16:1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord 1 and died, 16:2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy 2 in front of the atonement plate 3 that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.
16:3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary – with a young bull 4 for a sin offering 5 and a ram for a burnt offering. 6 16:4 He must put on a holy linen tunic, 7 linen leggings are to cover his body, 8 and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash 9 and wrap his head with a linen turban. 10 They are holy garments, so he must bathe 11 his body in water and put them on. 16:5 He must also take 12 two male goats 13 from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 16:6 Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. 16:7 He must then take the two goats 14 and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 16:8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, 15 one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. 16 16:9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, 17 and he is to make it a sin offering, 16:10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive 18 before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness. 19
16:11 “Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin offering bull which is for himself, 16:12 and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord 20 and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, 21 and bring them inside the veil-canopy. 22 16:13 He must then put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the atonement plate which is above the ark of the testimony, 23 so that he will not die. 24 16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, 25 and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. 26
16:15 “He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, 27 and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate. 16:16 So 28 he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins, 29 and thus he is to do for the Meeting Tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities. 16:17 Nobody is to be in the Meeting Tent 30 when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out, and he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel.
16:18 “Then 31 he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take 32 some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. 16:19 Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it 33 from the impurities of the Israelites.
16:20 “When he has finished purifying the holy place, 34 the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, 35 and thus he is to put them 36 on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. 37 16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, 38 so he is to send the goat away 39 in the wilderness.
16:23 “Aaron must then enter 40 the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there. 16:24 Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement 41 on behalf of himself and the people. 42
16:25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering 43 in smoke on the altar, 16:26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel 44 must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 16:27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp 45 and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, 46 16:28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
16:29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. 47 In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves 48 and do no work of any kind, 49 both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides 50 in your midst, 16:30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord. 51 16:31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. 52 It is a perpetual statute. 53
16:32 “The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father 54 is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 16:33 and he is to purify 55 the Most Holy Place, 56 he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, 57 and he is to make atonement for 58 the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 16:34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you 59 to make atonement for the Israelites for 60 all their sins once a year.” 61 So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 62
17:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 17:2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them: ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 17:3 “Blood guilt 63 will be accounted to any man 64 from the house of Israel 65 who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp, 66 17:4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent 67 to present it as 68 an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people. 69 17:5 This is so that 70 the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field 71 to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent to the priest and sacrifice them there as peace offering sacrifices to the Lord. 17:6 The priest is to splash 72 the blood on the altar 73 of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 17:7 So they must no longer offer 74 their sacrifices to the goat demons, 75 acting like prostitutes by going after them. 76 This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations. 77
17:8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man 78 from the house of Israel or 79 from the foreigners who reside 80 in their 81 midst, who offers 82 a burnt offering or a sacrifice 17:9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it 83 to the Lord – that person will be cut off from his people. 84
17:10 “‘Any man 85 from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside 86 in their 87 midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, 88 17:11 for the life of every living thing 89 is in the blood. 90 So I myself have assigned it to you 91 on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. 92 17:12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood, 93 and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood. 94
17:13 “‘Any man from the Israelites 95 or from the foreigners who reside 96 in their 97 midst who hunts a wild animal 98 or a bird that may be eaten 99 must pour out its blood and cover it with soil, 17:14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. 100 So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing 101 because the life of every living thing is its blood – all who eat it will be cut off. 102
17:15 “‘Any person 103 who eats an animal that has died of natural causes 104 or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner, 105 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean. 17:16 But if he does not wash his clothes 106 and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for iniquity.’” 107
18:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God! 18:3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, 108 and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; 109 you must not 110 walk in their statutes. 18:4 You must observe my regulations 111 and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. 112 I am the Lord your God. 18:5 So you must keep 113 my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. 114 I am the Lord.
18:6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative 115 to have sexual intercourse with her. 116 I am the Lord. 117 18:7 You must not 118 expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. 119 She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her. 18:8 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. 120 18:9 You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, 121 whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; 122 you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them. 123 18:10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual intercourse with them, because they are your own nakedness. 124 18:11 You must not have sexual intercourse with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have intercourse with her. 125 18:12 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. 126 18:13 You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. 18:14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual intercourse with her. 127 She is your aunt. 128 18:15 You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her. 18:16 You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. 129 18:17 You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them. 130 They are closely related to her 131 – it is lewdness. 132 18:18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife 133 while she is still alive, 134 to have sexual intercourse with her.
18:19 “‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity 135 to have sexual intercourse with her. 18:20 You must not have sexual intercourse 136 with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, 137 so that you do not profane 138 the name of your God. I am the Lord! 18:22 You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; 139 it is a detestable act. 140 18:23 You must not have sexual intercourse 141 with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it; 142 it is a perversion. 143
18:24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you 144 have been defiled with all these things. 18:25 Therefore 145 the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, 146 so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 18:26 You yourselves must obey 147 my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, 148 18:27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, 149 and the land has become unclean. 18:28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it 150 just as it has vomited out the nations 151 that were before you. 18:29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people. 152 18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes 153 that have been done before you, so that you do not 154 defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”