16Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they had come near before^b Yahweh and they died. ²And Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell^c your brother Aaron that he should not enter at any time into the sanctuary behind^d the curtain in front of^e the atonement cover that is on the ark, so that he might not die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

³“Aaron must enter the sanctuary with this: a young bull^f as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. ⁴He must put on a holy linen tunic,^g and linen undergarments must be on his body, and he must fasten himself^h with a linen sash, and he must wrap a linen turban around his headⁱ—they are holy garments, and he shall wash his body with water, then^j he shall put them on. ⁵And he must take from the Israelites’^k community two he-goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

⁶“And Aaron shall present the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family. ⁷And he shall take the two goats, and he shall present them before^l Yahweh at the tent of assembly’s entrance. ⁸Then^m Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh and one for Azazel. ⁹And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall sacrificeⁿ it as a sin offering. ¹⁰But^o he must present alive before^p Yahweh the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell to make atonement for himself, to send it away into the desert to Azazel.

¹¹“And Aaron shall present the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family; then^q he shall slaughter the sin offering’s bull, which is for himself. ¹²And he shall take a^r censer full of burning charcoal^s from upon the altar from before^t Yahweh and two handfuls^u of incense of powdered fragrant perfumes, and he shall bring it from behind^v the curtain, ¹³and he shall put the incense on the fire before^w Yahweh so that the cloud of incense might cover the atonement cover, which is on the covenant text,^x so that he might not die. ¹⁴And he shall take some of^y the bull’s blood, and he shall spatter it^z with his finger on the atonement cover’s surface on the eastern side, and before^a the atonement cover he shall spatter some of^b the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵“And he shall slaughter the sin offering’s goat, which is for the people, and he shall bring its blood from behind^c the curtain, and he shall do with its blood as that which he did with^d the bull’s blood, and he shall spatter it on the atonement cover and before^e the atonement cover. ¹⁶Thus^f he shall make atonement for the sanctuary from the Israelites’^g impurities and from their transgressions for all their sins; and so he must do for the tent of assembly, which dwells with them in the midst of their impurities. ¹⁷And no person^h shall be in the tent of assembly when he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for his family and for all of Israel’s assembly.

¹⁸“Thenⁱ he shall go out to the altar that is before^j Yahweh, and he shall make atonement for it; and he shall take some of^k the bull’s blood and some of^l the goat’s blood, and he shall put it^m all around on the altar’s horns. ¹⁹And he shall spatter some ofⁿ the blood on it seven times with his finger, and he shall cleanse it and consecrate^o it from the Israelites’^p impurities.

²⁰“And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and the tent of assembly and the altar; then^q he shall present the living goat. ²¹And Aaron shall place his two hands on the living goat’s head, and he shall confess over it all the Israelites’^r iniquities and all their transgressions for all their sins, and he shall put them on the goat’s head, and he shall send it^s away into the desert with^t a man standing ready.^u ²²Thus^v the goat shall bear on it to a barren region^w all their guilt, and he shall send the goat away into the desert.

²³“And Aaron shall enter the tent of assembly, and he shall take off the linen garments that he put on at his coming to the sanctuary, and he shall leave them there. ²⁴And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, and he shall put on his garments and go out and sacrifice^x his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering, and so he shall make atonement for himself and for people. ²⁵And he must turn into smoke the sin offering’s fat on the altar.

²⁶“And the person who sends out the goat for Azazel shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and afterward^y he shall come to the camp. ²⁷And the sin offering’s bull and the sin offering’s goat, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall be brought outside the camp,^z and they shall burn their hide and their flesh and their offal in the fire. ²⁸And the person who burns them shall wash his garments, and he shall wash his body with water, and afterward^a he must come to the camp.

²⁹“And this shall be a lasting statute^b for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you must deny yourselves and you must not do any work, whether the native or^c the alien who is dwelling in your midst, ³⁰because on this day he shall make atonement for you to cleanse you; you must be clean from all your sins before^d Yahweh. ³¹It is a Sabbath of complete rest^e for you, and you shall deny yourselves—it is a lasting statute.^f ³²And the priest who is anointed and who is ordained^g to serve as a priest in place of his father shall make atonement; thus^h he shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³and he shall make atonement for the sanctuary’s holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of assembly and the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all of the assembly’s people. ³⁴And this shall be a lasting statuteⁱ for you to make atonement for the Israelites^j one time in a year from all their sins.” And he^k did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

The Place of Sacrifice

17Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites,^b and you shall say to them, ‘This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, ³“Any man^c from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a sheep or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp^d ⁴and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to present an offering to Yahweh before^e Yahweh’s tabernacle, then^f that man shall be accounted bloodguilty—he has poured out blood, and that man shall be cut off from the midst of his people. ⁵This is so that the Israelites^g may bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field^h and bringⁱ them for Yahweh to the tent of assembly’s entrance to the priest, and they shall sacrifice fellowship offerings for Yahweh with them. ⁶And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the tent of assembly’s entrance, and he shall burn^j the fat as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. ⁷And they may no longer sacrifice^k their sacrifices to the goat-idols after which they were prostituting. This is a lasting statute^l for them throughout^m their generations.” ’

Instructions Against Eating Blood

⁸“And you shall say to them, ‘if there is anyoneⁿ from the house of Israel or^o from the alien who dwells in their midst who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹and he does not bring it to the tent of assembly’s entrance to sacrifice^p it for Yahweh, then^q that man shall be cut off from his people. ¹⁰And if there is anyone^r from the house of Israel or^s from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who eats any blood, then^t I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹Indeed^u the flesh’s life is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, because it is the blood with the life that makes atonement. ¹²Therefore^v I said to the Israelites,^w ‘None of you^x may eat blood, nor^y may the alien who is dwelling in your midst eat blood.’

