Leviticus 16 - EasyEnglish Bible 2024（EASY）

Chapter 16Rules about the Day of Atonement

1The Lord spoke to Moses after two of Aaron's sons had died. They had burned incense in front of the Lord in a way that was wrong. The Lord punished them with death.

2The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell your brother Aaron that he must not go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. He must not do that at any time that he wants to. I appear in a cloud over the lid of the Covenant Box that is in there. So Aaron will die if he goes in there when it is not the proper time.

3This is what Aaron must do when he goes into the holy place. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering. He must also bring a male sheep for a burnt offering.

4He must wash his whole body before he puts on his special clothes, because they are holy. He must wear a holy linen robe and linen trousers next to his skin. He must tie a linen belt around his body. He must put a linen hat on his head.

5Israel's people must also give him two male goats for a sin offering and one male sheep for a burnt offering.

6Aaron must offer the bull as a sin offering. This will make him clean from his own sins. It will also make the people in his house clean from their sins.

7Then he must take the two goats to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. There he must offer them to the Lord.

8He must throw special stones to decide what he should do with each goat. One stone will have a mark for the Lord. The other stone will have a mark for Azazel.

9Aaron must take the goat that the stone showed is for the Lord. He must kill it as a sin offering.

10But he must bring the other goat in front of the Lord while it is alive. He will send it away to escape into the desert. In that way, it will take away the sins of the people and it will make them clean.

11Aaron must offer the bull which is for a sin offering. This will make him clean from his own sins. It will also make the people in his house clean from their sins.

12He must take a pot of hot coals that burn on the altar in front of the Lord. He must fill both his hands with incense that has a sweet smell. He must take the hot coals and the incense with him behind the curtain.

13Then he must put the incense onto the hot coals in front of the Lord. The smoke from the incense will rise up over the lid of the Covenant Box. If he does this, he will not die.

14Then he must take the blood from the bull. He must use his finger to splash blood onto the lid of the Covenant Box. He must also splash some blood seven times with his finger in front of the Covenant Box.

15Aaron must then kill the goat which is the sin offering for the people. He must take the goat's blood behind the curtain. He must use it in the same way that he used the bull's blood. He must shake it on the lid of the Covenant Box and in front of the Covenant Box.

16In this way Aaron will make the Most Holy Place clean. He must do this because of the sins of Israel's people that make them unclean. He must do the same thing for the whole Tent of Meeting to make it clean. The tent stands among Israel's people who are unclean.

17While Aaron is doing this, nobody may go into the Tent of Meeting. They must wait while he goes into the Most Holy Place to make everything clean. He must also make himself, his family and all the people of Israel clean from their sins. Everyone must wait outside until Aaron comes out of the Tent of Meeting.

18When he comes out, he must go to the altar that stands in front of the Lord's tent. He must make the altar clean. He must take some of the bull's blood and some of the goat's blood. He must put some blood on all the four horns of the altar.

19Then he must splash some of the blood on the altar seven times with his finger. In this way he will make it clean for the Lord to use. He must do this because Israel's people are unclean.

A goat carries away the sins of Israel's people

20Aaron must then bring the goat that is alive in front of the Lord. He must do this after he has made clean the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar.

21He must put his hands on the goat's head. He must speak aloud all the sins that Israel's people have done. He must say that they have been wicked and they have not obeyed the Lord. In this way he will put all their sins on the goat's head. Aaron must then tell a man that he has chosen to send the goat away into the desert.

22The goat will carry all the sins of Israel's people far away to an empty place. The man must send it away into the desert.

23After this, Aaron must go into the Tent of Meeting. He must take off his special linen clothes. He had put them on when he went into the holy tent. He must leave the clothes there.

24He must wash his whole body in a holy place. He must put on his own clothes and go out of the tent. Then he will offer the animals for his own burnt offering and the burnt offering for the people. In this way, he will make himself clean and the people clean from their sins.

25Then he must burn on the altar the fat from the sin offering.

26The man who sent the goat away to escape must wash his clothes and his whole body. Then he may return to the camp.

27Someone must carry the dead bodies of the animals for the sin offerings outside the camp. That is the bull and the goat that Aaron had killed. He used their blood to make the Most Holy Place clean. The man who takes them outside the camp must completely burn them. That includes their skin, their meat and their inside parts.

28After that, the man must wash his clothes and his whole body. Then he may return to the camp.

The Day of Atonement is a day of rest

29On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must not eat and you must not do any work. This is a rule that you must obey every year for all time. It is a rule for you who belong to Israel's people and for foreign people who live among you.

30It will be the Day of Atonement. On this day the priest will make you clean. The Lord will forgive you for all your sins.

31It is a very holy day of complete rest for you. You must not eat during that day. This is a rule that you must all obey every year.

32The descendant of Aaron who is chosen as leader of the priests will do all these things on the Day of Atonement. He will put on the linen clothes that are holy.

33He will make clean the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar. He will make the priests and all the people clean from their sins.

34Once every year, on this day, he will make Israel's people clean from all their sins. This is a rule that you must obey for all time.’

Moses did all these things as the Lord had commanded him.