^16:20“When he has finished purifying the holy place,³⁴ the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. ^16:21Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins,³⁵ and thus he is to put them³⁶ on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready.³⁷^16:22The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land,³⁸ so he is to send the goat away³⁹ in the wilderness.

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Footnotes

34 Heb “And he shall finish from atoning the holy place.” In this case, the “holy place” etc. are direct objects of the verb “to atone” (cf. v. 33a below). In this case, therefore, the basic meaning of the verb (i.e., “to purge” or “wipe clean”) comes to the forefront. When the prepositions עַל (’al) or בֲּעַד (ba’ad) occur with the verb כִּפֶּר (kipper) the purging is almost always being done “for” or “on behalf of” priests or people (see the note on as well as R. E. Averbeck, 2:, the literature cited there, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], , for more details).
35 Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”
36 Heb “and he shall give them.”
37 The meaning of the Hebrew term עִתִּי (’itti) is uncertain. It is apparently related to עֵת (’et, “time”), and could perhaps mean either that he has been properly “appointed” (i.e., designated) for the task (e.g., and ) or “ready” (e.g., and ).
38 The Hebrew term rendered “inaccessible” derives from a root meaning “to cut off” (cf. “an isolated region”). Another possible translation would be “infertile land” (see *גָּזֵּר and cf. “a barren region”; “a desolate land.”
39 Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21] shall send the goat away.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And 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 put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and rebellious acts—all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task. The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land, and the man will release it there.

NLTNew Living Translation

“When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and the tent of assembly and the altar; then he shall present the living goat. And Aaron shall place his two hands on the living goat’s head, and he shall confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and all their transgressions for all their sins, and he shall put them on the goat’s head, and he shall send it away into the desert with a man standing ready. Thus the goat shall bear on it to a barren region all their guilt, and he shall send the goat away into the desert.

KJV 1900King James Version

And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

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