Leviticus 16
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 1445 BC · Egypt & the Exodus · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
34 verses · 1031 words · ~5 min read · ~7 min listen
The Day of Atonement
1Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaronʼs sons when they approached the presence of the Lord. 2And 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.
3This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them. 5And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
6Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. 7Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
8After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat, 9he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. 10But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
11When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil. 13He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die. 14And he is to take some of the bullʼs blood and splatter it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall splatter some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.
15Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bullʼs blood: He is to splatter it against the mercy seat and in front of it.
16So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them, in the midst of their impurities. 17No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.
18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bullʼs blood and some of the goatʼs blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. 19He is to splatter some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
20When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat. 21Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and 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 goatʼs head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. 22The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.
23Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there. 24He is to bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the peopleʼs burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.
27The 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 dung must be burned up. 28The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
29This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you— 30because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
32The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments 33and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly. 34This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.”
And all this was done as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Footnotes (6)
- a v2 Or the Holy Place; also in verses 16, 17, 20, 23, and 27
- b v2 Or atonement cover; here and throughout this chapter
- c v8 Literally the other to Azazel; similarly twice in verse 10 and once in verse 26
- d v13 The Testimony refers to the stone tablets in the ark of the covenant inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
- e v29 Or afflict your souls or deny yourselves; also in verse 31
- f v33 Or the Holy Sanctuary
Study notes on this chapter · 5
The mercy seat and the means of atonement
The lid of the ark, where atoning blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement, is the 'mercy seat'. In Romans 3:25 Paul says God put Christ forward as a 'hilasterion', the same Greek word the Septuagint uses for the mercy seat. The word's best translation is disputed, and translations render it as 'propitiation', 'expiation', 'sacrifice of atonement' or 'mercy seat'.
When: Sinai era; Romans, c. AD 57.
Ways people read this (4)
- Propitiation: Christ's death turns aside God's wrath (Reformed, evangelical and many Catholic readers).
- Expiation: the emphasis is on cleansing and removing sin, not on appeasing wrath.
- Mercy seat: Christ is the place where God and humanity meet, fulfilling the ark's lid.
- Christus Victor and other traditions stress other dimensions of the atonement alongside these.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The veil of the temple
A heavy veil separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the sanctuary, and only the high priest passed through once a year. The synoptic gospels record the veil torn in two at Jesus' death, and Hebrews says Jesus opened a new and living way through the veil, that is, his flesh.
When: Tabernacle and temple; Jesus' death, c. AD 30–33; Hebrews, before AD 70 (most likely).
Ways people read this (2)
- The torn veil signals open access to God through Christ's death (the reading of Hebrews 10:19-20).
- Some interpreters see it as a sign of the temple's coming judgment or destruction, or both.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The Day of Atonement
Once a year the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with the blood of a bull and goat to atone for the sins of the people. Hebrews says the Spirit was showing that the way into the sanctuary was not yet open, and that Christ entered once for all with his own blood, securing eternal redemption.
When: Leviticus (Sinai era); Hebrews, before AD 70 (most likely).
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The scapegoat carrying sins away
On the Day of Atonement the high priest laid the people's sins on a live goat and sent it into the wilderness. The New Testament does not cite the scapegoat by name, but Christian tradition has linked it with Christ bearing sin (as in Isaiah 53:6, 12), alongside the goat that was slain.
When: Leviticus (Sinai era).
Ways people read this (3)
- The two goats together illustrate Christ's death and the removal of sin (a common patristic reading).
- The goat for Azazel is seen by some as sent to a demonic figure; by others as a symbol of sin's removal.
- Jewish tradition reads the ritual as atonement and forgiveness for the people, without a messianic dimension.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Suffering outside the camp
On the Day of Atonement the bodies of the sin-offering animals were burned outside the camp. Hebrews says Jesus likewise suffered outside the city gate, and invites readers to go out to him bearing his reproach.
When: Leviticus (Sinai era); Hebrews, before AD 70 (most likely).
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.