Leviticus 16: Verse-by-Verse Commentary (with Videos)

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD.

²And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

³This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁴He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them.

⁵And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.

⁷Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁸After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat,

⁹he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.

¹⁰But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

¹¹When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering.

¹²Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.

¹³He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.

¹⁴And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.

¹⁵Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.

¹⁶So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them in the midst of their impurities.

¹⁷No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.

¹⁸Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.

¹⁹He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

²⁰When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat.

²¹Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.

²²The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.

²³Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.

²⁴He is to bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people.

²⁵He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

²⁷The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung must be burned up.

²⁸The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.

²⁹This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—

³⁰because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

³¹It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.

³²The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments

³³and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly.

³⁴This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.