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Leviticus 16-18
Lexham English Bible

The Day of Atonement

16 Then[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they had come near before[b] Yahweh and they died. 2 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell[c] your brother Aaron that he should not enter at any time into the sanctuary behind[d] the curtain in front of[e] the atonement cover that is on the ark, so that he might not die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

3 “Aaron must enter the sanctuary with this: a young bull[f] as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He must put on a holy linen tunic,[g] and linen undergarments must be on his body, and he must fasten himself[h] with a linen sash, and he must wrap a linen turban around his head[i]—they are holy garments, and he shall wash his body with water, then[j] he shall put them on. 5 And he must take from the Israelites’[k] community two he-goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

6 “And Aaron shall present the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family. 7 And he shall take the two goats, and he shall present them before[l] Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance. 8 Then[m] Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh and one for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall sacrifice[n] it as a sin offering. 10 But[o] he must present alive before[p] Yahweh the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell to make atonement for himself, to send it away into the desert to Azazel.

11 “And Aaron shall present the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family; then[q] he shall slaughter the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself. 12 And he shall take a[r] censer full of burning charcoal[s] from upon the altar from before[t] Yahweh and two handfuls[u] of incense of powdered fragrant perfumes, and he shall bring it from behind[v] the curtain, 13 and he shall put the incense on the fire before[w] Yahweh so that the cloud of incense might cover the atonement cover, which is on the covenant text,[x] so that he might not die. 14 And he shall take some of[y] the bull’s blood, and he shall spatter it[z] with his finger on the atonement cover’s surface on the eastern side, and before[aa] the atonement cover he shall spatter some of[ab] the blood with his finger seven times.

15 “And he shall slaughter the sin offering’s goat, which is for the people, and he shall bring its blood from behind[ac] the curtain, and he shall do with its blood as that which he did with[ad] the bull’s blood, and he shall spatter it on the atonement cover and before[ae] the atonement cover. 16 Thus[af] he shall make atonement for the sanctuary from the Israelites’[ag] impurities and from their transgressions for all their sins; and so he must do for the tent of assembly, which dwells with them in the midst of their impurities. 17 And no person[ah] shall be in the tent of assembly when he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family and for all of Israel’s assembly.

18 “Then[ai] he shall go out to the altar that is before[aj] Yahweh, and he shall make atonement for it; and he shall take some of[ak] the bull’s blood and some of[al] the goat’s blood, and he shall put it[am] all around on the altar’s horns. 19 And he shall spatter some of[an] the blood on it seven times with his finger, and he shall cleanse it and consecrate[ao] it from the Israelites’[ap] impurities.

20 “And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and the tent of assembly and the altar; then[aq] he shall present the living goat. 21 And Aaron shall place his two hands on the living goat’s head, and he shall confess over it all the Israelites’[ar] iniquities and all their transgressions for all their sins, and he shall put them on the goat’s head, and he shall send it[as] away into the desert with[at] a man standing ready.[au] 22 Thus[av] the goat shall bear on it to a barren region[aw] all their guilt, and he shall send the goat away into the desert.

23 “And Aaron shall enter the tent of assembly, and he shall take off the linen garments that he put on at his coming to the sanctuary, and he shall leave them there. 24 And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, and he shall put on his garments and go out and sacrifice[ax] his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for people. 25 And he must turn into smoke the sin offering’s fat on the altar.

26 “And the person who sends out the goat for Azazel shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and afterward[ay] he shall come to the camp. 27 And the sin offering’s bull and the sin offering’s goat, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought outside the camp,[az] and they shall burn their hide and their flesh and their offal in the fire. 28 And the person who burns them shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and afterward[ba] he must come to the camp.

29 “And this shall be a lasting statute[bb] for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you must deny yourselves and you must not do any work, whether the native or[bc] the alien who is dwelling in your midst, 30 because on this day he shall make atonement for you to cleanse you; you must be clean from all your sins before[bd] Yahweh. 31 It is a Sabbath of complete rest[be] for you, and you shall deny yourselves—it is a lasting statute.[bf] 32 And the priest who is anointed and who is ordained[bg] to serve as a priest in place of his father shall make atonement; thus[bh] he shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 33 and he shall make atonement for the sanctuary’s holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of assembly and the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all of the assembly’s people. 34 And this shall be a lasting statute[bi] for you to make atonement for the Israelites[bj] one time in a year from all their sins.”

