Leviticus 16:1–16

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

16The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presenceⁱ of the Lord and died.^{j 2}The Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place^k behind the curtain^l in front of the mercy seat^m on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloudⁿ above the mercy seat.^o

³“Aaron is to enter the most holy place^p in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.^{q 4}He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He is to tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban.^r These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them. ⁵He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.^s

⁶“Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸After Aaron casts lots^t for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for an uninhabitable place,^{a 9}he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering.^{b 10}But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness^c for an uninhabitable place.

¹¹“When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering. ¹²Then he is to take a firepan full of blazing coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense,^d and bring them inside the curtain.^{e 13}He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud^f of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony,^g or else he will die.^{h 14}He is to take some of the bull’s bloodⁱ and sprinkle it with his finger against the east side of the mercy seat; then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times.^j

¹⁵“When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the curtain, he will do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. ¹⁶He will make atonement for the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts.^k He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities.