Animals Pay the Price for Man’s Sin

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they had come near the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he must not come just any time into the holy place inside the curtain, in front of the mercy-seat on the special box of the agreement or he will die. For I will show Myself in the cloud over the mercy-seat. ³ Only this way will Aaron go into the holy place, with a bull for a sin gift and a ram for a burnt gift. ⁴ He will put on the holy linen coat. And the linen under-clothing will be next to his body. He will be wearing the linen belt and the linen head-covering. These are holy clothing. He will wash his body in water and then dress himself. ⁵ He will take from the people of Israel two male goats for a sin gift and one ram for a burnt gift. ⁶ Then Aaron will give the bull as a sin gift for himself, to pay for the sins of himself and those in his house. ⁷ He will take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the door of the meeting tent. ⁸ Aaron will draw names for the two goats, choosing one for the Lord and the other to be sent away. ⁹ Then Aaron will bring the goat that was chosen for the Lord and give it as a sin gift. ¹⁰ But the goat that was chosen to be sent away will be brought alive before the Lord, for the taking away of sin. And it will be sent into the desert.

¹¹ “Then Aaron will give the bull as the sin gift for himself, to pay for the sins of himself and those in his house. He will kill the bull as the sin gift for himself. ¹² He will take a fire pan full of fire from the altar before the Lord, and enough fine, ground, sweet perfume to fill two hands. And he will bring it inside the curtain. ¹³ He will put the special perfume on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud of the special perfume covers the mercy-seat on the special box of the agreement or he will die. ¹⁴ He will take some of the bull’s blood and put it with his finger on the east side of the mercy-seat. And with his finger he will put some of the blood seven times in front of the mercy-seat.

¹⁵ “Then he will kill the goat as the sin gift for the people. He will bring its blood inside the curtain, and do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood. He will put it on the seat and in front of the mercy-seat. ¹⁶ He will make the holy place, and also the meeting tent which is in the center of the camp, clean and pure because all the sins of the people make them unclean. ¹⁷ When he goes in to pay for sins in the holy place, no one will be in the meeting tent until he comes out. He will pay for the sins of himself, of those in his house, and of all the people of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he will go out to the altar before the Lord and make it clean and pure. He will take some of the bull’s blood and goat’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ¹⁹ With his finger he will put some of the blood on the altar seven times so it will be clean. He will set it apart from what is unclean among the people of Israel.

²⁰ “When he finishes making the holy place, the meeting tent and the altar free from sin, he will give the live goat. ²¹ Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and tell of all the sins and wrong-doings of the people of Israel. He will lay them upon the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man ready to help. ²² The goat will carry upon itself all their sins to a land where no one lives. Then the man will let the goat go free there.

²³ “Aaron will come into the meeting tent. He will take off the linen clothing he put on when he went into the holy place. And he will leave them there. ²⁴ He will wash his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes. Then he will come out and give his burnt gift and the people’s burnt gift, to pay for the sins of himself and the people. ²⁵ He will burn the fat of the sin gift on the altar. ²⁶ The man who let the goat carry away the sins will wash his clothes and wash his body with water. Then he may come among the tents. ²⁷ The bull and the goat for the sin gift, whose blood was brought in to pay for sins in the holy place, will be taken away from the tents. Their skin, their flesh and their waste will be burned with fire. ²⁸ Whoever burns them will wash his clothes and wash his body with water. Then he may come among the tents.

²⁹ “This will be a Law forever for you. On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must get rid of your pride and not do any work, both those who live in the land and those who visit from another land. ³⁰ For on this day your sin will be taken away and you will be clean. You will be made free from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It is to be a special Day of Rest for you, that you may be free from pride. It is a Law forever. ³² The chosen religious leader who is set apart to work as religious leader in his father’s place will pay for the sin. He will put on the holy linen clothing ³³ and make the holy place, the meeting tent and the altar free from sin. He will make the religious leaders and all the people free from sin also. ³⁴ This will be a Law forever for you. The people of Israel must be made free from all their sins once a year.” And Moses did what the Lord told him to do.

Religious Suppers

23 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘These are the special suppers of the Lord, which you will keep for holy meetings. These are My special suppers. ³ Work may be done for six days. But the seventh day is the Day of Rest, a holy meeting when you do no work at all. It is the Day of Rest to the Lord in all your homes.