The Place of Sacrifice

17 Then[bk] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,[bl] and you shall say to them, ‘This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, 3 “Any man[bm] from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp[bn] 4 and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to present an offering to Yahweh before[bo] Yahweh’s tabernacle, then[bp] that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. 5 This is so that the Israelites[bq] may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field[br] and bring[bs] them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly’s entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them. 6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall burn[bt] the fat as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. 7 And they may no longer sacrifice[bu] their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is a lasting statute[bv] for them throughout[bw] their generations.”’

Instructions Against Eating Blood

8 “And you shall say to them, ‘if there is anyone[bx] from the house of Israel or[by] from the alien who dwells in their midst who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to sacrifice[bz] it for Yahweh, then[ca] that man shall be cut off from his people. 10 And if there is anyone[cb] from the house of Israel or[cc] from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then[cd] I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. 11 Indeed[ce] the flesh’s life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement. 12 Therefore[cf] I said to the Israelites,[cg] ‘None of you[ch] may eat blood, nor[ci] may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.’

13 “And if there is anyone[cj] from the Israelites[ck] or[cl] from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then[cm] he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil. 14 Indeed,[cn] the life of all flesh, its blood, is in its life, so[co] I said to the Israelites,[cp] ‘You may not eat the blood of any flesh, because the life of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’

15 “And if there is any person who eats a dead body or[cq] a mangled carcass, whether among the native or[cr] among the alien, then[cs] he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself[ct] with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. 16 But[cu] if he does not wash his garments[cv] and he does not wash his body, then[cw] he shall bear his guilt.”

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 Then[cx] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites,[cy] and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. 3 You must not carry out[cz] the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you must not carry out[da] the practices of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you; and you must not follow their statutes. 4 You must carry out[db] my regulations, and you must observe[dc] my statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. 5 And you shall observe[dd] my statutes and my regulations by which the person doing them shall live;[de] I am Yahweh.

6 “‘None[df] of you shall approach anyone who is his close relative[dg] to expose nakedness; I am Yahweh. 7 You must not expose your father’s nakedness or[dh] your mother’s nakedness—she is your mother; you must not expose her nakedness. 8 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s wife—it is your father’s nakedness. 9 As for your sister’s nakedness, whether your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home[di] or born abroad,[dj] you must not expose their nakedness. 10 As for the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, you must not expose their nakedness, because they are your nakedness. 11 As for the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, she is your sister, a relative of your father; you must not expose her nakedness. 12 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.[dk] 13 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.[dl] 14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not have sex with[dm] his wife—she is your aunt. 15 You must not expose your daughter-in-law’s nakedness; she is your son’s wife; you must not expose her nakedness. 16 You must not expose the nakedness of your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You must not expose the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, or her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter; you must not take her as wife[dn] to expose her nakedness; they are close relatives[do]—that is wickedness. 18 And you must not take as wife[dp] a woman with her sister, to be a rival-wife, to expose her nakedness before her during[dq] her life.

19 “‘And you must not have sex with[dr] a woman to expose her nakedness during[ds] her menstrual uncleanness. 20 And you must not have sex[dt] with your fellow citizen’s[du] wife, becoming unclean with her.

21 “‘And you shall not give any of[dv] your offspring[dw] in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor[dx] shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. 22 And you shall not lie with a male as lying with[dy] a woman; that is a detestable thing. 23 And you shall not have sexual relations[dz] with any animal, becoming unclean with it; and a woman shall not stand before[ea] an animal to copulate with it—that is a perversion.

24 “‘You must not make yourself unclean in any of these things, because the nations whom I am driving out from your presence were made unclean by all of these. 25 So[eb] the land became unclean, and I have brought the punishment of[ec] its guilt upon it, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But[ed] you (neither the native nor[ee] the alien who is dwelling in your midst) shall keep my statutes and my regulations, and you shall not practice[ef] any of these detestable things 27 (because the people of the land, who were before you,[eg] did all these detestable things, so the land became unclean), 28 so that the land will not vomit you out when you make it unclean just as it vomited out the nation that was before you.[eh] 29 Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, even[ei] those persons who do so shall be cut off from the midst of their people. 30 Thus[ej] you shall keep my obligation to not do any of the statutes regarding[ek] the detestable things that they did before you,[el] so that you will not make yourselves unclean by them; I am Yahweh your God.’”