¹³“And if there is anyone^z from the Israelites^a or^b from the alien who is dwelling in their midst who hunts a wild game animal or a bird that may be eaten, then^c he shall pour out its blood, and he shall cover it with the soil. ¹⁴Indeed,^d the life of all flesh, its blood, is in its life, so^e I said to the Israelites,^f ‘You may not eat the blood of any flesh, because the life of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.’

¹⁵“And if there is any person who eats a dead body or^g a mangled carcass, whether among the native or^h among the alien, thenⁱ he shall wash his garments, and he shall wash himself^j with water, and he shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. ¹⁶But^k if he does not wash his garments^l and he does not wash his body, then^m he shall bear his guilt.”

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the Israelites,^b and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. ³You must not carry out^c the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived, and you must not carry out^d the practices of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you; and you must not follow their statutes. ⁴You must carry out^e my regulations, and you must observe^f my statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. ⁵And you shall observe^g my statutes and my regulations by which the person doing them shall live;^h I am Yahweh.

⁶“ ‘Noneⁱ of you shall approach anyone who is his close relative^j to expose nakedness; I am Yahweh. ⁷You must not expose your father’s nakedness or^k your mother’s nakedness—she is your mother; you must not expose her nakedness. ⁸You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s wife—it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹As for your sister’s nakedness, whether your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home^l or born abroad,^m you must not expose their nakedness. ¹⁰As for the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your…

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This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Leviticus 16–18 in Logos

Footnotes

aOr “And”
bLiterally “before faces of”
cOr “Speak to”
dLiterally “from the interior/inside to”
eLiterally “to the faces of”
fLiterally “a bull a son of cattle”
gLiterally “a tunic of linen of holiness”
hThe direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
iSupplied from context in the English translation
jOr “and”
kLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
lLiterally “to the faces of”
mOr “And”
nLiterally “do” or “make”
oOr “And”
pLiterally “to the faces of”
qOr “and”
rHebrew “the”
sLiterally “burning charcoal of fire”
tLiterally “to the faces of”
uLiterally “the fullness of the hollow of his hands”
vLiterally “from the interior/inside of”
wLiterally “to the faces of”
xLiterally “testimony”
yLiterally “from”
zThe direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
aLiterally “to the faces of”
bLiterally “from”
cLiterally “from the interior/inside of”
dHebrew “to”
eLiterally “to the faces of”
fOr “And”
gLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
hLiterally “any man not”
iOr “And”
jLiterally “to the faces of”
kLiterally “from”
lLiterally “from”
mThe direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
nLiterally “from”
oLiterally “he shall consecrate”
pLiterally “of the sons/children of Israel”
qOr “and”
rLiterally “of the sons/of the children of Israel”
sThe direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
tLiterally “by the hand of”
uOr “at hand”
vOr “And”
wLiterally “a land of separation” or “a land of infertility”
xLiterally “he shall do” or “he shall make”
yLiterally “after thus”
zLiterally “to from an outside place of the camp”
aLiterally “after thus”
bLiterally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
cOr “and”
dLiterally “to the faces of”
eLiterally “a Sabbath of ‘Sabbathation.’ ” “Sabbathation” is not a real word, but it is devised as an attempt to convey the sounds of the related nouns in the Hebrew phrase
fLiterally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
gLiterally “filled his hand”
hOr “and”
iLiterally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
jLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
kAaron, in context
aOr “And”
bLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
cLiterally “A man a man”
dLiterally “from an outside place of the camp”
eLiterally “to the faces of”
fOr “and”
gLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
hLiterally “on the faces of the field”
iOr “they shall bring”
jLiterally “turn into smoke”
kLiterally “not they may sacrifice again”
lLiterally “a statute of eternity” or “a statute of long duration”
mLiterally “to”
nLiterally “A man a man”
oOr “and”
pLiterally “do” or “make”
qOr “and”
rLiterally “a man a man”
sOr “and”
tOr “and”
uOr “Because”
vLiterally “Unto thus”
wLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
xLiterally “all of individual self from you not”
yOr “and not”
zLiterally “a man a man”
aLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
bOr “and”
cOr “and”
dOr “Because”
eOr “and”
fLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
gOr “and”
hOr “and”
iOr “and”
jThe direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
kOr “And”
lThe direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
mOr “and”
aOr “And”
bLiterally “sons/children of Israel”
cLiterally “do”
dLiterally “do”
eLiterally “do”
fOr “keep”
gOr “keep”
hLiterally “which the man does them and he shall live in them”
iLiterally “a man a man … not”
jLiterally “the flesh of his body”
kOr “and”
lLiterally “a relative of house”
mLiterally “a relative of an outside place”