Leviticus 16:1-19

Easy-to-Read Version

The Day of Atonement

16 Two of Aaron’s sons died while offering incense to the Lord.^[a] After that time, the Lord spoke to Moses. ² The Lord said, “Talk to your brother Aaron. Tell him that he cannot go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place anytime he wants to. The mercy-cover is in the room behind that curtain on top of the Holy Box, and I appear in a cloud over that mercy-cover. If Aaron goes into that room, he will die!

³ “Before Aaron enters the Most Holy Place, he will offer a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ Aaron will wash his whole body with water and put on the special clothes. He will put on the linen underwear next to his body, the linen robe, the linen belt, and then he will put the linen turban on his head.

⁵ “From the whole community of Israel, Aaron will accept two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ Then he will offer the bull for the sin offering. This sin offering is for himself. He will do this to purify^[b] himself and his family.

⁷ “Then Aaron will take the two goats and bring them before the Lord at the doorway of the Meeting Tent. ⁸ Aaron will throw lots for the two goats. One lot will be for the Lord. The other lot will be for Azazel.^[c]

⁹ “Then Aaron will offer the goat chosen by the lot for the Lord. Aaron will make this goat a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat chosen by the lot for Azazel will be brought alive before the Lord. Then this goat will be sent out to Azazel in the desert. This is to make the people pure.

¹¹ “Then Aaron will offer the bull as a sin offering for himself. He will purify himself and his family. He will kill the bull for the sin offering for himself. ¹² Then he will take a firepan full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord. Aaron will take two handfuls of sweet incense that has been ground into powder and take it into the room behind the curtain. ¹³ He will put the incense on the fire before the Lord. Then the cloud of incense will hide the mercy-cover that is over the Box that holds the Agreement.^[d] This way Aaron will not die. ¹⁴ Aaron will dip his finger into the bull’s blood and sprinkle it on the front of the Holy Box. Then he will sprinkle the blood seven times onto the front of the mercy-cover.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron will kill the goat of the sin offering for the people. He will bring this goat’s blood into the room behind the curtain. He will do with the goat’s blood as he did with the bull’s blood. He will sprinkle the goat’s blood on the mercy-cover and in front of it. ¹⁶ In this way Aaron will purify the Most Holy Place from all the uncleanness and sins of the Israelites. He will also purify the Meeting Tent, because it stands in the middle of people whose sins have made them unclean.

¹⁷ “No one must be in the Meeting Tent when Aaron goes in to purify the Most Holy Place. No one is to go in there until Aaron comes out after purifying himself, his family, and all the Israelites. ¹⁸ Then Aaron will go out to the altar that is before the Lord. Aaron will make the altar pure. He will take some of the blood from the bull and from the goat and put it on the corners of the altar on all four sides. ¹⁹ Then he will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it on the altar seven times. In this way Aaron will make the altar holy and clean from all the sins of the Israelites.