16The Lord spoke to Moses after two of Aaron’s sons had died. They were the sons who died when they came near the Lord. ²The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to your brother Aaron. Tell him not to come into the Most Holy Room just anytime he wants to. Tell him not to come behind the curtain that is in front of the cover of the ark. The cover is the place where sin is paid for. If he comes behind the curtain, he will die. That is because I appear in the cloud over the cover.

³“Aaron must not enter the area of the sacred tent without bringing a sacrifice. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering. He must also bring a ram for a burnt offering.

⁴“He must put on the sacred inner robe that is made out of linen. He must wear linen underwear next to his body. He must tie the linen belt around him. And he must put on the linen turban. Those are sacred clothes. So he must take a bath before he puts them on.

⁵“The community of Israel must give him two male goats and a ram. The goats are for a sin offering. The ram is for a burnt offering.

⁶“Aaron must offer the bull for his own sin offering. It will pay for his own sin and the sin of his whole family.

⁷“Then he must take the two goats and bring them to me at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁸He must cast lots for the two goats. One lot is for me. The other is for the goat that carries the people’s sins away. ⁹Aaron must bring the goat that is chosen for me by lot. He must sacrifice it for a sin offering.

¹⁰“But the goat that is chosen by the other lot must remain alive. First it must be brought in to me to pay for the people’s sin. Then it must be sent into the desert as a goat that carries the people’s sins away.

¹¹“Aaron must bring the bull for his own sin offering. It will pay for his own sin and the sin of his whole family. He must kill the bull for his own sin offering.

¹²“He must take a shallow cup full of burning coals from the altar in my sight. He must get two handfuls of incense that is completely ground up. The incense must smell sweet. He must take the cup and the incense behind the curtain. ¹³He must put the incense on the fire in my sight. The smoke from the incense will hide the cover of the ark where the tablets of the covenant are kept. The cover is the place where sin is paid for. Aaron must burn the incense so that he will not die.

¹⁴“He must dip his finger in the bull’s blood. He must sprinkle it on the front of the cover of the ark. He must sprinkle some in front of the cover. He must do it seven times.

¹⁵“Then Aaron must kill the goat for the sin offering for the people. He must take its blood behind the curtain. There he must do the same thing with it as he did with the bull’s blood. He must sprinkle it on the cover of the ark. He must also sprinkle some in front of it.

¹⁶“That is how he will make the Most Holy Room pure. He must do it because the people of Israel are not ‘clean.’ They have not obeyed me. They have also committed other sins. Aaron must do the same for the Tent of Meeting because it stands in the middle of the camp. And the camp is not ‘clean.’

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