Leviticus 16

1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, in their drawing near before Jehovah, and they die;

Yahweh spoke to Moses—this was after the death of Aaron's two sons, when they had gone near to Yahweh and then died.

2 yea, Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Speak unto Aaron thy brother, and he cometh not in at all times unto the sanctuary within the vail, unto the front of the mercy-seat, which [is] upon the ark, and he dieth not, for in a cloud I am seen upon the mercy-seat.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron your brother and tell him not to come at just any time into the most holy place inside the curtain, before the atonement lid that is on the ark. If he does, he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement lid.

3 'With this doth Aaron come in unto the sanctuary; with a bullock, a son of the herd, for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering;

So here is how Aaron must come into the most holy place. He must enter with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering.

4 a holy linen coat he putteth on, and linen trousers are on his flesh, and with a linen girdle he girdeth himself, and with a linen mitre he wrappeth himself up; they [are] holy garments; and he hath bathed with water his flesh, and hath put them on.

He must put on the holy linen tunic, and he must put the linen undergarments on himself, and he must wear the linen sash and linen turban. These are the holy garments. He must bathe his body in water and then dress himself with these clothes.

5 'And from the company of the sons of Israel he taketh two kids of the goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a burnt-offering;

He must take from the assembly of the people of Israel two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

6 and Aaron hath brought near the bullock of the sin-offering which is his own, and hath made atonement for himself, and for his house;

Then Aaron must present the bull as the sin offering, which will be for himself, to make atonement for himself and his family.

7 and he hath taken the two goats, and hath caused them to stand before Jehovah, at the opening of the tent of meeting.

Then he must take the two goats and set them before Yahweh at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

8 'And Aaron hath given lots over the two goats, one lot for Jehovah, and one lot for a goat of departure;

Then Aaron must cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

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

Aaron must then present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer that goat as a sin offering.

10 'And the goat on which the lot for a goat of departure hath gone up is caused to stand living before Jehovah to make atonement by it, to send it away for a goat of departure into the wilderness.

But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat must be brought alive before Yahweh, to make atonement by sending him away as a scapegoat into the wilderness.

11 'And Aaron hath brought near the bullock of the sin-offering which is his own, and hath made atonement for himself, and for his house, and hath slaughtered the bullock of the sin-offering which [is] his own,

Then Aaron must present the bull for the sin offering, which will be for himself. He must make atonement for himself and for his family, so he must kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.

12 and hath taken the fulness of the censer of burning coals of fire from off the altar, from before Jehovah, and the fulness of his hands of thin spice-perfume, and hath brought [it] within the vail;

Aaron must take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, with his hands full of finely ground sweet incense, and bring these things inside the curtain.

13 and he hath put the perfume on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the perfume hath covered the mercy-seat which [is] on the testimony, and he dieth not.

There he must put the incense on the fire before Yahweh so that the cloud from the incense may cover the atonement lid over the covenant decrees. He must do this so he will not die.

14 'And he hath taken of the blood of the bullock, and hath sprinkled with his finger on the front of the mercy-seat eastward; even at the front of the mercy-seat he doth sprinkle seven times of the blood with his finger.

Then he must take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the atonement lid. He must sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times before the atonement lid.

15 'And he hath slaughtered the goat of the sin-offering which [is] the people's, and hath brought in its blood unto the inside of the vail, and hath done with its blood as he hath done with the blood of the bullock, and hath sprinkled it on the mercy-seat, and at the front of the mercy-seat,

Then he must kill the goat for the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain. There he must do with the blood as he did with the blood of the bull: He must sprinkle it on the atonement lid and then before the atonement lid.

16 and he hath made atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so he doth for the tent of meeting which is tabernacling with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

He must make atonement for the holy place because of the unclean actions of the people of Israel, and because of their rebellion and all their sins. He must also do this for the tent of meeting, where Yahweh lives among them, in the presence of their unclean actions.

