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Chronological

Read the Bible in the chronological order in which its stories and events occurred.

Duration: 365 days

Leviticus 16-18

Chapter 16

The Day of Atonement. ¹^[a]After the death of Aaron’s two sons,^(A) who died when they encroached on the Lord’s presence, the Lord spoke to Moses ²and said to him: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he pleases^[b] into the inner sanctuary, inside the veil,^(B) in front of the cover on the ark, lest he die, for I reveal myself in a cloud above the ark’s cover. ³Only in this way may Aaron enter the inner sanctuary. He shall bring a bull of the herd for a purification offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴He shall wear the sacred linen tunic, with the linen pants underneath, gird himself with the linen sash and put on the linen turban.^(C) But since these vestments are sacred, he shall not put them on until he has first bathed his body in water.^(D) ⁵From the Israelite community he shall receive two male goats for a purification offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶Aaron shall offer the bull, his purification offering, to make atonement^[c] for himself and for his household. ⁷Taking the two male goats and setting them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ⁸he shall cast lots^(E) to determine which one is for the Lord and which for Azazel.^[d]^(F) ⁹The goat that is determined by lot for the Lord, Aaron shall present and offer up as a purification offering. ¹⁰But the goat determined by lot for Azazel he shall place before the Lord alive, so that with it he may make atonement by sending it off to Azazel in the desert.

¹¹Thus shall Aaron offer his bull for the purification offering, to make atonement for himself and for his family. When he has slaughtered it, ¹²he shall take a censer full of glowing embers from the altar before the Lord, as well as a double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and bringing them inside the veil, ¹³there before the Lord he shall put incense on the fire, so that a cloud of incense may shield the cover that is over the covenant, else he will die. ¹⁴Taking some of the bull’s blood, he shall sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the ark’s cover and likewise sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times in front of the cover.

¹⁵Then he shall slaughter the goat of the people’s purification offering, and bringing its blood inside the veil, he shall do with it as he did with the bull’s blood, sprinkling it on the ark’s cover and in front of it. ¹⁶Thus he shall purge the inner sanctuary^[e] of all the Israelites’ impurities and trespasses, including all their sins. He shall do the same for the tent of meeting,^(G) which is set up among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷No one else may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters the inner sanctuary to make atonement until he departs. When he has made atonement for himself and his household, as well as for the whole Israelite assembly, ¹⁸^[f]he shall come out to the altar before the Lord and purge it also. Taking some of the bull’s and the goat’s blood, he shall put it on the horns around the altar, ¹⁹and with his finger sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times.^(H) Thus he shall purify it and sanctify it from the impurities of the Israelites.

The Scapegoat. ²⁰When he has finished purging the inner sanctuary, the tent of meeting and the altar, Aaron shall bring forward the live goat. ²¹Laying both hands^[g] on its head, he shall confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and their trespasses, including all their sins, and so put them on the goat’s head.^(I) He shall then have it led into the wilderness by an attendant. ²²The goat will carry off all their iniquities to an isolated region.^(J)

When the goat is dispatched into the wilderness, ²³Aaron shall go into the tent of meeting, strip off the linen vestments he had put on when he entered the inner sanctuary, and leave them in the tent of meeting. ²⁴After bathing his body with water in a sacred place, he shall put on his regular vestments, and then come out and offer his own and the people’s burnt offering, in atonement for himself and for the people, ²⁵and also burn the fat of the purification offering on the altar.

²⁶The man who led away the goat for Azazel shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; only then may he enter the camp. ²⁷The bull and the goat of the purification offering whose blood was brought to make atonement in the inner sanctuary, shall be taken outside the camp,^(K) where their hides and flesh and dung shall be burned in the fire. ²⁸The one who burns them shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; only then may he enter the camp.

The Fast. ²⁹^(L)This shall be an everlasting statute for you: on the tenth day of the seventh month every one of you, whether a native or a resident alien, shall humble yourselves^[h] and shall do no work. ³⁰For on this day atonement is made for you to make you clean; of all your sins you will be cleansed before the Lord. ³¹It shall be a sabbath of complete rest for you, on which you must humble yourselves—an everlasting statute.

³²This atonement is to be made by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to the priesthood in succession to his father. He shall wear the linen garments, the sacred vestments, ³³and purge the most sacred part of the sanctuary, as well as the tent of meeting, and the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and all the people of the assembly. ³⁴This, then, shall be an everlasting statute for you: once a year atonement shall be made on behalf of the Israelites for all their sins. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him.

IV. Holiness Laws

Chapter 17

Sacredness of Blood. ¹The Lord said to Moses: ²Speak to Aaron and his sons, as well as to all the Israelites, and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: ³^[i]Any Israelite who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat, whether in the camp or outside of it, ⁴without first bringing it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the Lord’s tabernacle, shall be judged guilty of bloodshed^[j]^(M)—that individual has shed blood, and shall be cut off^(N) from the people. ⁵This is so that such sacrifices as they used to offer in the open field the Israelites shall henceforth bring to the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them there as communion sacrifices to the Lord.^(O) ⁶The priest will splash the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for an odor pleasing to the Lord. ⁷No longer shall they offer their sacrifices to the demons^[k] with whom they prostituted themselves.^(P) This shall be an everlasting statute for them and their descendants.

