Leviticus 16–18

The Day of Atonement

16The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence ^tof ^uthe Lord and died. ^v2The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place ^wbehind the veil ^xin front of the mercy seat ^yon the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud ^zabove the mercy seat. ^a

³“Aaron is to enter the most holy place ^bin this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ^c4He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He must tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban. ^dThese 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. ^e

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 ^ffor the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for azazel, ^gh9he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. ⁱ¹⁰But the goat chosen by lot for azazel ^jis to be presented alive before the Lord to make purification with it by sending it into the wilderness ^kfor azazel.

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 must take a firepan full of fiery coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, ^land bring them inside the veil. ^m13He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud ⁿof incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony, ^oor else he will die. ^p14He is to take some of the bull’s blood ^qand 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. ^r

¹⁵“When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the veil, he must 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 purify the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts. ^sHe will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities. ¹⁷No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the most holy place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel. ^t18Then he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on the horns on all sides of the altar. ¹⁹He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and set it apart ^ufrom the Israelites’ impurities. ^v

²⁰“When he has finished purifying the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. ²¹Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess ^wover it all the Israelites’ wrongdoings ^xand rebellious acts—all their sins. ^yHe is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness ^zby the man appointed for the task. ^a22The goat will carry on it all their wrongdoings into a desolate land, ^band he will release it there.

²³“Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments ^che wore when he entered the most holy place, and leave them there. ²⁴He will bathe his body with water in a holy place ^dand put on his clothes. ^eThen he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering; he will make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶The man who released the goat for azazel ^fis to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; afterward he may reenter the camp. ²⁷The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the most holy place to make atonement, must be brought outside the camp ^gand their hide, ^hflesh, and dung burned up. ⁱ²⁸The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

²⁹“This is to be a permanent statute ^jfor you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial ^kland do no work, ^mboth the native and the foreigner ⁿwho resides among you. ³⁰Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, ^oand you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹It is a Sabbath ^pof complete rest for you, ^qand you must practice self-denial; it is a permanent statute. ³²The priest who is anointed and ordained ^rsto serve as high priest ^tin place of his father will make atonement. He will put on the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³and purify the most holy place. He will purify the tent of meeting and the altar and will make atonement for the priests and all the people of the assembly. ³⁴This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once a year ^ubecause of all their sins.” And all this was done as the Lord commanded Moses.

Forbidden Sacrifices

17The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: ³Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters ^van ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before His tabernacle—that person will be considered guilty. ^wxHe has shed blood ^yand must be cut off from his people. ^z5This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices ^athey have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices ^bto the Lord. ⁶The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the Lord’s altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons ^cthat they have prostituted ^dthemselves with. This will be a permanent statute ^efor them throughout their generations.

⁸“Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners ^fwho live among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person must be cut off from his people.

Eating Blood and Carcasses Prohibited

¹⁰“Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who live among them who eats any blood, ^gI will turn ^hagainst that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. ¹¹For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for ⁱyour lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement. ^j12Therefore I say to the Israelites: None of you and no foreigner who lives among you may eat blood.

¹³“Any Israelite or foreigner living among them, who hunts ^kdown a wild animal or bird that may be eaten must drain its blood ^land cover it with dirt. ¹⁴Since the life of every creature is its blood, I have told the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any creature, ^mbecause the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.

¹⁵“Every person, whether the native or the foreigner, ⁿwho eats an animal that died a natural death or was mauled by wild beasts ^ois to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening; then he will be clean. ¹⁶But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will bear his punishment.”

Prohibited Pagan Practices

18Yahweh spoke to Moses: ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am Yahweh your God. ^p3Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, ^qwhere you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, ^rwhere I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs. ^s4You are to practice My ordinances ^tand you are to keep My statutes ^uby following them; I am Yahweh your God. ⁵Keep My statutes and ordinances; a person will live ^vif he does them. ^wI am Yahweh.

⁶“You are not to come near ^xany close relative ^yfor sexual intercourse; ^zI am Yahweh. ⁷You are not to shame your father ^aby having sex with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual intercourse with her. ⁸You are not to have sex with your father’s wife; ^bit will shame your father. ^c9You are not to have sexual intercourse with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s, ^dwhether born at home or born elsewhere. You are not to have sex with her. ¹⁰You are not to have sexual intercourse with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, because it will shame your family. ^e11You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife’s daughter, ^fwho is adopted by ^gyour father; she is your sister. ¹²You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; ^hshe is your father’s close relative. ¹³You are not to have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, ⁱfor she is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴You are not to shame your father’s brother by coming near his wife to have sexual intercourse; she is your aunt. ^j15You are not to have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law. ^kShe is your son’s wife; you are not to have sex with her. ¹⁶You are not to have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; it will shame your brother. ^l17You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter. ^mYou are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sex with her. They are close relatives; it is…