The Supper of Bread without Yeast

⁴ ‘These are the special suppers of the Lord, the holy meetings you will keep at the right times. ⁵ On the fourteenth day of the first month in the evening begins the Lord’s religious gathering to remember how His people left Egypt. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Lord’s special supper of bread without yeast. For seven days you will eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day you will have a holy meeting. You will not do any hard work. ⁸ But you will give a gift by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy meeting. You will not do any hard work.’”

The Supper of First Fruits

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When you come into the land I am going to give you and gather its grain, bring some of the first fruits of your grain to the religious leader. ¹¹ He will wave the grain before the Lord for you to be received. The religious leader will wave it on the day after the Day of Rest. ¹² On the day when you wave the grain, you will give a perfect, one year old male lamb as a burnt gift to the Lord. ¹³ The grain gift with it will be one-fifth part of a basket of fine flour mixed with oil. It is a gift by fire to the Lord for a pleasing smell. And the drink gift with it will be a jar of wine. ¹⁴ Do not eat bread or dry grain or new grain until this same day, when you have brought the gift to your God. It is to be a Law forever for all your people in all your homes.

The Supper of Weeks

¹⁵ ‘Number seven full weeks from the day after the Day of Rest, from the day when you give the grain for the wave gift. There will be seven whole Days of Rest. ¹⁶ Number fifty days to the day after the seventh Day of Rest. Then give a new grain gift to the Lord. ¹⁷ Bring from your homes two loaves of bread for a wave gift, made of one-fifth part of a basket of fine flour. They will be made with yeast, as first-fruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ With the bread give seven one year old male lambs that are perfect, and one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt gift to the Lord, with their grain gift and their drink gift. It is a gift by fire with a pleasing smell to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then give one male goat for a sin gift and two male lambs one year old for a peace gift. ²⁰ The religious leader will wave them with the bread of the first-fruits as a wave gift before the Lord, with the two lambs. They will be holy to the Lord for the religious leader. ²¹ On this same day call together a holy meeting. Do no hard work. It is a Law forever in all your homes for all your people.

²² ‘When you gather the food of your land, do not pick all the way to the corners of your field. And do not gather the food that falls. Leave it for those in need and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Supper of Horns

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘On the first day of the seventh month, you will have a Day of Rest. It will be a day of remembering, made known by the blowing of horns, a holy meeting. ²⁵ Do not do any hard work. But give a gift by fire to the Lord.’”

A Day to Be Made Free from Sin

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “The tenth day of this seventh month is the day to be made free from sin. It will be a holy meeting for you. You will be without pride and give a gift by fire to the Lord.

²⁸ “Do no work on this day. For it is a day to be made free from sin, to be made free from your sin before the Lord your God. ²⁹ If there is any person who will not be free from his pride on this day, he will be kept away from his people. ³⁰ Whoever does any work on this day, I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ Do no work at all. It is a Law forever for all your people in all your homes. ³² It will be a Day of Rest for you. And you must be without pride. You will keep your Day of Rest from evening until evening on the ninth day of the month.”

Supper of Tents

³³ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Say to the people of Israel, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the special supper of tents to the Lord. It will last seven days. ³⁵ A holy meeting will be on the first day. Do no hard work of any kind. ³⁶ Give a gift by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the eighth day have a holy meeting and give a gift by fire to the Lord. It is a special gathering. Do no hard work.

³⁷ ‘These are the special suppers, the holy meetings you will keep at the right times. They will be for giving to the Lord gifts by fire, burnt gifts and grain gifts, gifts of animals and drink gifts, each on its own day. ³⁸ These are to be added to the Days of Rest of the Lord, and your gifts, both those that are promised and your free-will gifts that you give to the Lord.

³⁹ ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the food of your land, you will have the special supper of the Lord for seven days. The first day and the eighth day will be Days of Rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day, you will take the leaves of beautiful trees, branches of trees with big leaves and of trees beside the river. And be full of joy before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You will keep it as a special supper to the Lord seven days in the year. It will be a Law forever for all your people. You will have it in the seventh month. ⁴² You will live in tents for seven days. All who were born in Israel will live in tents. ⁴³ So all your people to come may know that I had the people of Israel live in tents when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’” ⁴⁴ So Moses made known to the people of Israel the special suppers of the Lord.