⁸Tell them, therefore: Anyone, whether of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹without bringing it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, shall be cut off from the people. ¹⁰^(Q)As for anyone, whether of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing among them, who consumes any blood, I will set myself against that individual and will cut that person off from among the people, ¹¹since the life of the flesh is in the blood,^(R) and I have given it to you to make atonement^[l] on the altar for yourselves, because it is the blood as life that makes atonement. ¹²That is why I have told the Israelites: No one among you, not even a resident alien, may consume blood.

¹³Anyone hunting,^[m] whether of the Israelites or of the aliens residing among them, who catches an animal or a bird that may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth,^(S) ¹⁴since the life of all flesh is its blood. I have told the Israelites: You shall not consume the blood of any flesh. Since the life of all flesh is its blood, anyone who consumes it shall be cut off.

¹⁵Everyone, whether a native or an alien, who eats of an animal that died of itself or was killed by a wild beast, shall wash his garments, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening, and then become clean.^(T) ¹⁶If one does not wash his garments and bathe, that person shall bear the penalty.

Chapter 18

Laws Concerning Sexual Behavior. ¹The Lord said to Moses: ²Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I, the Lord, am your God.^[n] ³You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you once lived, nor shall you do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; do not conform to their customs.^(U) ⁴My decrees you shall carry out, and my statutes you shall take care to follow. I, the Lord, am your God. ⁵Keep, then, my statutes and decrees, for the person who carries them out will find life^[o] through them. I am the Lord.^(V)

⁶^[p]None of you shall approach a close relative^[q] to have sexual intercourse. I am the Lord. ⁷^[r]You shall not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother.^(W) She is your own mother; you shall not have intercourse with her. ⁸You shall not have intercourse with your father’s wife, for that would be a disgrace to your father. ⁹You shall not have intercourse with your sister,^[s]^(X) your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in your own household or born elsewhere. ¹⁰You shall not have intercourse with your son’s daughter or with your daughter’s daughter,^[t] for that would be a disgrace to you. ¹¹You shall not have intercourse with the daughter whom your father’s wife bore to him in his household,^(Y) since she, too, is your sister. ¹²You shall not have intercourse with your father’s sister,^(Z) since she is your father’s relative. ¹³You shall not have intercourse with your mother’s sister, since she is your mother’s relative. ¹⁴You shall not disgrace your father’s brother by having sexual relations with his wife,^(AA) since she, too, is your aunt. ¹⁵You shall not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law;^[u]^(AB) she is your son’s wife; you shall not have intercourse with her. ¹⁶You shall not have intercourse with your brother’s wife;^[v]^(AC) that would be a disgrace to your brother. ¹⁷You shall not have intercourse with a woman and also with her daughter, nor shall you marry and have intercourse with her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter;^(AD) they are related to her. This would be shameful. ¹⁸While your wife is still living you shall not marry her sister as her rival and have intercourse with her.^(AE)

¹⁹You shall not approach a woman to have intercourse with her while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.^(AF) ²⁰You shall not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife,^[w]^(AG) defiling yourself with her. ²¹^(AH)You shall not offer any of your offspring for immolation to Molech,^[x] thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. ²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman;^(AI) such a thing is an abomination. ²³You shall not have sexual relations with an animal, defiling yourself with it; nor shall a woman set herself in front of an animal to mate with it; that is perverse.^(AJ)

²⁴Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, because by them the nations whom I am driving out of your way have defiled themselves. ²⁵And so the land has become defiled, and I have punished it for its wickedness, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants.^(AK) ²⁶You, however, must keep my statutes and decrees, avoiding all these abominations, both the natives and the aliens resident among you— ²⁷because the previous inhabitants did all these abominations and the land became defiled; ²⁸otherwise the land will vomit you out also for having defiled it, just as it vomited out the nations before you. ²⁹For whoever does any of these abominations shall be cut off from the people. ³⁰Heed my charge, then, not to observe the abominable customs that have been observed before your time, and thus become impure by them.^(AL) I, the Lord, am your God.

