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Leviticus 16
New American Standard Bible

Law of Atonement

16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after (A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. 2 The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter (B)at [a]any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the [b]atoning cover which is on the ark, or he will die; for (C)I will appear in the cloud over the [c]atoning cover. 3 Aaron shall enter the Holy Place with this: with a [d]bull as a [e](D)sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the (E)holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his [f]body, and he shall be wrapped about the waist with the linen sash and the linen turban wound around his forehead (these are holy garments). He shall (F)bathe his [g]body in water and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel (G)two male goats as a [h]sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 Then (H)Aaron shall offer the bull as the [i]sin offering, which is for himself, so that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. 7 He shall then 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 and the other lot for [j]the [k]scapegoat. 9 Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a [l]sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot for [m]the [n]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make (I)atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness [o]as the [p]scapegoat.

11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the [q]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 [r]sin offering which is for himself. 12 He shall take a (L)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and [s]two handfuls of finely ground (M)sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of incense may cover the (N)atoning cover that is on the ark of the testimony, (O)otherwise he will die. 14 Moreover, (P)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it (Q)with his finger on the atoning cover on the east side; also in front of the atoning cover 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 sprinkle it on the atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover. 16 (S)He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall do so for the tent of meeting which remains with them in the midst of their impurities. 17 When he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, so 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 the Lord and make atonement for it; he shall take some of the blood from the bull and some of the blood from 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 consecrate it from the impurities of the sons of Israel.

20 “When he finishes atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer 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 wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready. 22 Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an [t]isolated territory; he shall release 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 And (X)he shall bathe his [u]body with water in a holy place and put on (Y)his clothes, and come out 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 The one who released the goat [v]as the [w]scapegoat (Z)shall wash his clothes and bathe his [x]body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 But the bull of the [y]sin offering and the goat of the [z]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.

An Annual Atonement

29 “This shall be a permanent statute for you: (AC)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble [aa]yourselves and not (AD)do any work, whether the native, or the stranger who resides among you; 30 for it is on this day that [ab]atonement shall be made for you to (AE)cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, so that you may (AF)humble [ac]yourselves; it is a permanent statute. 32 So the priest who is anointed and [ad]ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall 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)permanent statute, to (AJ)make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 16:2 I.e., of his own choosing
  2. Leviticus 16:2 Also called mercy seat, and so throughout the ch; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
  3. Leviticus 16:2 Also called mercy seat, and so throughout the ch; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
  4. Leviticus 16:3 Or bull of the herd
  5. Leviticus 16:3 Or purification offering
  6. Leviticus 16:4 Lit flesh
  7. Leviticus 16:4 Lit flesh
  8. Leviticus 16:5 Or purification offering
  9. Leviticus 16:6 Or purification offering
  10. Leviticus 16:8 Or possibly, Azazel (a name)
  11. Leviticus 16:8 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
  12. Leviticus 16:9 Or purification offering
  13. Leviticus 16:10 Or possibly, Azazel (a name)
  14. Leviticus 16:10 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
  15. Leviticus 16:10 Or possibly, for Azazel
  16. Leviticus 16:10 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
  17. Leviticus 16:11 Or purification offering
  18. Leviticus 16:11 Or purification offering
  19. Leviticus 16:12 Lit the filling of the hollow of his hands
  20. Leviticus 16:22 Or infertile
  21. Leviticus 16:24 Lit flesh
  22. Leviticus 16:26 Or possibly, for Azazel (a name)
  23. Leviticus 16:26 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
  24. Leviticus 16:26 Lit flesh
  25. Leviticus 16:27 Or purification offering
  26. Leviticus 16:27 Or purification offering
  27. Leviticus 16:29 Lit your souls
  28. Leviticus 16:30 Lit he shall make atonement
  29. Leviticus 16:31 Lit your souls
  30. Leviticus 16:32 Lit whose hand is filled
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Leviticus 16
International Standard Version

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they had approached the Lord and died. 2 The Lord told Moses, “Remind[a] your brother Aaron that at no time is he to enter the sacred place from the room that contains the curtain into the presence of the Mercy Seat[b] on top of the ark. Otherwise, he’ll die, because I will appear in a cloud at the Mercy Seat. 3 Aaron is to enter the sacred place with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering. 4 He is to wear a sacred linen tunic and linen undergarments that will cover his genitals. He is to clothe himself with a sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. Because they are sacred garments, he is to wash himself with water before putting them on.”

