Leviticus 16
16
Law of Atonement
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who had died when they [irreverently] approached the presence of the Lord. [Lev 10:1, 2] 2The Lord said to Moses,
“Tell Aaron your brother that he #16:2 The high priest was permitted to enter the Most Holy Place only once a year. The Day of Atonement was the most sacred of all the festivals and the prescribed purpose of this inclusive sacrifice was to atone for the sins of both the nation and the individual believer, and in this way reconcile God’s chosen people to Himself. Only by carefully following all of God’s instructions, could the high priest enter God’s presence and live.must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil (the Holy of Holies), before the #16:2 Lit propitiatory.mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. [Heb 9:7-15, 25-28] 3Aaron [as high priest] shall enter the Holy Place in this way: with [the blood of] a young bull as a sin offering and [the blood of] a ram as a burnt offering. 4He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be belted with the linen sash, and dressed with the linen turban (these are the holy garments). He shall bathe his body in water and put them on. 5He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites [at their expense] two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering. 6Then Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 8Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord, the other lot for the #16:8 Lit goat of removal, or else a name, Heb: Azazel. This goat’s release (v 10) symbolized the carrying away of Israel’s sin.scapegoat. 9Then Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. 10But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement on it; it shall be sent into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
11“Aaron shall present the bull as the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household (the other priests), and he shall kill the bull as the sin offering for himself. 12He shall take a censer full of burning coals from the [bronze] altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil [into the Most Holy Place], 13and put the incense on the fire [in the censer] before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on [the ark of] the Testimony, otherwise he will die. 14He shall take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for [the sins of] the people and bring its blood within the veil [into the Most Holy Place] and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. [Heb 2:17] 16So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place (Holy of Holies) because of the uncleanness and transgressions of the Israelites, for all their sins. He shall also do this for the Tent of Meeting which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness (impurities). [Heb 9:22-24] 17There shall be no person in the Tent of Meeting when the high priest goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place [within the veil] until he comes out, so that he may make atonement for himself (his own sins) and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel. 18Then he shall go out to the altar [of burnt offering in the court] which is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on the altar of burnt offering seven times and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
20“When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place and the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat [the scapegoat, the sin-bearer], and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is prepared [for the task]. 22The goat shall carry on itself all their (the Israelites) wickedness, carrying them to a solitary (infertile) land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. [Ps 103:12; Is 53:11, 12; John 1:29]
23“Then Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place (Holy of Holies), and shall leave them there. 24He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come out and offer his burnt offering and that of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25And he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26The man who released the goat as the [sin-bearing] scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place (Holy of Holies), shall be taken outside the camp; their skins, their meat, and their waste shall be burned in the fire. [Heb 13:11-13] 28Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
An Annual Atonement
29“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month (nearly October) on the tenth day of the month you shall #16:29 It is assumed by many that humbling oneself is a reference to fasting, but if so, there is no reason to limit the idea to that. The rabbis taught that it was forbidden to eat, drink, wash, anoint oneself (with oil for the hair), put on footwear, or have marital relations. Fasting was defined as eating less than the volume of a large date and drinking less than a mouthful of liquid.humble yourselves [by fasting] and not do any work, whether the native-born or the stranger who lives temporarily among you; 30for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. [Heb 10:1, 2; 1 John 1:7, 9] 31It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute. 32So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve and minister as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall wear the holy linen garments, 33and make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting, and for the altar [of burnt offering in the court]. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34This shall be a permanent statute for you, so that atonement may be made for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.” So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
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Leviticus 16
16
The Day of Atonement
1Two of Aaron’s sons died while offering incense to the Lord.#16:1 Two of Aaron’s sons … Lord See Lev. 10:1-2. After that time, the Lord spoke to Moses. 2The Lord said, “Talk to your brother Aaron. Tell him that he cannot go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place anytime he wants to. The mercy-cover is in the room behind that curtain on top of the Holy Box, and I appear in a cloud over that mercy-cover. If Aaron goes into that room, he will die!
3“Before Aaron enters the Most Holy Place, he will offer a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4Aaron will wash his whole body with water and put on the special clothes. He will put on the linen underwear next to his body, the linen robe, the linen belt, and then he will put the linen turban on his head.