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 16:1 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 16:1 Literally “before faces of”
  3. Leviticus 16:2 Or “Speak to”
  4. Leviticus 16:2 Literally “from the interior/inside to”
  5. Leviticus 16:2 Literally “to the faces of”
  6. Leviticus 16:3 Literally “a bull a son of cattle”
  7. Leviticus 16:4 Literally “a tunic of linen of holiness”
  8. Leviticus 16:4 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  9. Leviticus 16:4 Supplied from context in the English translation
  10. Leviticus 16:4 Or “and”
  11. Leviticus 16:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  12. Leviticus 16:7 Literally “to the faces of”
  13. Leviticus 16:8 Or “And”
  14. Leviticus 16:9 Literally “do” or “make”
  15. Leviticus 16:10 Or “And”
  16. Leviticus 16:10 Literally “to the faces of”
  17. Leviticus 16:11 Or “and”
  18. Leviticus 16:12 Hebrew “the”
  19. Leviticus 16:12 Literally “burning charcoal of fire”
  20. Leviticus 16:12 Literally “to the faces of”
  21. Leviticus 16:12 Literally “the fullness of the hollow of his hands”
  22. Leviticus 16:12 Literally “from the interior/inside of”
  23. Leviticus 16:13 Literally “to the faces of”
  24. Leviticus 16:13 Literally “testimony”
  25. Leviticus 16:14 Literally “from”
  26. Leviticus 16:14 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  27. Leviticus 16:14 Literally “to the faces of”
  28. Leviticus 16:14 Literally “from”
  29. Leviticus 16:15 Literally “from the interior/inside of”
  30. Leviticus 16:15 Hebrew “to”
  31. Leviticus 16:15 Literally “to the faces of”
  32. Leviticus 16:16 Or “And”
  33. Leviticus 16:16 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  34. Leviticus 16:17 Literally “any man not”
  35. Leviticus 16:18 Or “And”
  36. Leviticus 16:18 Literally “to the faces of”
  37. Leviticus 16:18 Literally “from”
  38. Leviticus 16:18 Literally “from”
  39. Leviticus 16:18 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  40. Leviticus 16:19 Literally “from”
  41. Leviticus 16:19 Literally “he shall consecrate”
  42. Leviticus 16:19 Literally “of the sons/children of Israel”
  43. Leviticus 16:20 Or “and”
  44. Leviticus 16:21 Literally “of the sons/of the children of Israel”
  45. Leviticus 16:21 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  46. Leviticus 16:21 Literally “by the hand of”
  47. Leviticus 16:21 Or “at hand”
  48. Leviticus 16:22 Or “And”
  49. Leviticus 16:22 Literally “a land of separation” or “a land of infertility”
  50. Leviticus 16:24 Literally “he shall do” or “he shall make”
  51. Leviticus 16:26 Literally “after thus”
  52. Leviticus 16:27 Literally “to from an outside place of the camp”
  53. Leviticus 16:28 Literally “after thus”
  54. Leviticus 16:29 Literally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
  55. Leviticus 16:29 Or “and”
  56. Leviticus 16:30 Literally “to the faces of”
  57. Leviticus 16:31 Literally “a Sabbath of ‘Sabbathation.’” “Sabbathation” is not a real word, but it is devised as an attempt to convey the sounds of the related nouns in the Hebrew phrase
  58. Leviticus 16:31 Literally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
  59. Leviticus 16:32 Literally “filled his hand”
  60. Leviticus 16:32 Or “and”
  61. Leviticus 16:34 Literally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
  62. Leviticus 16:34 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  63. Leviticus 17:1 Or “And”
  64. Leviticus 17:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  65. Leviticus 17:3 Literally “A man a man”
  66. Leviticus 17:3 Literally “from an outside place of the camp”
  67. Leviticus 17:4 Literally “to the faces of”
