The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died.^{(A) 2} The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the cover that is upon the ark, or he will die, for I appear in the cloud upon the cover.^{(B) 3} Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a purification offering and a ram for a burnt offering.^{(C) 4} He shall put on the holy linen tunic and shall have the linen undergarments next to his body, fasten the linen sash, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy vestments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on.^{(D) 5} He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites two male goats for a purification offering and one ram for a burnt offering.^(E)

²⁰ “When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task.^{[a](A) 22} The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region, and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.^(B)

²³ “Then Aaron shall enter the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen vestments that he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there.^{(C) 24} He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his vestments; then he shall come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, making atonement for himself and for the people.^{(D) 25} The fat of the purification offering he shall turn into smoke on the altar. ²⁶ The one who sets the goat free for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward may come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull of the purification offering and the goat of the purification offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be consumed in fire.^{(E) 28} The one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward may come into the camp.