Beginning

The Day When Sin Is Paid For

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after two of Aaron’s sons had died. They were the sons who died when they came near the Lord. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to your brother Aaron. Tell him not to come into the Most Holy Room just anytime he wants to. Tell him not to come behind the curtain in front of the cover of the ark. The cover is the place where sin is paid for. If he comes behind the curtain, he will die. That is because I appear in the cloud over the cover.

³ “Aaron must not enter the area of the Most Holy Room without bringing a sacrifice. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering. He must also bring a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on the sacred inner robe made out of linen. He must wear linen underwear next to his body. He must tie the linen belt around him. And he must put the linen turban on his head. Those are sacred clothes. So he must take a bath before he puts them on. ⁵ The community of Israel must give him two male goats and a ram. The goats are for a sin offering. The ram is for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron must offer the bull for his own sin offering. It will pay for his own sin and the sin of his whole family. ⁷ Then he must take the two goats and bring them to me at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ He must cast lots for the two goats. One lot is for me. The other is for the goat that carries the people’s sins away. ⁹ Aaron must bring the goat chosen for me by lot. He must sacrifice it for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat chosen by the other lot must remain alive. First, it must be brought in to me to pay for the people’s sins. Then, it must be sent into the desert as a goat that carries the people’s sins away.

¹¹ “Aaron must bring the bull for his own sin offering. It will pay for his own sin and the sin of his whole family. He must kill the bull for his own sin offering. ¹² He must take a shallow cup full of burning coals from the altar in my sight. He must get two handfuls of incense completely ground up. The incense must smell sweet. He must take the cup and the incense behind the curtain. ¹³ He must put the incense on the fire in my sight. The smoke from the incense will hide the cover of the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. The cover is the place where sin is paid for. Aaron must burn the incense so that he will not die. ¹⁴ He must dip his finger in the bull’s blood. He must sprinkle it on the front of the cover of the ark. He must sprinkle some in front of the cover. He must do it seven times.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron must kill the goat for the sin offering for the people. He must take its blood behind the curtain. There he must do the same thing with it as he did with the bull’s blood. He must sprinkle it on the cover of the ark. He must also sprinkle some in front of it. ¹⁶ That is how he will make the Most Holy Room pure. He must do it because the Israelites are not ‘clean.’ They have not obeyed me. They have also committed other sins. Aaron must do the same for the tent of meeting because it stands in the middle of the camp. And the camp is ‘unclean.’ ¹⁷ Aaron will go into the Most Holy Room to pay for the people’s sin. While Aaron is there, no one may be in the tent of meeting. No one may enter the tent until Aaron comes out. He will not come out until he has paid for his own sin and the sin of his whole family. He will not come out until he has also paid for the sin of the whole community of Israel.

¹⁸ “Then he will come out to the altar for burnt offerings. It is in front of the tent where the ark of the Lord is. He will make the altar pure and clean. He will take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood. Then he will put the blood on all the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar. ¹⁹ He will sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times. He will do it to make the altar pure. He will do it to set it apart from the Israelites. They are ‘unclean.’

²⁰ “Aaron will finish making the Most Holy Room pure and ‘clean.’ He will finish making the tent of meeting and the altar pure. Then he will bring out the live goat. ²¹ He must place both of his hands on its head. While he does that, he must tell me about all the sins the Israelites have committed. He must tell me about all their evil acts and the times they did not obey me. In that way he puts their sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert. The goat will be led away by a man appointed to do it. ²² The goat will carry all their sins on itself to a place where there are no people. And the man will set the goat free in the desert.

²³ “Then Aaron must go into the tent of meeting. He must take off the linen clothes he put on before he entered the Most Holy Room. He must leave them there. ²⁴ He must take a bath in the holy area. And he must put on his regular clothes. Then he will come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself. He will also sacrifice the burnt offering for the people. That will pay for his own sin and the people’s sin. ²⁵ He will also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man who sets free the goat that carries the people’s sins away must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. After that, he can come back into the camp. ²⁷ The bull and the goat for the sin offerings must be taken outside the camp. Their blood was brought into the Most Holy Room. It paid for sin. The hides, meat and guts of the animals must be burned up. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. After that, he can come back into the camp.

²⁹ “Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month you must not eat anything. You must not do any work. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders. ³⁰ On that day your sin will be paid for. You will be made pure and clean. You will be clean from all your sins in my sight. ³¹ That day is a sabbath for you. You must rest on it. You must not eat anything on that day. This is a law that will last for all time to come. ³² The high priest must pay for sin. He must make everything pure and clean. He has been anointed and prepared to become the next high priest after his father. He must put on the sacred clothes that are made out of linen. ³³ He must make the Most Holy Room, the tent of meeting and the altar pure. And he must pay for the sin of the priests and all the members of the community.

³⁴ “Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. Once a year you must pay for all the sin of the Israelites.”

