Leviticus 16-17

New King James Version

The Day of Atonement

16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after ^(A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; ² and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother ^(B)not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for ^(C)I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

^3 [a]“Thus Aaron shall ^(D)come into the Holy Place: ^(E)with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put the ^(F)holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore ^(G)he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. ⁵ And he shall take from ^(H)the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and ^(I)make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁸ Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. ⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make ^(J)atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

¹¹ “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for ^(K)himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. ¹² Then he shall take ^(L)a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of ^(M)sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. ^13 (N)And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the ^(O)mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he ^(P)die. ^14 (Q)He shall take some of the blood of the bull and ^(R)sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

^15 (S)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood ^(T)inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. ¹⁶ So he shall ^(U)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ There shall be ^(V)no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for ^(W)it, and 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. ¹⁹ Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and ^(X)consecrate^[b] it from the ^[c]uncleanness of the children of Israel.

²⁰ “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, ^(Y)confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, ^(Z)putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. ²² The goat ^[d]shall ^(AA)bear on itself all their iniquities to an ^[e]uninhabited land; and he shall ^(AB)release the goat in the wilderness.

²³ “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, ^(AC)shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make ^[f]atonement for himself and for the people. ^25 (AD)The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. ²⁶ And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes ^(AE)and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. ^27 (AF)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 in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. ²⁸ Then he 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 statute forever for you: ^(AG)In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall ^[g]afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who ^[h]dwells among you. ³⁰ For on that day the priest shall make ^[i]atonement for you, to ^(AH)cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ^31 (AI)It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. ^32 (AJ)And the priest, who is anointed and ^(AK)consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; ³³ then he shall make ^[j]atonement for ^[k]the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ^34 (AL)This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, ^(AM)once a year.” And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sanctity of Blood

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: ³ “Whatever man of the house of Israel who ^(AN)kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ⁴ and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, the guilt of bloodshed shall be ^(AO)imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be ^[l]cut off from among his people, ⁵ to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices ^(AP)which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ And the priest ^(AQ)shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(AR)burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ⁷ They shall no more offer their sacrifices ^(AS)to ^[m]demons, after whom they ^(AT)have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.” ’

⁸ “Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, ^(AU)who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and does not ^(AV)bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be ^[n]cut off from among his people.

^10 (AW)‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, ^(AX)I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the ^(AY)life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar ^(AZ)to make atonement for your souls; for ^(BA)it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ ¹² Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’

¹³ “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who ^(BB)hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall ^(BC)pour out its blood and ^(BD)cover it with dust; ^14 (BE)for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

^15 (BF)“And every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, ^(BG)he shall both wash his clothes and ^(BH)bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^(BI)he shall bear his ^[o]guilt.”