Leviticus 16

God Gives Instructions for the Day of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after Aaron’s two sons died for bringing unauthorized fire before Him.

2 Tell Aaron that he cannot enter the Most Holy Place anytime he wants, or he will die. I appear in the cloud above the atonement cover.

3 When Aaron enters the sanctuary, he must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 He must put on the holy linen tunic, the linen undergarments, the linen sash, and the linen turban. He must wash his body with water before putting them on.

5 The Israelites must bring two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

Aaron Makes Atonement for Himself and His Family

6 Aaron must sacrifice the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his family.

7 Then he must take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

8 He must cast lots to decide which goat is for the Lord and which one is for Azazel, the scapegoat.

9 The goat chosen for the Lord must be sacrificed as a sin offering.

10 The scapegoat must be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement, then released into the wilderness.

Aaron Enters the Most Holy Place

11 Aaron must sacrifice the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his family.

12 He must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar and two handfuls of finely ground incense and bring them inside the Most Holy Place.

13 He must put the incense on the fire before the Lord so the cloud of incense covers the atonement cover, or he will die.

14 He must take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the atonement cover and seven times in front of it.

Aaron Makes Atonement for the People

15 Then he must sacrifice the goat for the people’s sin offering and bring its blood inside the Most Holy Place. He must sprinkle it on and in front of the atonement cover, just like he did with the bull’s blood.

16 This cleanses the Most Holy Place from the Israelites’ sins, wrongdoings, and uncleanness. He must do the same for the Tabernacle, because it sits among an unclean people.

17 No one else can be in the Tabernacle while Aaron makes atonement for himself, his family, and all the Israelites.

18 Then he must go out to the altar and make atonement for it. He must take some of the bull’s and goat’s blood and put it on the altar’s horns.

19 He must sprinkle the blood on the altar seven times with his finger to cleanse it and make it holy from the Israelites’ sins.

The Scapegoat Carries the Sins Away

20 After making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, and the altar, Aaron must bring forward the live goat.

21 He must lay both hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the Israelites’ sins and wrongdoings. Then he will send the goat away into the wilderness, carrying their sins with it.

22 The goat will take the sins to a desolate place, and someone will release it into the wilderness.

Aaron Completes the Atonement Process

23 Then Aaron must go back into the Tabernacle, take off the linen garments he wore inside the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.

24 He must wash his body in water in a holy place, put on his regular clothes, then come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people to make atonement.

25 He must burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

26 The person who released the scapegoat must wash their clothes and bathe before coming back into the camp.

27 The bull and goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place for atonement, must be taken outside the camp and burned completely.

28 The person who burns them must wash their clothes and bathe before coming back into the camp.

29 This law is permanent. On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must humble yourselves and do no work, whether you are an Israelite or a foreigner living among you.

30 On this day, atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, so you will be clean before the Lord.

31 It must be a Sabbath of rest, and you must humble yourselves. This is a permanent law.

32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as high priest after Aaron must make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments.

33 He must make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and all the people of the community.

34 This must be done once a year to make atonement for the Israelites’ sins. Moses did exactly as the Lord commanded.