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Leviticus 16:1-34 — The Day of Atonement

Lev.16.1-34

¹The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron , when they approached the presence of the LORD and died. ²The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he must not enter at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he will not die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³"With this Aaron shall enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around himself, and wrap the linen turban around his head. These are holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and put them on. ⁵And from the congregation of the Israelites he shall take two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶"Aaron shall present the bull for his own sin offering, and make atonement for himself and for his household. ⁷Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁸Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel . ⁹Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering. ¹⁰But the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. ¹¹"Aaron shall present the bull for his own sin offering, and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. ¹²He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³He shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, so that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, so that he will not die. ¹⁴He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side; and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. ¹⁵"Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood just as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place because of the impurities of the Israelites and because of their transgressions, in regard to all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their impurities. ¹⁷No one shall be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out, after he has made atonement for himself, for his household, and for the whole 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 of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. ¹⁹He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and consecrate it from the impurities of the Israelites. ²⁰"When he has finished making atonement for the Holy Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, and all their transgressions, in regard to all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a designated man. ²²The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. ²³"Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and take off the linen garments that he put on when he entered the Holy Place, and leave them there. ²⁴He shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his own garments. Then he shall come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵And the fat of the sin offering he shall offer up in smoke on the altar. ²⁶"The one who releases the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. ²⁷The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be taken outside the camp; and they shall burn up in the fire their hides, their flesh, and their dung. ²⁸The one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. ²⁹"This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves, and you shall not do any work, whether the native-born or the foreigner who resides among you. ³⁰For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the LORD. ³¹It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute. ³²The priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father's place shall make atonement. He shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³and he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴“This shall be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year.” And he did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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