Chronological
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord[a] and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the special curtain[b] in front of the atonement lid[c] that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement lid.
Day of Atonement Offerings
3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary—with a young bull[d] for a sin offering[e] and a ram for a burnt offering.[f] 4 He must put on a holy linen tunic,[g] linen leggings are to cover his body,[h] and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash[i] and wrap his head with a linen turban.[j] They are holy garments, so he must bathe[k] his body in water and put them on. 5 He must also take[l] two male goats[m] from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. 7 Next he must take the two goats[n] and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats,[o] one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel.[p] 9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord,[q] and he is to make it a sin offering, 10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive[r] before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away into the desert to Azazel.[s]
The Sin-Offering Sacrificial Procedures
11 “Aaron is to present the sin-offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin-offering bull which is for himself, 12 and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord[t] and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense,[u] and bring them inside the curtain.[v] 13 He must then put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the atonement lid which is above the ark of the testimony,[w] so that he will not die.[x] 14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement lid,[y] and in front of the atonement lid he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger.[z]
15 “Aaron[aa] must then slaughter the sin-offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the curtain,[ab] and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement lid and in front of the atonement lid. 16 So[ac] he is to make atonement for the Holy Place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins,[ad] and thus he is to do for the Meeting Tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities. 17 Nobody is to be in the Meeting Tent[ae] when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he goes out, and he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel.
18 “Then[af] Aaron[ag] is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take[ah] some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. 19 Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it[ai] from the impurities of the Israelites.
The Live Goat Ritual Procedures
20 “When Aaron[aj] has finished purifying the Holy Place,[ak] the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins,[al] and thus he is to put them[am] on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready.[an] 22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land,[ao] so he is to send the goat away[ap] into the desert.
The Concluding Rituals
23 “Aaron must then enter[aq] the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there. 24 Then he must bathe his body in water in the Holy Place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement[ar] on behalf of himself and the people.[as]
25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering[at] in smoke on the altar, 26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel[au] must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the Holy Place, must be brought outside the camp[av] and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up,[aw] 28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
Review of the Day of Atonement
29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you.[ax] In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves[ay] and do no work of any kind,[az] both the native citizen and the resident foreigner who lives[ba] in your midst, 30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord.[bb] 31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves.[bc] It is a perpetual statute.[bd]
32 “The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father[be] is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 33 and he is to purify[bf] the Most Holy Place,[bg] he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar,[bh] and he is to make atonement for[bi] the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you[bj] to make atonement for the Israelites for[bk] all their sins once a year.”[bl] So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.[bm]
The Slaughter of Animals
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them, ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded, 3 “Blood guilt[bn] will be accounted to any man[bo] from the house of Israel[bp] who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp,[bq] 4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent[br] to present it as[bs] an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people.[bt] 5 This is so that[bu] the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field[bv] to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent—to the priest—and sacrifice them there as peace-offering sacrifices to the Lord. 6 The priest is to splash[bw] the blood on the altar[bx] of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7 So the people[by] must no longer offer[bz] their sacrifices to the goat demons,[ca] acting like prostitutes by going after them.[cb] This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.”’[cc]
8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man[cd] from the house of Israel or[ce] from the resident foreigners who live[cf] in their[cg] midst, who offers[ch] a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it[ci] to the Lord—that person will be cut off from his people.[cj]
Prohibition against Eating Blood
10 “‘Any man[ck] from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live[cl] in their[cm] midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people,[cn] 11 for the life of every living thing[co] is in the blood.[cp] So I myself have assigned it to you[cq] on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.[cr] 12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood,[cs] and no resident foreigner[ct] who lives among you is to eat blood.
13 “‘Any man from the Israelites[cu] or from the resident foreigners[cv] who live in their[cw] midst who hunts a wild animal[cx] or a bird that may be eaten[cy] must pour out its blood and cover it with soil, 14 for the life of all flesh is its blood.[cz] So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing[da] because the life of every living thing is its blood—all who eat it will be cut off.[db]
Regulations for Eating Carcasses
15 “‘Any person[dc] who eats an animal that has died of natural causes[dd] or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a resident foreigner,[de] must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he will be clean. 16 But if he does not wash his clothes[df] and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for his iniquity.’”[dg]
Exhortation to Obedience and Life
18 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God! 3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living,[dh] and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you;[di] you must not[dj] walk in their statutes. 4 You must observe my regulations[dk] and you must be sure to walk in my statutes.[dl] I am the Lord your God. 5 So you must keep[dm] my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them.[dn] I am the Lord.
Laws of Sexual Relations
6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative[do] to have sexual relations with her.[dp] I am the Lord.[dq] 7 You must not[dr] expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual relations with your mother.[ds] She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. 8 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness.[dt] 9 You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter,[du] whether she is born in the same household or born outside it;[dv] you must not have sexual relations with either of them.[dw] 10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness.[dx] 11 You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.[dy] 12 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.[dz] 13 You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. 14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have marital relations with her.[ea] She is your aunt.[eb] 15 You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have sexual relations with her. 16 You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness.[ec] 17 You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have sexual relations with them.[ed] They are closely related to her[ee]—it is lewdness.[ef] 18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife[eg] while she is still alive,[eh] to have sexual relations with her.
19 “‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity[ei] to have sexual relations with her. 20 You must not have sexual relations[ej] with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech,[ek] so that you do not profane[el] the name of your God. I am the Lord! 22 You must not have sexual relations with a male as one has sexual relations with a woman;[em] it is a detestable act.[en] 23 You must not have sexual relations[eo] with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual relations with it;[ep] it is a perversion.[eq]
Warning against the Abominations of the Nations
24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations that I am about to drive out before you[er] have been defiled with all these things. 25 Therefore[es] the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it,[et] so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 You yourselves must obey[eu] my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner[ev] in your midst, 27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations,[ew] and the land has become unclean. 28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it[ex] just as it has vomited out the nations[ey] that were before you. 29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, that person who does them will be cut off from the midst of the people.[ez] 30 You must obey my charge not to practice any of the abominable statutes[fa] that have been done before you, so that you do not[fb] defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”
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