The Day of Atonement
1. Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died when they approached the presence of the LORD and burned before Him.
2. And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
3. “This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
4. He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments, and tie the linen sash around him. He must be dressed in the sacred garments and have the bull brought for the sin offering and the ram for the burnt offering.
5. He shall bathe himself with water and put them on.
6. And from the Israelite congregation he shall take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
7. Then Aaron shall present the bull for the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and his household.
8. He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
9. And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats—one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat.
10. Then Aaron shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering.
11. But the goat chosen by lot for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
12. When the sin offering is complete, Aaron is to present the bull for the burnt offering and sacrifice it as a sin offering for himself.
13. He is to then bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the assembly.
14. Next, he is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, with his hands full of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring it inside the veil.
15. And he is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, so that the cloud of incense covers the mercy seat above the Testimony, or else he will die.
16. He is to make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. And so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them in the midst of their impurities.
17. No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.
18. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.
19. He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and consecrate it from the impurities of the Israelites.
20. When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
21. And laying both hands on the head of the live goat, he shall confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.
22. The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.
23. Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he wore to enter the Most Holy Place, and leave them there.
24. He shall bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his regular garments. Then he must go out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people.
25. He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26. The man who released the goat for the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward, he may reenter the camp.
27. The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and refuse are to be burned up.
28. The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward, he may reenter the camp.
29. This is to be a permanent statute for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—
30. because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
31. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a permanent statute.
32. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He shall put on the sacred linen garments
33. and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly.
34. This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.”
And all of this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.