So it was done, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Do Not Eat Meat With Blood in It

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons. Speak to all the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Here is what the Lord has commanded. He has said, ³ “Suppose someone sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat. They sacrifice it in the camp or outside of it. ⁴ They do it instead of bringing the animal to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They sacrifice it instead of giving it as an offering to me in front of my holy tent. Then they will be thought of as guilty of spilling blood. Because they have done that, they must be separated from their people. ⁵ The Israelites are now making sacrifices in the open fields. But they must bring their sacrifices to the priest. They must bring them to me at the entrance to the tent of meeting. There they must sacrifice them as friendship offerings. ⁶ The priest must splash the blood against my altar. It is the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He must burn the fat. Its smell will please me. ⁷ The Israelites must stop offering any of their sacrifices to statues of gods that look like goats. When they offer sacrifices to those statues, they are not faithful to me. This is a law for them that will last for all time to come.” ’

⁸ “Tell them, ‘Suppose someone offers a burnt offering or sacrifice. It does not matter whether they are an Israelite or an outsider. ⁹ And suppose they do not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to me. Then they must be separated from their people.

¹⁰ “ ‘Suppose someone eats meat that still has blood in it. It does not matter whether they are an Israelite or an outsider. I will turn against them if they eat it. I will separate them from their people. ¹¹ The life of each creature is in its blood. So I have given you the blood of animals to pay for your sin on the altar. Blood is life. That is why blood pays for your sin. ¹² So I say to the Israelites, “You must not eat meat that still has blood in it. And an outsider who lives among you must not eat it either.”

¹³ “ ‘Suppose any of you hunts any animal or bird that can be eaten. It does not matter whether you are an Israelite or an outsider. You must let the blood flow out of the animal or bird. You must cover the blood with dirt. ¹⁴ That is because every creature’s life is its blood. And that is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat any creature’s meat that still has blood in it. Every creature’s life is its blood. Anyone who eats that kind of meat must be separated from the community of Israel.”

¹⁵ “ ‘Suppose someone eats anything found dead or torn apart by wild animals. It does not matter whether they are an Israelite or an outsider. They must wash their clothes. They must take a bath. They will be “unclean” until evening. After that, they will be “clean.” ¹⁶ But suppose they do not wash their clothes. And suppose they do not take a bath. Then they will be held responsible for what they have done.’ ”

Do Not Commit Sexual Sins

18 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ Do not do what the people of Egypt do. You used to live there. And do not do what the people of Canaan do. I am bringing you into their land. Do not follow their practices. ⁴ Obey my laws. Be careful to follow my rules. I am the Lord your God. ⁵ Keep my rules and laws. The one who obeys them will benefit from living by them. I am the Lord.

⁶ “ ‘Do not have sex with any of your close relatives. I am the Lord.

⁷ “ ‘Do not bring shame on your father by having sex with your mother. Do not have sex with her. She is your mother.

⁸ “ ‘Do not have sex with any other wife of your father. That would bring shame on your father.

⁹ “ ‘Do not have sex with your sister. It does not matter whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter. It does not matter whether she was born in the same home as you were or somewhere else.

¹⁰ “ ‘Do not have sex with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter. That would bring shame on you.

¹¹ “ ‘Do not have sex with the daughter of your father’s wife. She was born to your father. She is your sister.

¹² “ ‘Do not have sex with your father’s sister. She is a close relative on your father’s side.

¹³ “ ‘Do not have sex with your mother’s sister. She is a close relative on your mother’s side.

¹⁴ “ ‘Do not bring shame on your father’s brother by having sex with his wife. She is your aunt.

¹⁵ “ ‘Do not have sex with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. Do not have sex with her.

¹⁶ “ ‘Do not have sex with your brother’s wife. That would bring shame on your brother.

¹⁷ “ ‘Do not have sex with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sex with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter. They are close relatives on her side. Having sex with them is an evil thing.

¹⁸ “ ‘Do not take your wife’s sister as another wife and have sex with her. Do not do it while your wife is still living.

¹⁹ “ ‘Do not have sex with a woman during her monthly period. She is “unclean” at that time.

²⁰ “ ‘Do not have sex with your neighbor’s wife. That would make you “unclean.”

²¹ “ ‘Do not hand over any of your children to be sacrificed to the god Molek. That would be treating my name as if it were not holy. I am the Lord your God.

²² “ ‘Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that.

²³ “ ‘Do not have sex with an animal. Do not make yourself “unclean” by doing that. A woman must not offer herself to an animal to have sex with it. That is a wrong use of sex.

²⁴ “ ‘Do not make yourselves “unclean” in any of these ways. That is how other nations became “unclean.” So I am going to drive those nations out of the land to make room for you. ²⁵ Even their land was not “clean.” So I punished it because of its sin. The land itself threw out the people who lived there. ²⁶ But you must keep my rules and my laws. You must not do any of the things I hate. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders. ²⁷ All these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you. That is how the land became “unclean.” ²⁸ If you make the land “unclean,” it will throw you out. It will get rid of you just as it got rid of the nations there before you.

²⁹ “ ‘Suppose you do any of the things I hate. Then you must be separated from your people. ³⁰ Do exactly what I require. When you arrive in Canaan, do not follow any of the practices of its people. I hate the things they do. Do not make yourselves “unclean” by doing them. I am the Lord your God.’ ”