16TH CHAPTER

The Day for Making Peace with the Lord

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after Aaron’s two sons had come into the Lord’s presence and died. 2 The Lord said, “Tell your brother Aaron that he cannot go into the holy place whenever he wants to. If he goes up to the canopy and stands in front of the throne of mercy on the ark, he will die, because I appear in the smoke above the throne of mercy. 

3 “This is what Aaron must do in order to come into the holy place: He must take a bull as an offering for sin and a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He must put on a holy linen robe and wear linen undergarments. He must wear a linen belt and turban. These are holy clothes. He must wash his body and put them on. 5 He will take two male goats from the congregation of Israel as an offering for sin and a ram as a burnt offering. 

6 “Aaron must sacrifice the bull as his own offering for sin. By doing this, he will make peace with the Lord for himself and his family. 7 He must take the two male goats and bring them into the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 Then Aaron must throw lots for the two goats. One lot will be for the Lord and the other for Azazel.a 9 Aaron must sacrifice the goat chosen by lot for the Lord as an offering for sin. 10 But he must bring the goat chosen by lot for Azazel into the Lord’s presence. He will release it in the desert to Azazel in order to make peace with the Lord for himself and his family. 

11 “Aaron will bring the bull. He will then slaughter it as his own offering for sin. By doing this he will make peace with the Lord for himself and his family. 12 He will take an incense burner full of burning coals from the altar, which is in the Lord’s presence, and two handfuls of finely ground, sweet-smelling incense. He will bring them up to the canopy. 13 Then he will put the incense on the fire in the Lord’s presence. The cloud of incense will cover the throne of mercy, which is over the words of God’s promise, so that he will not die. 14 He will take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the throne of mercy. Then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times in front of the throne of mercy. 

15 “Next, Aaron will slaughter the goat for the people’s offering for sin. He will take the blood inside, go up to the canopy, and sprinkle it on the throne of mercy and in front of it, as he did with the bull’s blood. 16 So he will make peace with the Lord for all the sins the Israelites committed against the holy place. These sins happened because the Israelites were unclean and because they committed rebellious acts. He will do the same for the tent of meeting which is among an unclean people. 17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron enters the holy place to do this until he comes out. Aaron will make peace with the Lord for his own sins, his family’s sins, and the sins of the entire assembly of Israel. 18 Then he will go out to the altar that is in the Lord’s presence and make peace with the Lord there for the sins committed. He will take some of the blood from the bull and some of the goat’s blood and put it all around the horns of the altar. 19 With his finger he will sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times. Because the Israelites made it unclean, he will cleanse it and declare it holy. 

20 “When he finishes making peace with the Lord at the holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he will bring the living goat forward. 21 Aaron will place both hands on its head. He will confess over it all the sins, all the rebellious acts, and all the things the Israelites did wrong. He will transfer them to the goat’s head. A man will be appointed to release the goat in the desert. 22 The goat will take all their sins away to a deserted place. The man must release the goat in the desert. 

23 “Then Aaron will go to the tent of meeting, take off the linen clothes he had put on to go into the holy place, and leave them there. 24 He will wash his body in the holy place and put on his other clothes. Then he will come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and for the people to make peace with the Lord for his own sins and the sins of the people. 25 He will burn the fat of the offering for sin on the altar. 

26 “The man who released the goat to Azazel must wash his clothes and his body. Then he may return to the camp. 27 He must take the bull and the goat outside the camp. These animals were the offering for sin whose blood was brought into the holy place to make peace with the Lord for sins. The skin, meat, and excrement from the animals must be burned. 28 Whoever burns them must wash his clothes and his body. Then he may return to the camp. 

29 “This will be a permanent law for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month both native Israelites and foreigners must humble themselves. They must do no work. 30 On this day Aaron will make peace with the Lord to make you clean. Then you will be clean from all your sins in the Lord’s presence. 31 This is the most important worship festival there is for you. You will humble yourselves. It is a permanent law. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as chief priest in his father’s place will pay for sins. He will put on the holy linen clothes 33 and will make peace with the Lord at the holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar. He will make peace with the Lord for the priests and all the worshipers. 

34 “This permanent law tells you how to make peace with the Lord once a year for all the sins the Israelites committed.” 

Aaron did as the Lord had commanded Moses.