Leviticus 16

Revised Geneva Translation

16 Furthermore, the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came before the LORD and died.

² And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron, your brother, so that he does not come just at any time into the Holy Place, within the Veil, before the Mercy Seat, which is upon the Ark. So that he does not die. For I will appear in the cloud, upon the Mercy Seat.

³ “After this manner shall Aaron come into the Holy Place: with a young bullock for a Sin Offering, and a ram for a Burnt Offering.

⁴ “He shall put on the Holy Linen Coat, and shall have linen trousers upon his flesh, and shall be wrapped with a linen girdle, and shall cover his head with a linen miter. These are the Holy Garments. Therefore, he shall wash his flesh in water when he puts them on.

⁵ “And he shall take two male goats from the Congregation of the children of Israel, for a Sin Offering, and a ram for a Burnt Offering.

⁶ “Then, Aaron shall offer the bullock for his Sin Offering, and make an atonement for himself and for his house.

⁷ “And he shall take the two male goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

⁸ “Then Aaron shall cast lots over the two male goats, one lot for the LORD and the other for the Scapegoat.

⁹ “And Aaron shall offer the goat, upon which the LORD’s lot shall fall, and shall make a Sin Offering.

¹⁰ “But the goat upon which the lot shall fall to be the Scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make reconciliation and to be let go (as a Scapegoat) into the wilderness.

¹¹ “Thus, Aaron shall offer the bullock for his Sin Offering, and make a reconciliation for himself and for his house and shall kill the bullock for his Sin Offering.

¹² “And he shall take a censer full of burning coals from off the Altar before the LORD. And with his hands full of sweet incense, finely beaten, he shall bring it within the Veil,

¹³ “and shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the Mercy Seat that is upon the Testimony. So, he shall not die.

¹⁴ “And he shall take from the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the Mercy Seat, eastward. And he shall sprinkle the blood seven times with his finger, before the Mercy Seat.

¹⁵ “Then he shall kill the goat which is the people’s Sin Offering and bring its blood within the Veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the Mercy Seat, and before the Mercy Seat.

¹⁶ “So shall he purge the Holy Place from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and from the trespasses of all their sins. So shall he also do for the Tabernacle of the Congregation placed with them, in the midst of their uncleanness.

¹⁷ “And there shall be no man in the Tabernacle of the Congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out and has made an atonement for himself and for his household and for all the Congregation of Israel.

¹⁸ “Afterward, he shall go out to the Altar that is before the LORD and make a reconciliation upon it. And he shall take from the blood of the bullock, and from the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the Altar, all around.

¹⁹ “So shall he sprinkle the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

²⁰ “When he has finished purging the Holy Place, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the Altar, then he shall bring the live goat.

²¹ “And Aaron shall put both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their trespasses in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. And he shall send him away (by the hand of a man appointed) into the wilderness.

²² “So, the goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him, into the land that is not inhabited. And he shall release the goat into the wilderness.

²³ “Afterward, Aaron shall come into the Tabernacle of the Congregation and take off the linen clothes, which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and leave them there.

²⁴ “He shall also wash his flesh with water in the Holy Place, and put on his own clothing, and come out, and make his Burnt Offering and the Burnt Offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.

²⁵ “Also, the fat of the Sin Offering shall he burn upon the Altar.

²⁶ “And he who carried forth the goat (the Scapegoat) shall wash his clothes and wash his flesh in water. And after that he shall come into the camp.

²⁷ “Also, someone shall carry the bullock for the Burnt Offering and the goat for the Sin Offering outside the camp (whose blood was brought to make a reconciliation in the Holy Place), to be burnt in the fire with their skins and with their flesh and with their dung.

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

²⁹ “So, this shall be an Ordinance forever to you: the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble your souls and do no work at all, whether it is one of the same country or a stranger who sojourns among you.

³⁰ “For that day, the Priest shall make an atonement for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

³¹ “This shall be a Sabbath of rest to you. And you shall humble your souls, by an Ordinance, forever.

³² “And the Priest whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate (to minister in his father’s place) shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes and holy vestments,

³³ “and shall purge the Holy Sanctuary and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and shall cleanse the Altar, and make an atonement for the Priests and for all the people of the Congregation.

³⁴ “And this shall be an everlasting Ordinance to you: to make an atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And as the LORD commanded Moses, he did.