Leviticus 16

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before Jehovah and died;

Yahweh spoke to Moses—this was after the death of Aaron's two sons, when they had gone near to Yahweh and then died.

2 and Jehovah said to Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the sanctuary inside the veil before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark, that he die not; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron your brother and tell him not to come at just any time into the most holy place inside the curtain, before the atonement lid that is on the ark. If he does, he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement lid.

3 In this manner shall Aaron come into the sanctuary: with a young bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering.

So here is how Aaron must come into the most holy place. He must enter with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering.

4 A holy linen vest shall he put on, and linen trousers shall be upon his flesh, and he shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and put them on.

He must put on the holy linen tunic, and he must put the linen undergarments on himself, and he must wear the linen sash and linen turban. These are the holy garments. He must bathe his body in water and then dress himself with these clothes.

5 And of the assembly of the children of Israel shall he take two bucks of the goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a burnt-offering.

He must take from the assembly of the people of Israel two male goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

6 And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house.

Then Aaron must present the bull as the sin offering, which will be for himself, to make atonement for himself and his family.

7 And he shall take the two goats, and set them before Jehovah, before the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Then he must take the two goats and set them before Yahweh at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for Jehovah, and the other lot for Azazel.

Then Aaron must cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

9 And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for Jehovah, and offer it [as] a sin-offering.

Aaron must then present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer that goat as a sin offering.

10 And the goat upon which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before Jehovah, to make atonement with it, to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness.

But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat must be brought alive before Yahweh, to make atonement by sending him away as a scapegoat into the wilderness.

11 And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall slaughter the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself.

Then Aaron must present the bull for the sin offering, which will be for himself. He must make atonement for himself and for his family, so he must kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.

12 And he shall take the censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before Jehovah, and both his hands full of fragrant incense beaten small, and bring it inside the veil.

Aaron must take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, with his hands full of finely ground sweet incense, and bring these things inside the curtain.

13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before Jehovah, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat which is upon the testimony, that he die not.

There he must put the incense on the fire before Yahweh so that the cloud from the incense may cover the atonement lid over the covenant decrees. He must do this so he will not die.

14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle with his finger upon the front of the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood seven times with his finger.

Then he must take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the atonement lid. He must sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times before the atonement lid.

15 And he shall slaughter the goat of the sin-offering, which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat;

Then he must kill the goat for the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain. There he must do with the blood as he did with the blood of the bull: He must sprinkle it on the atonement lid and then before the atonement lid.

16 and he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, [to cleanse it] from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and from their transgressions in all their sins; and so shall he do for the tent of meeting which dwelleth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

He must make atonement for the holy place because of the unclean actions of the people of Israel, and because of their rebellion and all their sins. He must also do this for the tent of meeting, where Yahweh lives among them, in the presence of their unclean actions.

17 And there shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goeth in to make atonement in the sanctuary until he come out; and he shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and for the whole congregation of Israel.

No one must be in the tent of meeting when Aaron enters it to make atonement in the most holy place, and until he comes out and has finished making atonement for himself and for his family, and for all the assembly of Israel.

18 And he shall go out unto the altar which is before Jehovah, and make atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about;

He must go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and he must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood and put it on the horns of the altar all around.

19 and he shall sprinkle upon it of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.

He must sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and set it apart to Yahweh, away from the unclean actions of the people of Israel.

20 And when he hath ended making atonement for the sanctuary, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the living goat;

When he has finished atoning for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he must present the live goat.

21 and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away to the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready;

Aaron must lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over him all the wickedness of the people of Israel, all their rebellion, and all their sins. Then he must put that sinfulness on the head of the goat and send the goat away in the care of a man who is ready to lead the goat into the wilderness.

22 that the goat may bear upon him all their iniquities to a land apart [from men]; and he shall send away the goat into the wilderness.

The goat must carry on himself all the people's wickedness to a solitary place. There in the wilderness, the man must let the goat go free.

23 And Aaron shall go into the tent of meeting, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the sanctuary, and shall leave them there;

Then Aaron must go back into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments that he had put on before going into the most holy place, and he must leave those garments there.

24 and he shall bathe his flesh with water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and go forth, and offer his burnt-offering, and the burnt-offering of the people, and make atonement for himself, and for the people.

He must bathe his body in water in a holy place, and put on his normal garments; then he must go out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering for the people, and in this way make atonement for himself and for the people.

25 And the fat of the sin-offering shall he burn upon the altar.

He must burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

26 And he that letteth go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water; and afterwards he may come into the camp.

The man who let the scapegoat go free must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that, he may come back into the camp.

27 And the bullock of the sin-offering, and the goat of the sin-offering whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the sanctuary, shall one carry forth outside the camp; and they shall burn with fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

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, must be carried outside the camp. There they must burn their hides, flesh, and dung.

28 And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water; and afterwards he may come into the camp.

The man who burns those parts must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that, he may come back into the camp.

29 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you. In the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, the home-born, and the stranger that sojourneth among you;

It will always be a statute for you that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work, whether the native born or a foreigner who is living among you.

30 for on that day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you: from all your sins shall ye be clean before Jehovah.

This is because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you from all your sins so you will be clean before Yahweh.

31 A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls: [it is] an everlasting statute.

It is a solemn Sabbath of rest for you, and you must humble yourselves and do no work. This will always be a statute among you.

32 And the priest who hath been anointed, and who hath been consecrated, to exercise the priesthood in his father's stead, shall make atonement; and he shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments.

The high priest, the one who will be anointed and ordained to be high priest in his father's place, he must make this atonement and put on the linen garments, that is, the holy garments.

33 And he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and for the tent of meeting, and for the altar shall he make atonement; and for the priests, and for the whole people of the congregation shall he make atonement.

He must make atonement for the most holy place; he must make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he must make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make atonement for the children of Israel [to cleanse them] from all their sins once a year. And he did as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

This will always be a statute for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel because of all their sins, once in every year.” This was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.