Leviticus 16

¹ After the death of the two sons of Aaron who died through offering fire before Yahweh,

² Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said: ‘Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter the sanctuary beyond the veil, in front of the throne of mercy that is over the ark, whenever he chooses. He may die; for I appear in a cloud on the throne of mercy.

³ This is how he is to enter the sanctuary: with a young bull for a sacrifice for sin and a ram for a holocaust.

⁴ He is to put on a tunic of consecrated linen, wear linen on his body, a linen girdle round his waist, and a linen turban on his head. These are the sacred vestments he must put on after washing himself with water.

⁵ He is to receive two goats for a sacrifice for sin and a ram for a holocaust from the community of the sons of Israel.

⁶ After offering the bull as a sacrifice for his own sin and performing the rite of atonement for himself and his family,

⁷ Aaron must take the two goats and set them before Yahweh at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁸ He is to draw lots for the two goats and allot one to Yahweh and the other to Azazel.[*a]

⁹ Aaron is to offer up the goat whose lot was marked “For Yahweh”, and offer it as a sacrifice for sin.

¹⁰ The goat whose lot was marked “For Azazel” shall be set before Yahweh, still alive, to perform the rite of atonement over it, sending it out into the desert to Azazel.

¹¹ Aaron must offer the bull which is to be a sacrifice for his own sin, then he must perform the rite of atonement for himself and for his family, and immolate the bull.

¹² Then he is to fill a censer with live coals from the altar that stands before Yahweh; and to take two handfuls of finely ground aromatic incense. He is to take these through the veil

¹³ and then to put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, and with a cloud of incense he must cover the throne of mercy that is on the Testimony; if he does this, he shall not die.

¹⁴ Then he must take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern side of the throne of mercy; in front of the throne of mercy he must sprinkle this blood seven times with his finger.

¹⁵ He must then immolate the goat for the sacrifice for the sin of the people, and take its blood through the veil. With this blood he is to do as with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it on the throne of mercy and in front of it.

¹⁶ This is how he is to perform the rite of atonement over the sanctuary for the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, for their transgressions and for all their sins. ‘This also is how he must deal with the Tent of Meeting which remains with them, surrounded by their uncleanness.

¹⁷ Let no one stay in the Tent of Meeting, from the moment he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until the time he comes out. ‘When he has made atonement for himself, for his family, and for the whole community of Israel,

¹⁸ he is to come out and go to the altar which is before Yahweh, and perform over it the rite of atonement. He must take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat, and put it on the horns around the altar.

¹⁹ With this blood he must sprinkle the altar seven times with his finger. This is how he will render it clean and sacred, purified and separated from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.

²⁰ When the atonement of the sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting and the altar is complete, he is to bring the other goat that is still alive.

²¹ Aaron must lay his hands on its head and confess all the faults of the sons of Israel, all their transgressions and all their sins, and lay them to its charge. Having thus laid them on the goat’s head, he shall send it out into the desert led by a man waiting ready,

²² and the goat will bear all their faults away with it into a desert place. ‘When he has sent the goat out into the wilderness,

²³ Aaron is to return to the Tent of Meeting and remove the linen vestments he wore to enter the sanctuary. He must leave them there

²⁴ and wash his body in a consecrated place. Then he is to put the vestments on again and go out to offer his own and the people’s holocaust. He must perform the rite of atonement for himself and for the people;

²⁵ he must burn up the fat of the sacrifice for sin on the altar.

²⁶ The man who leads out the goat to Azazel must wash his clothing and his body, and then he can return to the camp.

²⁷ The bull and the goat offered as a sacrifice for sin, whose blood has been taken into the sanctuary for the rite of atonement, are to be taken out of the camp where their skin, flesh and dung are to be burnt.

²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothing and his body, and then he can return to the camp.

²⁹ This shall be a perpetual law for you. ‘On the tenth day of the seventh month you must fast and refrain from work, the native and the stranger who lives among you.

³⁰ For this is the day on which the rite of atonement shall be performed over you, to purify you. Before Yahweh you will be clean of all your sins.

³¹ It shall be a sabbath rest for you and you are to fast. This is a perpetual law.

³² The rite of atonement must be performed by the priest who has been anointed and installed to officiate in place of his father. He is to put on the linen, the sacred vestments,

³³ and to perform the atonement of the sacred sanctuary, the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Then he must perform the rite of atonement over the priests and all the people of the community.

³⁴ This shall be a perpetual law for you; once a year the rite of atonement must be made over the sons of Israel for all their sins. And it was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.