Law of Atonement

16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after ^(A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter ^(B)at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the ^[a]mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for ^(C)I will appear in the cloud over the ^[b]mercy seat. ³ Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a ^[c]bull for a ^(D)sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the ^(E)holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his ^[d]body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall ^(F)bathe his ^[e]body in water and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel ^(G)two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ Then ^(H)Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁸ Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the ^[f]scapegoat. ⁹ Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot for the ^[g]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make ^(I)atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the ^[h]scapegoat.

¹¹ “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering ^(J)which is for himself and make atonement for himself and ^(K)for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² He shall take a ^(L)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and ^[i]two handfuls of finely ground ^(M)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 ^[j](N)mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, ^(O)otherwise he will die. ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(P)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it ^(Q)with his finger on the ^[k]mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the ^[l]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 ^(R)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 ^[m]mercy seat and in front of the ^[n]mercy seat. ^16 (S)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 ^(T)put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ^19 (U)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 ^(V)confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions ^[o]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 ^(W)the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. ^24 (X)He shall bathe his ^[p]body with water in a holy place and put on ^(Y)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 ^[q]scapegoat ^(Z)shall wash his clothes and bathe his ^[r]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, ^(AA)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 ^(AB)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: ^(AC)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not ^(AD)do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; ³⁰ for it is on this day that ^[s]atonement shall be made for you to ^(AE)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 ^(AF)humble your souls; it is a permanent statute. ³² So the priest who is anointed and ^[t]ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on ^(AG)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 ^(AH)the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ Now you shall have this as a ^(AI)permanent statute, to ^(AJ)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.

Blood for Atonement

17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, ³ “Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴ and ^(AK)has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the ^[u]tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ^5 [v]The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the Lord, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and ^(AL)offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ^7 (AM)They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the ^[w]goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.”’

⁸ “Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and ^(AN)does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to ^[x]offer it to the Lord, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰ ‘^(AO)And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, ^(AP)I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For ^(AQ)the ^[y]life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for ^(AR)it is the blood by reason of the ^[z]life that makes atonement.’ ¹² Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’ ¹³ So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, ^[aa]in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, ^(AS)he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

¹⁴ “^(AT)For as for the ^[ab]life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its ^[ac]life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ^[ad]life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ ^15 (AU)When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^(AV)he shall bear his ^[ae]guilt.”

^34 (A)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(B)the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. ³⁵ One of them, ^[a](C)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘^(D)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and ^[b]foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘^(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (F)On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

^41 (G)Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴² “What do you think about ^[c]the Christ, whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(H)The son of David.” ⁴³ He *said to them, “Then how does David ^[d](I)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” ^46 (K)No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him ^[e]another question.