Leviticus 16

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had come near before the Lord, 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 the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail, before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not; for in the cloud will I appear 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 With this shall Aaron come into the holy place: 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 coat shall be put on, and linen breeches shall he have upon his flesh, and with a linen girdle shall he gird himself, and a linen mitre shall he bind on his head; these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and then 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 from the congregation of the children of Israel shall he take two 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 bring near the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make an 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 place them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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

8 And Aaron shall put lots upon the two goats; one lot “for the Lord,” 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 bring near the goat upon which fell the lot “for the Lord,” and offer him for 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 But the goat on which fell the lot “for 'Azazel,” shall be placed alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, by sending him away to '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 bring near the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and he shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house; and he shall kill 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 a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and both his hands full of incense of spices, pounded fine, and bring it within the vail;

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 the Lord; that the cloud of the incense may envelop the mercy-seat that 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 it with his finger above toward the mercy-seat, eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle seven times of the blood 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 kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood to within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it above 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 an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that abideth 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 not be any man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out: and so shall he make an atonement for himself, and for his household, 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 then go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement upon it; and he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood 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 he shall cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness 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 made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: then shall he bring near the live 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 upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and he shall send him away by the hand of a man appointed thereto into the wilderness:

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 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and so shall he 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 then go into the tabernacle of the congregation, and he shall take off the linen garments, which he had put on when he went into the holy place, and he 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 come then forth, and offer his burnt-offering, and the burnt-offering of the people, and make an 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 carrieth the goat to 'Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward 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 for the sin-offering, and the goat for the sin-offering, the blood of which was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in 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 afterward 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 it shall be unto you a statute for ever: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict yourselves [by fasting], and no work shall ye do, whether it be one of your own country, or 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 [the high-priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins before the Lord shall ye be clean.

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 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict yourselves [by fasting], as a statute for ever.

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 shall be anointed, and who shall be consecrated to minister as priest in his father's stead, shall make the atonement; and he shall put on the linen clothes, 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 an atonement for the holy of holies; and for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar shall he make an atonement; and also for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation shall he make an 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 unto you as a statute for everlasting, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year: and he did as the Lord 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.