his flesh, and so 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 assembly of the sons of Israel, shall he receive two he-goats, for bearing sin, —and one ram, as an ascending-sacrifice.

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).

Then shall Aaron bring near the sin-bearing bullock which is for himself, —and put a propitiatory-covering about himself, and about his household.

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

Then shall he take the two goats, —and cause them to stand before Yahweh, at the entrance 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 shall cast lots over the two goats, —one lot for Yahweh, and one lot for Azazel.

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

Then shall Aaron bring near the goat over which came up the lot for Yahweh, —and shall make of him a sin-bearer;

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.

but, the goat over which came up the lot for Azazel, shall he cause to stand alive—before Yahweh to put a propitiatory-covering over him, —to send him away unto Azazel, towards the desert.

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].

So Aaron shall bring near the sin-bearing bullock which is for himself, and shall put a propitiatory-covering about himself, and about his household, —and shall slay the sin-bearing bullock which is for himself;

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 shall take the censer-full of burning coals of fire from off the altar from before Yahweh, and his hands full of fragrant incense, beaten small, —and bring 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 shall put the incense upon the fire before Yahweh, —and the cloud of incense shall cover the propitiatory which is over the testimony, and he shall 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.

Then shall he take of the blood of the bullock, and shall sprinkle with his finger upon the face of the propitiatory, eastwards, —and before the propitiatory, shall he sprinkle 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.

Then shall he slay the sin-bearing goat which is for the people, and bring in its blood, within the veil, —and do with its blood, as he did to the blood of the bullock, and shall sprinkle it, upon the propitiatory and before the propitiatory:

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].

so shall he put a propitiatory-covering, over the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions to the extent of all their sins, —and, so, shall he do for the tent of meeting which abideth with them, in the midst of their uncleanness.

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 human being, shall be in the tent of meeting, when he cometh in to make a covering by propitiation in the holy place, until he goeth out, —so shall he put a propitiatory-covering about himself and about his household and about all the convocation 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.

Then shall he go out unto the altar which is before Yahweh and shall put a propitiatory-covering thereupon, —and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put upon the horns of the altar, round about;

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 shall sprinkle upon it, of the blood with his finger seven times, —and shall cleanse it and hallow 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, when he hath made an end of covering by propitiation the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, then shall he bring near the living goat.

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 shall lean his two hands upon the head of the living goat, and confess over him, all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions, to the extent of all their sins, —and shall put them upon the head of the goat, and then send him away, by the hand of a man appointed towards the desert:

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

so shall the goat bear upon him all their iniquities into a lone land, —and he shall set the goat free, in the desert.

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.

Then shall Aaron come into the tent of meeting, and put off the linen garments which he put on when he came into the holy place, —and shall leave 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 shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, and put on his [other] garments, —and go forth, and offer his own ascending-sacrifice, and the ascending-sacrifice of the people, so shall he put a propitiatory-covering about himself, and about 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-bearer, shall he make a perfume at 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 that sent away the goat unto Azazel, shall wash—his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, —and, after that, shall he come 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, sin-bearing bullock, and the sin-bearing goat whose blood was brought in to make a propitiatory-covering in the holy place, shall be carried forth outside the camp, —and they shall burn up, in fire, their skins and their flesh, and their dung;

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

and he that hath burned them, shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, —and, after that, shall he come 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 shall become unto you, a statute age-abiding, —In the seventh month on the tenth of the month, Shall ye humble you souls And, no work, shall ye do, The home-born, Or the sojourner that sojourneth 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, shall a propitiatory-covering, be put over you, to cleanse you, —From all your sins before Yahweh, shall ye be clean.

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.

A sabbath of sacred rest, it is unto you, Therefore shall ye humble your souls, A statute age-abiding.

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

Therefore shall the priest who shall be anointed, and installed, to minister as priest in the stead of his father make propitiation, —So then he shall 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 make propitiation for the holy sanctuary, And for the tent of meeting, and for the altar, shall he make propitiation, —Over the priests also and over all the people of the convocation, shall he put a covering by propitiation.

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.

So shall this become unto you an age-abiding statute, —to put a propitiatory-covering over the sons of Israel because of all their sins, Once in the year. And he did, As Yahweh commanded Moses.