Leviticus 16–18

The Day of Atonement

16The Lord spoke to Moses after ^cthe death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, ²and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to ^dcome at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For ^eI will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: ^fwith a bull from the herd for a sin offering and ^ga ram for a burnt offering. ⁴He shall put on ^hthe holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. ⁱHe shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. ⁵And he shall take from ^jthe congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶“Aaron shall ^koffer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall ^lmake atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁸And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for ^mAzazel.^{1 9}And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, ¹⁰but the goat on which the lot fell for ^mAzazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to ^mAzazel.

¹¹“Aaron shall present ^kthe bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. ¹²And he shall take ⁿa censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil ^13oand put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover ^pthe mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. ¹⁴And ^qhe shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

^15r“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood ^sinside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶Thus he shall ^tmake atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. ^17uNo one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸Then he shall go out to the altar that is ^vbefore the Lord and ^wmake atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. ¹⁹And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

²⁰“And when he has made an end of ^xatoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall ^yput them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. ²²The goat shall ^zbear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and ^ahe shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

²³“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and ^bshall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. ²⁴And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and ^coffer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵And ^dthe fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. ²⁶And he who lets the goat go to ^eAzazel shall wash his clothes and ^fbathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. ^27gAnd the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. ²⁸And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

²⁹“And it shall be a statute to you forever that ^hin the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall ⁱafflict yourselves² and shall do no work, either ^jthe native or the stranger who sojourns among you. ³⁰For on this day shall atonement be made for you ^kto cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. ^31lIt is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall ⁱafflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. ^32mAnd the priest who is anointed and ⁿconsecrated as priest in his father’s place ^oshall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. ³³He shall make atonement for ^pthe holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for ^qthe altar, and he shall make atonement for ^rthe priests and for ^sall the people of the assembly. ³⁴And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel ^tonce in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron³ did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Place of Sacrifice

17And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. ³If any one of the house of Israel ^ukills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, ⁴and ^vdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man ^wshall be cut off from among his people. ⁵This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice ^xin the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them ^yas sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶And the priest shall ^ythrow the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat ^zfor a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they ^awhore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

⁸“And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who ^boffers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹and ^cdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, ^wthat man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

¹⁰“If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them ^deats any blood, I will ^eset my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ^11fFor the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar ^gto make atonement for your souls, ^hfor it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. ¹²Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

¹³“Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall ⁱpour out its blood and ^jcover it with earth. ¹⁴For the life of every creature¹ is its ^kblood: its blood is its life.² Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. ^15lAnd every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, ^mwhether he is a native or a sojourner, ⁿshall wash his clothes and ^obathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. ¹⁶But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, ^phe shall bear his iniquity.”

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^qI am the Lord your God. ^3rYou shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and ^syou shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. ^4tYou shall follow my rules¹ and keep my statutes and walk in them. ^qI am the Lord your God. ^5tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; ^uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. ^7vYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^8wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9xYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. ¹⁰You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. ¹¹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. ¹²You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister,…