Leviticus 16
New American Standard Bible
Law of Atonement
16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after (A)the 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 (B)at [a]any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the [b]atoning cover which is on the ark, or he will die; for (C)I will appear in the cloud over the [c]atoning cover. 3 Aaron shall enter the Holy Place with this: with a [d]bull as a [e](D)sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the (E)holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his [f]body, and he shall be wrapped about the waist with the linen sash and the linen turban wound around his forehead (these are holy garments). He shall (F)bathe his [g]body in water and put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel (G)two male goats as a [h]sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 Then (H)Aaron shall offer the bull as the [i]sin offering, which is for himself, so that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. 7 He shall then 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 [j]the [k]scapegoat. 9 Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a [l]sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot for [m]the [n]scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make (I)atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness [o]as the [p]scapegoat.
11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the [q]sin offering (J)which is for himself and make atonement for himself and (K)for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the [r]sin offering which is for himself. 12 He shall take a (L)firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and [s]two handfuls of finely ground (M)sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of incense may cover the (N)atoning cover that is on the ark of the testimony, (O)otherwise he will die. 14 Moreover, (P)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it (Q)with his finger on the atoning cover on the east side; also in front of the atoning cover he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, (R)which 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 atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover. 16 (S)He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall do so for the tent of meeting which remains 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, so 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; he shall take some of the blood from the bull and some of the blood from the goat, and (T)put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19 (U)With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and consecrate it from the impurities of the sons of Israel.
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 (V)confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready. 22 Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an [t]isolated territory; he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off (W)the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And (X)he shall bathe his [u]body with water in a holy place and put on (Y)his clothes, and come out 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 [v]as the [w]scapegoat (Z)shall wash his clothes and bathe his [x]body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 But the bull of the [y]sin offering and the goat of the [z]sin offering, (AA)whose 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 (AB)one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; and afterward he shall come into the camp.
An Annual Atonement
29 “This shall be a permanent statute for you: (AC)in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble [aa]yourselves and not (AD)do any work, whether the native, or the stranger who resides among you; 30 for it is on this day that [ab]atonement shall be made for you to (AE)cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, so that you may (AF)humble [ac]yourselves; it is a permanent statute. 32 So the priest who is anointed and [ad]ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall put on (AG)the 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 (AH)the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 Now you shall have this as a (AI)permanent statute, to (AJ)make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 16:2 I.e., of his own choosing
- Leviticus 16:2 Also called mercy seat, and so throughout the ch; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
- Leviticus 16:2 Also called mercy seat, and so throughout the ch; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
- Leviticus 16:3 Or bull of the herd
- Leviticus 16:3 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:4 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:4 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:5 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:6 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:8 Or possibly, Azazel (a name)
- Leviticus 16:8 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
- Leviticus 16:9 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:10 Or possibly, Azazel (a name)
- Leviticus 16:10 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
- Leviticus 16:10 Or possibly, for Azazel
- Leviticus 16:10 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
- Leviticus 16:11 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:11 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:12 Lit the filling of the hollow of his hands
- Leviticus 16:22 Or infertile
- Leviticus 16:24 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:26 Or possibly, for Azazel (a name)
- Leviticus 16:26 I.e., the goat that leaves (escapes); or goat of removal of sins
- Leviticus 16:26 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 16:27 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:27 Or purification offering
- Leviticus 16:29 Lit your souls
- Leviticus 16:30 Lit he shall make atonement
- Leviticus 16:31 Lit your souls
- Leviticus 16:32 Lit whose hand is filled
Leviticus 16
King James Version
16 And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died;
2 And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.
4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:
12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:
13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 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:
21 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:
22 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.
23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:
24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.
25 And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.
26 And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.
27 And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:
33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16
Living Bible
16 1-2 After Aaron’s two sons died before the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother Aaron not to enter into the Holy Place behind the veil, where the Ark and the place of mercy are, just whenever he chooses. The penalty for intrusion is death. For I myself am present in the cloud above the place of mercy.
