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 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.