Leviticus
Chapter 16
1 God spoke to Moses after Aaron’s two sons died because they made an offering before God and passed away.
2 God told Moses to say to his brother Aaron not to come into the most holy place inside the curtain in front of the cover on the ark whenever he wanted, so that he would not die. For God would appear in the cloud over the cover.
3 Aaron must enter the sacred area with a young bull for a sin sacrifice and a ram for a burnt offering.
4 He must wear the holy linen coat, linen underclothes next to his body, be wrapped with a linen belt, and wear a linen turban. These are sacred clothes, so he must bathe his body in water before putting them on.
5 He must take two young goats from the Israelite community for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 Aaron must sacrifice his own bull for a sin offering to ask for forgiveness for himself and his family.
7 He will take two goats and bring them to God at the entrance of the meeting tent.
8 Aaron will draw lots for the two goats; one lot for God, and the other for the scapegoat.
9 Aaron must bring the goat chosen by God’s lot and sacrifice it as a sin offering.
10 The goat chosen by lot to be the scapegoat will be brought alive before God, to ask for forgiveness with it, and then it will be released into the wilderness.
11 Aaron must bring the bull for the sin offering for himself, make amends for himself and his family, and kill the bull for his own sin offering.
12 He must take a firepan full of hot coals from the altar before God and a handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and take it inside the curtain.
13 He must put the incense on the fire in front of God so that the smoke will cover the cover of the Ark where the sacred stone tablets are kept, so he will not die.
14 He must take some blood from the bull and with his finger, sprinkle it on the east side of the cover. He must also sprinkle some blood in front of the cover seven times with his finger.
15 Then he must kill the goat that is for the people’s sin offering and take its blood inside the curtain. He must do with the blood as he did with the bull’s blood and sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it.
16 He will make the holy place pure again, because of Israel’s people being unclean and their many wrongdoings; he will do the same for the meeting tent that stays with them, surrounded by their uncleanness.
17 No one will be in the meeting tent when he goes into the holy place to make atonement, until he comes out after making atonement for himself, his family, and all of Israel’s people.
18 He will go to the altar in front of God, make it right, and put some bull blood and goat blood on the altar’s horns all around.
19 He must sprinkle the blood on it seven times with his finger, make it clean, and make it holy from the Israelites’ impurity.
20 After he finishes making the holy place, the meeting tent, and the altar right with God, he will bring the live goat.
21 Aaron will place both hands on the live goat’s head and admit all the wrongs and sins of the Israelites, transferring them to the goat. Then he will send the goat away into the desert with a suitable man.
22 The goat will carry all their wrongs to an empty place, and he will release the goat in the wild.
23 Aaron will enter the meeting tent and take off the linen clothes he wore into the sacred area, leaving them there.
24 He must wash his body with water in the sacred area, get dressed, go out, give his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering, and ask for forgiveness for himself and the people.
25 He must burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26 The person who releases the goat as the scapegoat must wash their clothes, clean their body with water, and then may return to the camp.
27 Take the bull and the goat used for the sin offerings outside the camp after their blood was used for atonement in the holy place, and burn their skin, flesh, and waste in the fire.
28 The person who burns them must wash their clothes and bathe in water; then they can enter the camp.
29 This rule will always apply to you: on the seventh month’s tenth day, you must humble yourselves and not do any work, whether you’re a local or a foreigner staying with you.
30 On that day the priest will make amends for you to purify you, so you will be clean from all your sins before God.
31 It will be a restful Sabbath for you, and you must humble yourselves, by a rule for all time.
32 The priest, chosen and set apart to take over his father’s duties, will perform the atonement and wear the linen clothes, the sacred outfits.
33 He will purify the holy place, the meeting tent, the altar, the priests, and all the people in the community.
34 This rule will always apply to you: Make amends for the people of Israel for all their wrongs once every year. He followed what God told Moses to do.