Leviticus 16

Offerings for Atonement Leviticus 16:3–6

³Verse 3. “Aaron shall come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴Verse 4. He shall put on the holy linen coat. He shall have the linen breeches on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. ⁵Verse 5. He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶Verse 6. “Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.

The Two Goats Ritual Leviticus 16:7–10

⁷Verse 7. He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸Verse 8. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹Verse 9. Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰Verse 10. But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

Atonement Procedures Leviticus 16:11–16

¹¹Verse 11. “Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹²Verse 12. He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: ¹³Verse 13. and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, so that he will not die. ¹⁴Verse 14. He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵Verse 15. “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat. ¹⁶Verse 16. He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness.

Isolation During Atonement Leviticus 16:17–22

¹⁷Verse 17. No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸Verse 18. “He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar. ¹⁹Verse 19. He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

²⁰Verse 20. “When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹Verse 21. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. ²²Verse 22. The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

Post-Atonement Actions Leviticus 16:23–28

²³Verse 23. “Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴Verse 24. Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵Verse 25. The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. ²⁶Verse 26. “He who lets the goat go as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

²⁷Verse 27. The 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 carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. ²⁸Verse 28. He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

The Day of Atonement Statute Leviticus 16:29–34

²⁹Verse 29. “It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, the native-born, or the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you: ³⁰Verse 30. for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh. ³¹Verse 31. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. ³²Verse 32. The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments.

³³Verse 33. Then 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. ³⁴Verse 34. “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.