Leviticus 16:12-34

New American Standard Bible 1995

¹² He shall take a ^(A)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and ^[a]two handfuls of finely ground ^(B)sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³ He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the ^[b](C)mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, ^(D)otherwise he will die. ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(E)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it ^(F)with his finger on the ^[c]mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the ^[d]mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵ “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering ^(G)which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the ^[e]mercy seat and in front of the ^[f]mercy seat. ^16 (H)He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities. ¹⁷ When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and ^(I)put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ^19 (J)With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.

²⁰ “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and ^(K)confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions ^[g]in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. ²² The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

²³ “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off ^(L)the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. ^24 (M)He shall bathe his ^[h]body with water in a holy place and put on ^(N)his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶ The one who released the goat as the ^[i]scapegoat ^(O)shall wash his clothes and bathe his ^[j]body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁷ But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, ^(P)whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. ²⁸ Then the ^(Q)one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp.

An Annual Atonement

²⁹ “This shall be a permanent statute for you: ^(R)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not ^(S)do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; ³⁰ for it is on this day that ^[k]atonement shall be made for you to ^(T)cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may ^(U)humble your souls; it is a permanent statute. ³² So the priest who is anointed and ^[l]ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on ^(V)the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³ and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for ^(W)the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ Now you shall have this as a ^(X)permanent statute, to ^(Y)make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.