Chapter 16

Law of Atonement

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after athe death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died.

2 The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter aat any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the 1mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for bI will appear in the cloud over the 1mercy seat.

3 “Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a 1bull for a asin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 “He shall put on the aholy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his 1body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bbathe his 1body in water and put them on.

5 “He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel atwo male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 “Then aAaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.

7 “He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

8 “Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the 1scapegoat.

9 “Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering.

10 “But the goat on which the lot for the 1scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make aatonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the 1scapegoat.

11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering awhich is for himself and make atonement for himself and bfor his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.

12 “He shall take a afirepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and 1two handfuls of finely ground bsweet incense, and bring it inside the veil.

13 “He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the 1amercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, botherwise he will die.

14 “Moreover, ahe shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it bwith his finger on the 1mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the 1mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering awhich is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the 1mercy seat and in front of the 1mercy seat.

16 “aHe shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities.

17 “When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel.

18 “Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and aput it on the horns of the altar on all sides.

19 “aWith his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.

20 “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.

21 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and aconfess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions 1in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.

22 “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off athe linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there.

24 “aHe shall bathe his 1body with water in a holy place and put on bhis clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.

25 “Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

26 “The one who released the goat as the 1scapegoat ashall wash his clothes and bathe his 2body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.

27 “But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, awhose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.

28 “Then the aone who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp.

An Annual Atonement

29 “This shall be a permanent statute for you: ain the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not bdo any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you;

30 for it is on this day that 1atonement shall be made for you to acleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

31 “It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may ahumble your souls; it is a permanent statute.

32 “So the priest who is anointed and 1ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on athe linen garments, the holy garments,

33 and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for athe priests and for all the people of the assembly.

34 “Now you shall have this as a apermanent statute, to bmake atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.