Footnotes

16:1–34 This is the narrative sequel of the story in chap. 10. The ritual in chapter 16 originally may have been an emergency rite in response to unexpected pollution of the sanctuary.
16:2 Not to come whenever he pleases: access to the various parts of the sanctuary is strictly controlled. Only the high priest can enter the most holy place, and only once a year. The veil: the Letter to the Hebrews makes use of the imagery of the Day of Atonement (in Hebrew Yom Kippur) to explain Jesus’ sacrifice (Hb 9:1–14, 23–28). Ark’s cover: the meaning of kappōret is not certain. It may be connected with the verb kipper “to atone, purge” (see note on v. 6) and thus refer to this part of the ark as a focus of atonement or purification.
16:6 Make atonement: the Hebrew verb kipper refers specifically to the removal of sin and impurity (cf. Ex 30:10; Lv 6:23; 8:15; 16:16, 18, 20, 27, 33; Ez 43:20, 26; 45:20), thus “to purge” in vv. 16, 18, 20, and 33, and more generally to the consequence of the sacrificial procedure, which is atonement (cf. Lv 17:11). “Atonement” is preeminently a function of the purification sacrifice, but other sacrifices, except apparently for the communion sacrifice, achieve this as well.
16:8 Azazel: a name for a demon (meaning something like “angry/fierce god”). See note on 17:7.
16:16 Inner sanctuary: this refers to the most holy room (vv. 2, 11–15). Trespasses, including all their sins: the term for “trespasses” (Heb. pesha‘im), which has overtones of rebellion, and the phrase “all their sins” indicate that even sins committed intentionally are included (such as when the sinner “acts defiantly,” as in Nm 15:30–31). This complements the scheme found in Lv 4 (see note on 4:3): intentional sins pollute the sanctuary more and penetrate even further than inadvertent sins, namely to the most holy place. The same for the tent of meeting: this rite may be that found in 4:5–7, 16–18 where blood is sprinkled in the anterior room and blood is placed on the horns of the incense altar there. Cf. Ex 30:10.
16:18–19 Thus a third locale in the sanctuary complex, the open-air altar, is purified. See the summaries in 16:20, 33.
16:21 Both hands: this gesture is for transferring sins to the head of the goat and is apparently different in meaning from the one-handed gesture that precedes the slaughtering of sacrificial animals (1:4; 3:2; 4:4; see note on 1:4).
16:29 Humble yourselves: also v. 31. The idiom used here (Heb. ’innâ nephesh) involves mainly fasting (Ps 35:13), but probably prohibits other activities such as anointing (Dn 10:3) and sexual intercourse (2 Sm 12:15–24). Such acts of self-denial display the need for divine favor. Fasting is often undertaken in times of emergency and mourning (cf. 1 Sm 14:24; 2 Sm 1:12; 3:35; cf. Mk 2:18–22).
17:3–4 Any animal slaughtered must be brought to the tent of meeting as an offering. This differs from Dt 12:15–28, which allows those living too far from the temple to slaughter an animal for food at home without offering it as a sacrifice.
17:4 Guilty of bloodshed: human beings and animals can incur blood guilt for killing human beings (cf. Gn 9:5–6); human beings can incur blood guilt for killing animals (see note on Lv 24:17–22).
17:7 Demons: for Hebrew śe‘îrîm, lit., “goats.” Like the demon Azazel (cf. 16:8, 10, 21–22), they dwell in the open country (17:5). Cf. Is 13:21; 34:14.
17:11 To make atonement: this is probably to be understood in the context of liability for shedding animal blood (cf. v. 4). Placing the blood on the altar exonerates the slaughterer from guilt for the killing. See note on 16:6.
17:13 Hunting: game animals are not permitted as offerings. One nonetheless has to treat the blood of these animals carefully by covering it with earth. Cf. Dt 12:16, 24.
18:2 I, the Lord, am your God: this declaration appears frequently elsewhere throughout chaps. 17–26, sometimes with a statement of God’s holiness or his sanctifying activity. It emphasizes the importance of the laws and the relationship of the divine lawgiver to the people.
18:5 Find life: in Dt 30:15–20 Moses sets before the people life and death. The alternatives are set out in detail in Lv 26 and Dt 28. Cf. Ez 20:11, 13, 21.
18:6–23 These laws deal with illicit sexual behavior. Lv 20:10–21 reiterates most of these cases, with penalties. Cf. also Dt 27:15–26; Ez 22:7–12. The ordering of the cases in Lv 18 seems to be: blood relatives (vv. 6–13), those related by marriage (vv. 14–18), then other cases (vv. 19–23).
18:6 Close relative: this refers to a blood relative and includes those not specifically mentioned in the list, such as one’s own daughter and a full sister. Have sexual intercourse: lit., “to uncover nakedness.”
18:7–8 Cf. the story of Reuben lying with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and Rachel’s maid (Gn 35:22; 49:4).
18:9, 11 Cf. actual or possible marriage to a half sister in Gn 20:12 and 2 Sm 13:13.
18:10 Daughter incest is found in the story of Lot (Gn 19:30–38).
18:15 Judah had intercourse with his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gn 38), but did not know her true identity until her pregnancy was discovered.
18:16 This refers to cohabiting with one’s sister-in-law not only while the brother is alive, but also after he is dead. Dt 25:5–10 allows for the marriage to the wife of a brother when that brother died without a male heir. Cf. Gn 38:6–14. It was the violation of this law of Leviticus which aroused the wrath of John the Baptist against Herod Antipas (Mt 14:4; Mk 6:18).
18:20 Adultery in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East is intercourse between a married or betrothed woman and any male. In the Bible it is generally punishable by the death of both individuals (20:10; cf. Dt 22:22–27). Intercourse with an unmarried or unbetrothed woman is not prohibited but carries responsibilities and fines (cf. Ex 22:15–16; Dt 22:28–29). Cf. Lv 19:20–22.
18:21 Immolation to Molech: the reference is to the custom of sacrificing children to the god Molech. Cf. Ez 16:20–21; 20:26, 31; 23:37. See note on Lv 20:1–5.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.