The Atonement and Scapegoat Lots

5 “He is to take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a whole burnt offering from the assembly of the Israelis. 6 Then Aaron is to bring the bull as a sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he is to take the two male goats and present them in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8 Aaron is to cast lots over the two male goats—one lot for the Lord and the other one for the scapegoat.[c] 9 Aaron is then to bring the male goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and offer it as a sin offering. 10 The male goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat is to be brought alive into the Lord’s presence to make atonement for himself. Then he is to send it into the wilderness.”

The Sin Offering

11 “Aaron is then to bring the bull for a sin offering for himself, thus making atonement for himself and his household. He is to slaughter the ox for himself. 12 Then he is to take a censer and fill it with coals from the fire on the altar in the Lord’s presence. With his hands full of spiced and refined incense, he is to bring it beyond the curtain.

13 “Then he is to place the incense over the fire in the Lord’s presence, ensuring that the smoke[d] from the incense covers the Mercy Seat, according to regulation, so he won’t die. 14 He is to take blood from the ox and sprinkle it with his forefinger toward the surface of the Mercy Seat. Then he is to sprinkle the blood on the surface of the Mercy Seat with his forefinger seven times.

15 “He is to slaughter the male goat as a sin offering for the people and bring its blood beyond the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat—that is, over the surface of the Mercy Seat. 16 Then he is to make atonement on the sacred[e] place on account of the uncleanness of the Israelis, their transgressions, and all their sins. This is how he is to act in the Tent of Meeting, which will remain with them in the middle of their uncleanness.

17 “No person[f] is to be there when he enters the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the sacred place, until he comes out and has made atonement on account of himself, his household, and the entire assembly of Israel. 18 When he goes to the altar in the Lord’s presence to make atonement for himself, he is to take some of the blood from the bull and the male goat, place it around the horns of the altar, 19 and sprinkle it with the blood on his forefinger seven times, cleansing and sanctifying it from Israel’s sins.”

The Scapegoat Offering

20 “When he has completed making atonement at the sacred place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, then he is to present the live male goat. 21 Aaron is to lay his two hands upon the head of the male goat and confess over it the sins of Israel, all their transgressions, and all their sins, thus placing them on the head of the male goat that he’ll then send out to the wilderness by the hand of a man capable of carrying out this task.[g] 22 The male goat will bear on itself all their sins to a solitary land as Aaron sends the goat out to the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off his white linen clothes that he had put on when he entered the sacred place, and leave them there. 24 He is to wash his body with water at the sacred place and put on his clothes. Then he is to go out and offer a whole burnt offering for himself and a whole burnt offering for the people, thereby making atonement on account of himself and on account of the people.

25 “As to the fat from the burnt offering, he is to incinerate it on the altar. 26 The one who sent away the male goat as a scapegoat[h] is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water. After doing so, he may enter the camp.

27 “The bull for the sin offering and the male goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the sacred place, are to be taken outside the camp. Their skin, meat, and offal are to be incinerated. 28 The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water. After doing so, he may enter the camp.”

The Perpetual Statute

29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you (including both the native born and the resident alien) are to humble yourselves by not doing any work, 30 because on that day, atonement will be made[i] for you to cleanse you from all your sins. You are to be clean in the Lord’s presence. 31 It’s the Sabbath of all Sabbaths for you, so humble yourselves. This is to be a perpetual statute. 32 The priest who has been anointed and consecrated to be priest after his father is to make the atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen clothing 33 and make atonement for the sacred sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar where atonement is carried out. He is also to make atonement for the priests and the people of the entire assembly. 34 This will be a perpetual statute for you as you make atonement once a year for the Israelis on account of all their sins.”

So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded him.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 16:2 Lit. Tell
  2. Leviticus 16:2 Lit. atonement place; and so throughout the book
  3. Leviticus 16:8 So with LXX; MT reads for Azazel; i.e. the goat that will be sent away
  4. Leviticus 16:13 Lit. cloud
  5. Leviticus 16:16 Or holy
  6. Leviticus 16:17 Lit. man
  7. Leviticus 16:21 The Heb. lacks of carrying out this task
  8. Leviticus 16:26 So with LXX; MT reads for Azazel; i.e. the goat that will be sent away
  9. Leviticus 16:30 Lit. day, he will make atonement
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Leviticus 15
Leviticus 17
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