The Day of Atonement

16 Two of Aaron’s sons died while offering incense to the Lord.^[a] After that time, the Lord spoke to Moses. ² The Lord said, “Talk to your brother Aaron. Tell him that he cannot go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place anytime he wants to. The mercy-cover is in the room behind that curtain on top of the Holy Box, and I appear in a cloud over that mercy-cover. If Aaron goes into that room, he will die!

³ “Before Aaron enters the Most Holy Place, he will offer a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ Aaron will wash his whole body with water and put on the special clothes. He will put on the linen underwear next to his body, the linen robe, the linen belt, and then he will put the linen turban on his head.

⁵ “From the whole community of Israel, Aaron will accept two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ Then he will offer the bull for the sin offering. This sin offering is for himself. He will do this to purify^[b] himself and his family.

⁷ “Then Aaron will take the two goats and bring them before the Lord at the doorway of the Meeting Tent. ⁸ Aaron will throw lots for the two goats. One lot will be for the Lord. The other lot will be for Azazel.^[c]

⁹ “Then Aaron will offer the goat chosen by the lot for the Lord. Aaron will make this goat a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat chosen by the lot for Azazel will be brought alive before the Lord. Then this goat will be sent out to Azazel in the desert. This is to make the people pure.

¹¹ “Then Aaron will offer the bull as a sin offering for himself. He will purify himself and his family. He will kill the bull for the sin offering for himself. ¹² Then he will take a firepan full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord. Aaron will take two handfuls of sweet incense that has been ground into powder and take it into the room behind the curtain. ¹³ He will put the incense on the fire before the Lord. Then the cloud of incense will hide the mercy-cover that is over the Box that holds the Agreement.^[d] This way Aaron will not die. ¹⁴ Aaron will dip his finger into the bull’s blood and sprinkle it on the front of the Holy Box. Then he will sprinkle the blood seven times onto the front of the mercy-cover.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron will kill the goat of the sin offering for the people. He will bring this goat’s blood into the room behind the curtain. He will do with the goat’s blood as he did with the bull’s blood. He will sprinkle the goat’s blood on the mercy-cover and in front of it. ¹⁶ In this way Aaron will purify the Most Holy Place from all the uncleanness and sins of the Israelites. He will also purify the Meeting Tent, because it stands in the middle of people whose sins have made them unclean.

¹⁷ “No one must be in the Meeting Tent when Aaron goes in to purify the Most Holy Place. No one is to go in there until Aaron comes out after purifying himself, his family, and all the Israelites. ¹⁸ Then Aaron will go out to the altar that is before the Lord. Aaron will make the altar pure. He will take some of the blood from the bull and from the goat and put it on the corners of the altar on all four sides. ¹⁹ Then he will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it on the altar seven times. In this way Aaron will make the altar holy and clean from all the sins of the Israelites.

²⁰ “So Aaron will make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar pure. Then he will bring the living goat to the front of the tent. ²¹ He will put both his hands on the head of the living goat. Then he will confess the sins and crimes of the Israelites over the goat. In this way Aaron will lay the people’s sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert. A man will be standing by, ready to lead this goat away. ²² So the goat will carry all the people’s sins on itself into the empty desert. The man who leads the goat will let it loose in the desert.

²³ “Then Aaron will enter the Meeting Tent. He will take off the linen clothes that he put on when he went into the Holy Place. He will leave these clothes there. ²⁴ He will wash his whole body with water in a holy place. Then he will put on his clothes. He will come out and offer his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. He will make himself and the people pure. ²⁵ Then he will burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man who led the goat to Azazel must wash his clothes and his whole body with water. After that he may come into the camp.

²⁷ “The bull and the goat for the sin offerings will be taken outside the camp. (The blood from these animals was brought into the Holy Place to make the holy things pure.) The skins, bodies, and body waste of those animals will be burned in the fire. ²⁸ Then the man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his whole body with water. After that he may come into the camp.

²⁹ “This law will always continue for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must not eat food.^[e] You must not do any work. None of the travelers or foreigners living in your land can do any work either. ³⁰ Because on this day, the priest will do this to make you pure and wash away your sins. Then you will be clean to the Lord. ³¹ You must humble yourselves^[f] because this day is a very important day of rest for you. This law will continue forever.

³² “In the future, this ceremony will be done by the priest who will be anointed and appointed to serve after his father. That priest will put on the holy linen clothes ³³ and make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar pure. He will also make the priests and all the people pure. ³⁴ That law will continue forever. Once every year you will purify the Israelites from all their sins.”