5“From the whole community of Israel, Aaron will accept two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6Then he will offer the bull for the sin offering. This sin offering is for himself. He will do this to purify#16:6 purify Or “make atonement.” The Hebrew word means “to cover,” or “to erase” a person’s sins. Also in verses 11, 16, 17, 34. himself and his family.
7“Then Aaron will take the two goats and bring them before the Lord at the doorway of the Meeting Tent. 8Aaron will throw lots for the two goats. One lot will be for the Lord. The other lot will be for Azazel.#16:8 Azazel This name means “scapegoat,” “the goat for God,” or “the goat demon.” This might be the name of a particular place in the desert where the goat was released. Also in verse 10, 26.
9“Then Aaron will offer the goat chosen by the lot for the Lord. Aaron will make this goat a sin offering. 10But the goat chosen by the lot for Azazel will be brought alive before the Lord. Then this goat will be sent out to Azazel in the desert. This is to make the people pure.
11“Then Aaron will offer the bull as a sin offering for himself. He will purify himself and his family. He will kill the bull for the sin offering for himself. 12Then he will take a firepan full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord. Aaron will take two handfuls of sweet incense that has been ground into powder and take it into the room behind the curtain. 13He will put the incense on the fire before the Lord. Then the cloud of incense will hide the mercy-cover that is over the Box that holds the Agreement.#16:13 Box that holds the Agreement Literally, “Testimony.” See “Agreement” in the Word List. This way Aaron will not die. 14Aaron will dip his finger into the bull’s blood and sprinkle it on the front of the Holy Box. Then he will sprinkle the blood seven times onto the front of the mercy-cover.
15“Then Aaron will kill the goat of the sin offering for the people. He will bring this goat’s blood into the room behind the curtain. He will do with the goat’s blood as he did with the bull’s blood. He will sprinkle the goat’s blood on the mercy-cover and in front of it. 16In this way Aaron will purify the Most Holy Place from all the uncleanness and sins of the Israelites. He will also purify the Meeting Tent, because it stands in the middle of people whose sins have made them unclean.
17“No one must be in the Meeting Tent when Aaron goes in to purify the Most Holy Place. No one is to go in there until Aaron comes out after purifying himself, his family, and all the Israelites. 18Then Aaron will go out to the altar that is before the Lord. Aaron will make the altar pure. He will take some of the blood from the bull and from the goat and put it on the corners of the altar on all four sides. 19Then he will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it on the altar seven times. In this way Aaron will make the altar holy and clean from all the sins of the Israelites.
20“So Aaron will make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar pure. Then he will bring the living goat to the front of the tent. 21He will put both his hands on the head of the living goat. Then he will confess the sins and crimes of the Israelites over the goat. In this way Aaron will lay the people’s sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert. A man will be standing by, ready to lead this goat away. 22So the goat will carry all the people’s sins on itself into the empty desert. The man who leads the goat will let it loose in the desert.
23“Then Aaron will enter the Meeting Tent. He will take off the linen clothes that he put on when he went into the Holy Place. He will leave these clothes there. 24He will wash his whole body with water in a holy place. Then he will put on his clothes. He will come out and offer his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. He will make himself and the people pure. 25Then he will burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26“The man who led the goat to Azazel must wash his clothes and his whole body with water. After that he may come into the camp.
27“The bull and the goat for the sin offerings will be taken outside the camp. (The blood from these animals was brought into the Holy Place to make the holy things pure.) The skins, bodies, and body waste of those animals will be burned in the fire. 28Then the man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his whole body with water. After that he may come into the camp.
29“This law will always continue for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must not eat food.#16:29 not eat food Literally, “humble yourselves.” You must not do any work. None of the travelers or foreigners living in your land can do any work either. 30Because on this day, the priest will do this to make you pure and wash away your sins. Then you will be clean to the Lord. 31You must humble yourselves#16:31 humble yourselves This also means that the people were not supposed to eat any food on this day. because this day is a very important day of rest for you. This law will continue forever.
32“In the future, this ceremony will be done by the priest who will be anointed and appointed to serve after his father. That priest will put on the holy linen clothes 33and make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar pure. He will also make the priests and all the people pure. 34That law will continue forever. Once every year you will purify the Israelites from all their sins.”
So they did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.
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