Leviticus 16
Legacy Standard Bible
The Day of Atonement
16 Now Yahweh spoke to Moses after (A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near the presence of Yahweh and died. 2 And Yahweh said to Moses:
“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter (B)at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the [a]mercy seat which is on the ark, so that he will not die; for (C)I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull from the herd for a (D)sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the (E)holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his [b]body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall (F)bathe his [c]body in water and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel (G)two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Then (H)Aaron shall bring near the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. 7 And he shall take the two goats and present them before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for the [d]scapegoat. 9 Then Aaron shall bring near the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot for the [e]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make (I)atonement upon it, to send it out into the wilderness as the [f]scapegoat.
11 “Then Aaron shall bring near the bull of the sin offering, (J)which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and (K)for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 And he shall take a (L)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before Yahweh and [g]two handfuls of finely ground (M)fragrant incense, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of incense may cover the (N)mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, (O)so that he will not die. 14 Moreover, (P)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it (Q)with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering (R)which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull. And he shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 (S)So he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 Now when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and (T)put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19 (U)With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it and set it apart as holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.
20 “And when he finishes making atonement for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring near the live goat. 21 Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and (V)confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions [h]in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it out into the wilderness by the hand of a man ready to do this. 22 And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an isolated land; and he shall send out the goat in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off (W)the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there. 24 (X)And he shall bathe his [i]body with water in a holy place and put on (Y)his clothes and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 And the one who sent the goat out as the [j]scapegoat (Z)shall wash his clothes and bathe his [k]body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, (AA)whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. 28 Then the (AB)one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
29 “And this shall be a perpetual statute for you: (AC)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not (AD)do any work, whether the native or the sojourner who sojourns among you; 30 for it is on this day that [l]atonement shall be made for you to (AE)cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before Yahweh. 31 It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may (AF)humble your souls; it is a perpetual statute. 32 So the priest who is anointed and [m]ordained to minister as a priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on (AG)the linen garments, the holy garments, 33 and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for (AH)the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 Now you shall have this as a (AI)perpetual statute, to (AJ)make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so he did.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 16:2 Or propitiatory seat, place of atonement; so in ch
- Leviticus 16:4 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:4 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:8 Lit goat of removal; or possibly a name: Azazel
- Leviticus 16:10 Lit goat of removal; or possibly a name: Azazel
- Leviticus 16:10 Lit goat of removal; or possibly a name: Azazel
- Leviticus 16:12 Lit the filling of the hollow of his hands
- Leviticus 16:21 Lit in addition to
- Leviticus 16:24 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:26 Lit goat of removal; or possibly a name: Azazel
- Leviticus 16:26 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:30 Lit he shall make atonement
- Leviticus 16:32 Lit whose hand is filled
Leviticus 16
Revised Standard Version
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; 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. 3 But thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and shall have the linen breeches on his body, be girded with the linen girdle, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 “And Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats, and set them before the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting; 8 and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Aza′zel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Aza′zel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Aza′zel.
11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house; he shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small; and he shall bring it within the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat which is upon the testimony, lest he die; 14 and he shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood within the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat; 16 thus he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which abides with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar round about. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat; 21 and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him to a solitary land; and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall put off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there; 24 and he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn upon the altar. 26 And he who lets the goat go to Aza′zel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned with fire. 28 And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “And it shall be a statute to you for ever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves, and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you; 30 for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute for ever. 32 And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments; 33 he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Moses did as the Lord commanded him.
Read full chapterLegacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.