17 'And no man is in the tent of meeting in his going in to make atonement in the sanctuary, till his coming out; and he hath made atonement for himself, and for his house, and for all the assembly of Israel.

No one must be in the tent of meeting when Aaron enters it to make atonement in the most holy place, and until he comes out and has finished making atonement for himself and for his family, and for all the assembly of Israel.

18 'And he hath gone out unto the altar which [is] before Jehovah, and hath made atonement for it; and he hath taken of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and hath put on the horns of the altar round about;

He must go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and he must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put it on the horns of the altar all around.

19 and he hath sprinkled on it of the blood with his finger seven times, and hath cleansed it, and hath hallowed it from the uncleannesses of the sons of Israel.

He must sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and set it apart to Yahweh, away from the unclean actions of the people of Israel.

20 'And he hath ceased from making atonement [for] the sanctuary, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, and hath brought near the living goat;

When he has finished atoning for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he must present the live goat.

21 and Aaron hath laid his two hands on the head of the living goat, and hath confessed over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and hath put them on the head of the goat, and hath sent [it] away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness;

Aaron must lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over him all the wickedness of the people of Israel, all their rebellion, and all their sins. Then he must put that sinfulness on the head of the goat and send the goat away in the care of a man who is ready to lead the goat into the wilderness.

22 and the goat hath borne on him all their iniquities unto a land of separation. 'And he hath sent the goat away into the wilderness,

The goat must carry on himself all the people's wickedness to a solitary place. There in the wilderness, the man must let the goat go free.

23 and Aaron hath come in unto the tent of meeting, and hath stripped off the linen garments which he had put on in his going in unto the sanctuary, and hath placed them there;

Then Aaron must go back into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments that he had put on before going into the most holy place, and he must leave those garments there.

24 and he hath bathed his flesh with water in the holy place, and hath put on his garments, and hath come out, and hath made his burnt-offering, and the burnt-offering of the people, and hath made atonement for himself and for the people;

He must bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his normal garments; then he must go out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering for the people, and in this way make atonement for himself and for the people.

25 and with the fat of the sin-offering he doth make perfume on the altar.

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

26 'And he who is sending away the goat for a goat of departure doth wash his garments, and hath bathed his flesh with water, and afterwards he cometh in unto the camp.

The man who let the scapegoat go free must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that, he may come back into the camp.

27 'And the bullock of the sin-offering, and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood hath been brought in to make atonement in the sanctuary, doth [one] bring out unto the outside of the camp, and they have burnt with fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung;

The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, must be carried outside the camp. There they must burn their hides, flesh, and dung.

28 and he who is burning them doth wash his garments, and hath bathed his flesh with water, and afterwards he cometh in unto the camp.

The man who burns those parts must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that, he may come back into the camp.

29 'And it hath been to you for a statute age-during, in the seventh month, in the tenth of the month, ye humble yourselves, and do no work — the native, and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst;

It will always be a statute for you that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work, whether the native born or a foreigner who is living among you.

30 for on this day he maketh atonement for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins before Jehovah ye are clean;

This is because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you from all your sins so you will be clean before Yahweh.

31 it [is] to you a sabbath of rest, and ye have humbled yourselves — a statute age-during.

It is a solemn Sabbath of rest for you, and you must humble yourselves and do no work. This will always be a statute among you.

32 'And the priest whom he doth anoint, and whose hand he doth consecrate to act as priest instead of his father, hath made atonement, and hath put on the linen garments, the holy garments;

The high priest, the one who will be anointed and ordained to be high priest in his father's place, he must make this atonement and put on the linen garments, that is, the holy garments.

33 and he hath made atonement [for] the holy sanctuary; and [for] the tent of meeting, even [for] the altar he doth make atonement; yea, for the priests, and for all the people of the assembly he maketh atonement.

He must make atonement for the most holy place; he must make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he must make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

34 'And this hath been to you for a statute age-during, to make atonement for the sons of Israel, because of all their sins, once in a year;' and he doth as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.

This will always be a statute for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel because of all their sins, once in every year.” This was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.