The Day of Atonement

¹The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's 2 sons, when they offered before the LORD and died; ²The LORD told Moses, "Speak to your brother Aaron, that he must not enter the holy place behind the veil before the mercy seat on the ark at all times, so that he does not die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat." ³"Here is how Aaron must enter the sanctuary: he must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴He must put on the sacred linen tunic, wear linen undergarments, tie a linen sash around his waist, and wrap his head with a linen turban. These are holy garments, so he must bathe his entire body in water before putting them on. ⁵From the Israelite community, he must take 2 male goats for a sin offering and 1 ram for a burnt offering. ⁶"Aaron must first offer the bull as a sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷Then he must take the 2 goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ⁸Aaron must cast lots over the 2 goats — one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹Aaron must take the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat must be presented alive before the LORD, so that atonement can be made through it before sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. ¹¹"Aaron must present the bull for his own sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. Then he must slaughter the bull. ¹²He must take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³He must place the incense on the fire before the LORD, so that the cloud of incense covers the mercy seat that is above the testimony. This way he will not die. ¹⁴He must take some of the bull's blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat. Then he must sprinkle blood with his finger 7 times in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁵"After that, he must slaughter the goat for the people's sin offering, bring its blood behind the veil, and do with it exactly what he did with the bull's blood — sprinkling it on the mercy seat and in front of it. ¹⁶In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites — all their sins. He must do the same for the Tabernacle, which stands among them surrounded by their uncleanness. ¹⁷No one else may be inside the Tabernacle from the moment Aaron enters the Most Holy Place to make atonement until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household, and the entire assembly of Israel. ¹⁸"Then he must go out to the altar that stands before the LORD and make atonement for it. He must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and apply it to the horns all around the altar. ¹⁹He must sprinkle blood on it with his finger 7 times, cleansing it and setting it apart as holy from the uncleanness of the Israelites. ²⁰"Once he has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, and the altar, he must bring forward the live goat. ²¹Aaron must place both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, including all their transgressions and sins, placing them on the goat's head. Then he must send it away into the wilderness with a man chosen for the task. ²²The goat will carry all their sins on itself into a desolate, uninhabited land. The man must release the goat there in the wilderness. ²³"After this, Aaron must enter the Tabernacle and take off the linen garments he wore when he went into the Most Holy Place, leaving them there. ²⁴He must bathe his body with water in a holy place, put on his regular garments, and come out. Then he must offer his own burnt offering and the people's burnt offering, making atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵He must burn the fat from the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶"The man who released the scapegoat into the wilderness must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water before returning to the camp. ²⁷The bull and the goat used for the sin offerings — whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place for atonement — must be carried outside the camp. Their hides, flesh, and dung must all be burned. ²⁸The person who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water before returning to the camp. ²⁹This is a permanent statute for you: on the 10th day of the 7th month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether you are a native-born Israelite or a foreigner living among you. ³⁰On this day, atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. ³¹It shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. This is a permanent statute. ³²The priest who is anointed and consecrated to serve in his father's place must perform the atonement. He must put on the sacred linen garments ³³and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tabernacle, for the altar, for the priests, and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴This is an everlasting law for you: atonement must be made for the Israelites once a year for all their sins." Moses carried this out exactly as the LORD commanded him.