3 “Here are the conditions for his entering there: He must bring a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He must bathe himself and put on the sacred linen coat, shorts, belt, and turban. 5 The people of Israel shall then bring him two male goats for their sin offering, and a ram for their burnt offering. 6 First he shall present to the Lord the young bull as a sin offering for himself, making atonement for himself and his family. 7 Then he shall bring the two goats before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, 8 and cast lots to determine which is the Lord’s and which is to be sent away.[a] 9 The goat allotted to the Lord shall then be sacrificed by Aaron as a sin offering. 10 The other goat shall be kept alive and placed before the Lord. The rite of atonement shall be performed over it, and it shall then be sent out into the desert as a scapegoat.
11 “After Aaron has sacrificed the young bull as a sin offering for himself and his family, 12 he shall take a censer full of live coals from the altar of the Lord, and fill his hands with sweet incense beaten into fine powder, and bring it inside the veil. 13 There before the Lord he shall put the incense upon the coals, so that a cloud of incense will cover the mercy place above the Ark (containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments); thus he will not die. 14 And he shall bring some of the blood of the young bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the east side of the mercy place, and then seven times in front of it.
15 “Then he must go out[b] and sacrifice the people’s sin offering goat, and bring its blood within the veil, and sprinkle it upon the place of mercy and in front of it, just as he did with the blood of the young bull. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the holy place because it is defiled by the sins of the people of Israel, and for the Tabernacle, located right among them and surrounded by their defilement. 17 Not another soul shall be inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters to make atonement in the Holy Place—not until after he comes out again and has made atonement for himself and his household and for all the people of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar before the Lord and make atonement for it. He must smear the blood of the young bull and the goat on the horns of the altar, 19 and sprinkle blood upon the altar seven times with his finger, thus cleansing it from the sinfulness of Israel and making it holy.[c]
20 “When he has completed the rite of atonement for the Holy Place, the entire Tabernacle, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat and, 21 laying both hands upon its head, confess over it all the sins of the people of Israel. He shall lay all their sins upon the head of the goat and send it into the desert, led by a man appointed for the task. 22 So the goat shall carry all the sins of the people into a land where no one lives,[d] and the man shall let it loose in the wilderness.
23 “Then Aaron shall go into the Tabernacle again and take off the linen garments he wore when he went behind the veil, and leave them there in the Tabernacle. 24 Then he shall bathe in a sacred place, put on his clothes again, and go out and sacrifice his own burnt offering for the people, making atonement for himself and for them. 25 He shall also burn upon the altar the fat for the sin offering.
26 “The man who took the goat out into the desert[e] shall afterwards wash his clothes and bathe himself and then come back into the camp. 27 And the young bull and the goat used for the sin offering (their blood was taken into the Holy Place by Aaron, to make atonement) shall be carried outside the camp and burned, including the hides and internal organs. 28 Afterwards, the person doing the burning shall wash his clothes and bathe himself and then return to camp.
29-30 “This is a permanent law: You must do no work on the twenty-fifth day of September,[f] but must spend the day in self-examination and humility. This applies whether you are born in the land or are a foreigner living among the people of Israel; for this is the day commemorating the atonement, cleansing you in the Lord’s eyes from all of your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall spend the day in quiet humility;[g] this is a permanent law. 32 This ceremony, in later generations, shall be performed by the anointed High Priest, consecrated in place of his ancestor Aaron; he shall be the one to put on the holy linen garments, 33 and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the people. 34 This shall be an everlasting law for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel once each year, because of their sins.”
And Aaron followed all these instructions that the Lord gave to Moses.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 16:8 sent away and sent out . . . as a scapegoat, literally, “for Azazel” or “for removing.”
- Leviticus 16:15 Then he must go out, implied.
- Leviticus 16:19 making it holy, literally, “hallowing it.”
- Leviticus 16:22 where no one lives, literally, “a solitary land.”
- Leviticus 16:26 the goat out into the desert, literally, “for Azazel” or “for removing.”
- Leviticus 16:29 on the twenty-fifth day of September (which was “on the tenth day of the seventh month” of the Hebrew calendar).
- Leviticus 16:31 in quiet humility, or “in fasting.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.