So they did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Rules About Killing and Eating Animals

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites. Tell them this is what the Lord has commanded: ³ Any one of you Israelites might kill a bull, a lamb, or a goat. You might be in the camp or outside the camp. ⁴ It doesn’t matter; you must bring that animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. You must give a part of that animal as a gift to the Lord. You spilled blood, so you must take a gift to the Lord’s Holy Tent. If you don’t take part of the animal as a gift to the Lord, you must be separated from your people! ⁵ This rule is so that you will bring your fellowship offering to the Lord. You must bring any animal that you kill in the field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Bring those animals to the priest. ⁶ Then the priest will throw their blood onto the Lord’s altar near the entrance of the Meeting Tent. And the priest will burn the fat from those animals on the altar as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ⁷ In this way you will stop being unfaithful to me by offering sacrifices to your ‘goat gods.’ This law will continue forever.

⁸ “Tell the people: Any citizen of Israel, traveler, or foreigner living among you might want to offer a burnt offering or some other sacrifice. ⁹ They must take the sacrifice to the entrance of the Meeting Tent and offer it to the Lord. Whoever does not do this will be separated from their people.

¹⁰ “I will turn against those who eat blood whether they are citizens of Israel or foreigners living among you, I will separate them from their people. ¹¹ This is because the life of the body is in the blood. I have told you that you must pour the blood on the altar to purify yourselves. It is the blood that makes a person pure. ¹² That is why I am telling you Israelites and the foreigners living among you that you must not eat blood.

¹³ “If any of you, whether Israelite or foreigner living among you, goes hunting and kills a wild animal or bird that you are allowed to eat, you must pour the blood of that animal on the ground and cover it with dirt. ¹⁴ This is because the life of every kind of animal is in its blood. So I give this command to the Israelites: Don’t eat meat that still has blood in it! Whoever eats blood must be separated from their people.

¹⁵ “If any of you, whether Israelite or foreigner living among you, eats an animal that died by itself or was killed by some other animal, you will be unclean until evening. You must wash your clothes and bathe your whole body with water. ¹⁶ If you don’t wash your clothes and bathe your whole body, you will be responsible for your guilt.”

Rules About Sexual Relations

18 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites: I am the Lord your God. ³ You must not follow the customs of Egypt where you lived, and you must not follow the customs of the Canaanites where I am leading you. You must not live the way they do. ⁴ You must obey my rules and follow my laws. Be sure to follow my rules because I am the Lord your God. ⁵ You must obey my rules and my laws, because whoever obeys them will live. I am the Lord.

⁶ “You must never have sexual relations with^[g] your close relatives. I am the Lord.

⁷ “You must never have sexual relations with your father or mother. She is your mother, so you must not have sexual relations with her. ⁸ You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife, even if she is not your mother, because that is like having sexual relations with your father.^[h]

⁹ “You must not have sexual relations with your sister. It doesn’t matter if she is the daughter of your father or your mother. And it doesn’t matter if your sister was born in your house^[i] or at some other place.

¹⁰ “You must not have sexual relations with your granddaughter. It doesn’t matter whether she is the daughter of your son or the daughter of your daughter—they are all a part of you!

¹¹ “If your father and his wife^[j] have a daughter, she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.

¹² “You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relative. ¹³ You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴ You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your father’s brother. You must not go near your uncle’s wife for sexual relations. She is your aunt.

¹⁵ “You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

¹⁶ “You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife. That would be like having sexual relations with your brother.^[k]

¹⁷ “You must not have sexual relations with a mother and her daughter or her granddaughter. It doesn’t matter if this granddaughter is the daughter of this woman’s son or daughter. Her granddaughters are her close relatives. It is wrong to do this.

¹⁸ “While your wife is still living, you must not take her sister as another wife. This will make the sisters become enemies. You must not have sexual relations with your wife’s sister.

¹⁹ “You must not go near a woman to have sexual relations with her during her monthly time of bleeding. She is unclean during this time.

²⁰ “You must not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife. This will only make you filthy.^[l]

²¹ “You must not give any of your children through the fire to Molech. If you do this, you will show that you don’t respect the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²² “Men, you must not have sexual relations with another man as with a woman. That is a terrible sin!

²³ “Men, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. This will make you filthy. And women, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. It is against nature!

²⁴ “Don’t make yourself unclean by doing any of these wrong things! I am throwing nations off their land and giving it to you because they did those terrible sins. ²⁵ They made the land filthy. Now the land is sick of those things, and it will vomit out the people who live there.

²⁶ “So you must obey my laws and rules. You must not do any of these terrible sins. These rules are for the citizens of Israel and the people living among you. ²⁷ Those who lived in the land before you have done all these terrible things. So the land became filthy. ²⁸ If you do these things, you will make the land filthy. And it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were there before you. ²⁹ Whoever does any of these terrible sins must be separated from their people! ³⁰ Other people have done these terrible sins, but you must obey my laws. You must not do any of these terrible sins. Do not make yourself filthy with these terrible sins. I am the Lord your God.”