Leviticus 16:1-14
Amplified Bible
Law of Atonement
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who had died when they [irreverently] approached the presence of the Lord.(A) 2 The Lord said to Moses,
“Tell Aaron your brother that he [a]must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil (the Holy of Holies), before the [b]mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.(B) 3 Aaron [as high priest] shall enter the Holy Place in this way: with [the blood of] a young bull as a sin offering and [the blood of] a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be belted with the linen sash, and dressed with the linen turban (these are the holy garments). He shall bathe his body in water and put them on. 5 He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites [at their expense] two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 Then Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 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, the other lot for the [c]scapegoat. 9 Then Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement on it; it shall be sent into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
11 “Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household (the other priests), and he shall kill the bull as the sin offering for himself. 12 He shall take a censer full of burning coals from the [bronze] altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil [into the Most Holy Place], 13 and put the incense on the fire [in the censer] before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on [the ark of] the Testimony, otherwise he will die. 14 He shall take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
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- Leviticus 16:2 The high priest was permitted to enter the Most Holy Place only once a year. The Day of Atonement was the most sacred of all the festivals and the prescribed purpose of this inclusive sacrifice was to atone for the sins of both the nation and the individual believer, and in this way reconcile God’s chosen people to Himself. Only by carefully following all of God’s instructions, could the high priest enter God’s presence and live.
- Leviticus 16:2 Lit propitiatory.
- Leviticus 16:8 Lit goat of removal, or else a name, Heb: Azazel. This goat’s release (v 10) symbolized the carrying away of Israel’s sin.
Leviticus 16:1-14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence(A) of[a] the Lord and died.(B) 2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place(C) behind the veil(D) in front of the mercy seat(E) on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud(F) above the mercy seat.(G)
3 “Aaron is to enter the most holy place(H) in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.(I) 4 He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He must tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban.(J) These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them. 5 He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.(K)
6 “Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 After Aaron casts lots(L) for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for azazel,[b](M) 9 he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering.(N) 10 But the goat chosen by lot for azazel[c] is to be presented alive before the Lord to make purification with it by sending it into the wilderness(O) for azazel.
11 “When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering. 12 Then he must take a firepan full of fiery coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense,(P) and bring them inside the veil.(Q) 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud(R) of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony,(S) or else he will die.(T) 14 He is to take some of the bull’s blood(U) and sprinkle it with his finger against the east side of the mercy seat; then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times.(V)
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- Leviticus 16:1 LXX, Tg, Syr, Vg read they brought strange fire before; Nm 3:4
- Leviticus 16:8 Perhaps a term that means “for the goat that departs,” or “for removal,” or “for a rough, difficult place,” or “for a goat demon”; Hb obscure
- Leviticus 16:10 Perhaps a term that means “for the goat that departs,” or “for removal,” or “for a rough, difficult place,” or “for a goat demon”; Hb obscure
Leviticus 16:1-14
New Living Translation
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. 2 The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.
3 “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. 5 Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.[a] 7 Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.[b] 8 He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. 9 Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. 10 The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.[c]
11 “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, 12 he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain. 13 There in the Lord’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.[d] If he follows these instructions, he will not die. 14 Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.
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- 16:6 Or to make atonement for himself and his family; similarly in 16:11, 17b, 24, 34.
- 16:7 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 16:16, 17, 20, 23, 33.
- 16:10 Or wilderness, it will make atonement for the people.
- 16:13 Hebrew that is above the Testimony. The Hebrew word for “testimony” refers to the terms of the Lord’s covenant with Israel as written on stone tablets, which were kept in the Ark, and also to the covenant itself.
Leviticus 16:1-14
The Message
The Day of Atonement
16 1-2 After the death of Aaron’s two sons—they died when they came before God with strange fire—God spoke to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter into the Holy of Holies, barging inside the curtain that’s before the Atonement-Cover on the Chest whenever he feels like it, lest he die, because I am present in the Cloud over the Atonement-Cover.
3-5 “This is the procedure for Aaron when he enters the Holy Place: He will bring a young bull for an Absolution-Offering and a ram for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; he will put on the holy linen tunic and the linen underwear, tie the linen sash around him, and put on the linen turban. These are the sacred vestments so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. Then from the Israelite community he will bring two male goats for an Absolution-Offering and a Whole-Burnt-Offering.
6-10 “Aaron will offer the bull for his own Absolution-Offering in order to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he will set the two goats before God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and cast lots over the two goats, one lot for God and the other lot for Azazel. He will offer the goat on which the lot to God falls as an Absolution-Offering. The goat on which the lot for Azazel falls will be sent out into the wilderness to Azazel to make atonement.
11-14 “Aaron will present his bull for an Absolution-Offering to make atonement for himself and his household. He will slaughter his bull for the Absolution-Offering. He will take a censer full of burning coals from the Altar before God and two handfuls of finely ground aromatic incense and bring them inside the curtain and put the incense on the fire before God; the smoke of the incense will cover the Atonement-Cover which is over The Testimony so that he doesn’t die. He will take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the Atonement-Cover, then sprinkle the blood before the Atonement-Cover seven times.
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