LeviticusChapter 16

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¹Two of Aaron's sons had died when they came near to the LORD. After this, the LORD spoke to Moses. ²The LORD said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron that he must not come into the Most Holy Place whenever he wants. It is behind the veil, in front of the mercy seat on the ark. If he does, he will die. For I show myself in the cloud above the mercy seat. ³This is how Aaron must come into the Holy Place. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴He must wear the holy linen tunic, with linen underclothes. He must tie a linen sash around himself and put on the linen turban. These are holy clothes. He must bathe in water before he puts them on. ⁵He must take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. He must take them from the people of Israel. ⁶Aaron must offer the bull for his own sin offering. He must make atonement for himself and his family. ⁷Then he must take the two goats. He must bring them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁸Aaron must cast lots for the two goats. One lot is for the LORD, and the other is for the scapegoat. ⁹Then he must bring the goat whose lot fell to the LORD. He must offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat must be brought alive before the LORD. It will be used to make atonement. It will be sent out into the wilderness as the scapegoat. ¹¹Aaron will offer the bull for his own sin offering. He will make atonement for himself and his family. He must kill the bull for his own sin offering. ¹²Then he must take a fire pan full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD. He must take two handfuls of sweet incense, ground fine. He must bring them inside the veil. ¹³He must put the incense on the fire before the LORD. Then the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony. Then he will not die. ¹⁴He must take some of the bull's blood. With his finger he must sprinkle it on the east side of the mercy seat. Then with his finger he must sprinkle some of it seven times in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁵Then Aaron must kill the goat for the sin offering for the people. He must bring its blood behind the veil. He must do with its blood what he did with the bull's blood. He must sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of it. ¹⁶This is how he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place. He does this because the Israelites are unclean and have rebelled in all their sins. He must do the same for the Tent of Meeting. It stays among them, even though they are unclean. ¹⁷Aaron will go in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place. No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time he goes in until he comes out. He will have made atonement for himself, his family, and all the people of Israel. ¹⁸Then he must go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood. He must put it on all the horns of the altar. ¹⁹With his finger he must sprinkle some of the blood on the altar seven times. This will make it clean and holy again from the uncleanness of the Israelites. ²⁰Aaron will finish making the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar pure. Then he must bring the live goat forward. ²¹He must lay both hands on the head of the live goat. Over it, he must confess all the sins and wrongs of the Israelites, all the ways they rebelled. He must put them on the goat's head. Then a man chosen for the job will lead the goat away into the wilderness. ²²The goat will carry all their sins on itself into a place where no one lives. The man will let it go in the wilderness. ²³Then Aaron must go into the Tent of Meeting. He must take off the linen clothes he put on before he went into the Most Holy Place. He must leave them there. ²⁴He must bathe in water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and offer his burnt offering and the people's burnt offering. This will make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵He must also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶The man who let the scapegoat go must wash his clothes and bathe in water. After that he may come back into the camp. ²⁷The bull and the goat for the sin offerings must be taken outside the camp. Their blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement. Their skins, their meat, and their dung must be burned up. ²⁸The person who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe in water. After that he may come back into the camp. ²⁹This is a law for you that will last forever. On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must humble yourselves. You must not do any work. This is for those born in Israel and for the foreigners who live among you. ³⁰For on this day atonement will be made for you to make you clean. Then you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. ³¹It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, so that you may humble yourselves. It is a law that will last forever. ³²The priest who is anointed and appointed to take his father's place as high priest must make atonement. He will put on the holy linen clothes. ³³He will make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar. He will make atonement for the priests and for all the people who gather there. ³⁴This is a law for you that will last forever. Once a year atonement must be made for the Israelites because of all their sins." And all this was done just as the LORD had commanded Moses.