  68. Leviticus 17:4 Or “and”
  69. Leviticus 17:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  70. Leviticus 17:5 Literally “on the faces of the field”
  71. Leviticus 17:5 Or “they shall bring”
  72. Leviticus 17:6 Literally “turn into smoke”
  73. Leviticus 17:7 Literally “not they may sacrifice again”
  74. Leviticus 17:7 Literally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
  75. Leviticus 17:7 Literally “to”
  76. Leviticus 17:8 Literally “A man a man”
  77. Leviticus 17:8 Or “and”
  78. Leviticus 17:9 Literally “do” or “make”
  79. Leviticus 17:9 Or “and”
  80. Leviticus 17:10 Literally “a man a man”
  81. Leviticus 17:10 Or “and”
  82. Leviticus 17:10 Or “and”
  83. Leviticus 17:11 Or “Because”
  84. Leviticus 17:12 Literally “Unto thus”
  85. Leviticus 17:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  86. Leviticus 17:12 Literally “all of individual self from you not”
  87. Leviticus 17:12 Or “and not”
  88. Leviticus 17:13 Literally “a man a man”
  89. Leviticus 17:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  90. Leviticus 17:13 Or “and”
  91. Leviticus 17:13 Or “and”
  92. Leviticus 17:14 Or “Because”
  93. Leviticus 17:14 Or “and”
  94. Leviticus 17:14 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  95. Leviticus 17:15 Or “and”
  96. Leviticus 17:15 Or “and”
  97. Leviticus 17:15 Or “and”
  98. Leviticus 17:15 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  99. Leviticus 17:16 Or “And”
  100. Leviticus 17:16 The direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  101. Leviticus 17:16 Or “and”
  102. Leviticus 18:1 Or “And”
  103. Leviticus 18:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  104. Leviticus 18:3 Literally “do”
  105. Leviticus 18:3 Literally “do”
  106. Leviticus 18:4 Literally “do”
  107. Leviticus 18:4 Or “keep”
  108. Leviticus 18:5 Or “keep”
  109. Leviticus 18:5 Literally “which the man does them and he shall live in them”
  110. Leviticus 18:6 Literally “a man a man … not”
  111. Leviticus 18:6 Literally “the flesh of his body”
  112. Leviticus 18:7 Or “and”
  113. Leviticus 18:9 Literally “a relative of house”
  114. Leviticus 18:9 Literally “a relative of an outside place”
  115. Leviticus 18:12 Literally “the flesh of your father”
  116. Leviticus 18:13 Literally “the flesh of your mother”
  117. Leviticus 18:14 Literally “approach”
  118. Leviticus 18:17 The verb לקח is used to speak of marrying (“taking a wife”)
  119. Leviticus 18:17 Literally “flesh”; see vv. 6, 12, 13
  120. Leviticus 18:18 The verb לקח is used to speak of marrying (“taking a wife”)
  121. Leviticus 18:18 Literally “in”
  122. Leviticus 18:19 Literally “approach”
  123. Leviticus 18:19 Literally “in”
  124. Leviticus 18:20 Literally “you shall not give your lying down for semen”
  125. Leviticus 18:20 Or “neighbor’s”
  126. Leviticus 18:21 Literally “from”
  127. Leviticus 18:21 Or “descendants”
  128. Leviticus 18:21 Or “and not”
  129. Leviticus 18:22 Literally “of”
  130. Leviticus 18:23 Literally “give your lying down”
  131. Leviticus 18:23 Literally “to the faces of”
  132. Leviticus 18:25 Or “And”
  133. Leviticus 18:25 Literally “I have visited”
  134. Leviticus 18:26 Or “And”
  135. Leviticus 18:26 Or “and”
  136. Leviticus 18:26 Literally “do”
  137. Leviticus 18:27 Literally “to the faces of you”
  138. Leviticus 18:28 Literally “to the faces of you”
  139. Leviticus 18:29 Or “and”
  140. Leviticus 18:30 Or “And”
  141. Leviticus 18:30 Literally “of”
  142. Leviticus 18:30 Literally “to the faces of you”
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Leviticus 15
Leviticus 19
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