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16 ¶ And the LORD spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before the LORD and died;

and the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron, thy brother, that he not enter at all times into the sanctuary inside the veil before the seat of reconciliation, which is upon the ark, that he not die; for I will appear in the cloud above the seat of reconciliation.

Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock as sin and a ram as a burnt offering.

He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen underwear upon his flesh and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he cover himself. These are holy garments; and he shall wash his flesh with water and put them on.

¶ And he shall take of the congregation of the sons of Israel two he goats as the sin and one ram as a burnt offering.

And Aaron shall cause the bullock of his sin to be brought, and make reconciliation for himself and for his house.

After that, he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two he goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. {Heb. entire removal}

And Aaron shall cause the he goat upon which the LORD’s lot fell to be brought and offer him for the sin.

10 But the he goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make the reconciliation upon him and to send him to Azazel into the wilderness.

11 And Aaron shall cause the bullock of his own sin to be brought and shall make the reconciliation for himself and for his house and shall kill the bullock of his own sin.

12 After that he shall take the censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD and his hands full of aromatic incense beaten small and bring it inside the veil.

13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of the incense shall cover the seat of reconciliation that is upon the testimony, and he shall not die.

14 Then he shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger towards the seat of reconciliation eastward; towards the seat of reconciliation he shall sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 ¶ After that, he shall kill the goat of the sin of the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the seat of reconciliation and before the seat of reconciliation;

16 and he shall cleanse the sanctuary of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and of their rebellions and of all their sins; in the same manner so shall he do for the tabernacle of the testimony, which dwells among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

17 And no man shall be in the tabernacle of the testimony when he enters in to make reconciliation in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made reconciliation for himself and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel.

18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD and reconcile it and shall take of the blood of the bullock and of the blood of the he goat and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.

19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times and cleanse it and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.

20 ¶ And when he has made an end of reconciling the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar, he shall cause the live he goat to be brought;

21 and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live he goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their rebellions and all their sins, putting them thus upon the head of the he goat and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man prepared for this;

22 and that he goat shall bear upon itself all their iniquities unto an uninhabitable land; and he shall send the he goat into the wilderness.

23 After that, Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the testimony and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on to enter into the sanctuary, and shall put them there.

24 Then he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place and put on his garments and come forth after that and make his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make reconciliation for himself and for the people.

25 And the fat of the sin he shall incense upon the altar.

26 And he that took the he goat to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh with water and afterward come into the camp.

27 And he shall take outside the camp the bullock of the sin and the goat of the sin, whose blood was brought in to make the reconciliation in the sanctuary; and they shall burn in the fire their skins and their flesh and their dung.

28 And he that burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

29 ¶ And you shall hold this as a perpetual statute: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it is a natural of your own country or a stranger that sojourns among you;

30 for on that day he shall reconcile you to cleanse you that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a perpetual statute.

32 And the reconciliation shall be made by the priest who is anointed and whose hand has been filled to be priest in the place of his father; and he shall put on the linen clothes, the holy garments;

33 and he shall reconcile the holy sanctuary and reconcile the tabernacle of the testimony; he shall also reconcile the altar and the priests and all the people of the congregation.

34 And you shall hold this as a perpetual statute to reconcile the sons of Israel of all their sins once a year. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him.

The Day of Atonement(A)

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord.(B) The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses(C) into the Most Holy Place(D) behind the curtain(E) in front of the atonement cover(F) on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear(G) in the cloud(H) over the atonement cover.

“This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place:(I) He must first bring a young bull(J) for a sin offering[a] and a ram for a burnt offering.(K) He is to put on the sacred linen tunic,(L) with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban.(M) These are sacred garments;(N) so he must bathe himself with water(O) before he puts them on.(P) From the Israelite community(Q) he is to take two male goats(R) for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

“Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household.(S) Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots(T) for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.[b](U) Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement(V) by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

11 “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household,(W) and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12 He is to take a censer full of burning coals(X) from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense(Y) and take them behind the curtain. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover(Z) above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die.(AA) 14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood(AB) and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.(AC)

15 “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people(AD) and take its blood behind the curtain(AE) and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle(AF) it on the atonement cover and in front of it. 16 In this way he will make atonement(AG) for the Most Holy Place(AH) because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting,(AI) which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.

18 “Then he shall come out to the altar(AJ) that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.(AK) 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.(AL)

20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat.(AM) 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat(AN) and confess(AO) over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins(AP) to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments(AQ) he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there.(AR) 24 He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area(AS) and put on his regular garments.(AT) Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people,(AU) to make atonement for himself and for the people.(AV) 25 He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

26 “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat(AW) must wash his clothes(AX) and bathe himself with water;(AY) afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp;(AZ) their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.(BA)

29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance(BB) for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month(BC) you must deny yourselves[c](BD) and not do any work(BE)—whether native-born(BF) or a foreigner residing among you— 30 because on this day atonement will be made(BG) for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.(BH) 31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves;(BI) it is a lasting ordinance.(BJ) 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained(BK) to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments(BL) 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.(BM)

34 “This is to be a lasting ordinance(BN) for you: Atonement is to be made once a year(BO) for all the sins of the Israelites.”

And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 16:3 Or purification offering; here and throughout this chapter
  2. Leviticus 16:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 10 and 26.
  3. Leviticus 16:29 Or must fast; also in verse 31