Open English Translation LEV Chapter 16

16 Yahweh spoke to Mosheh after the death of two of Aharon’s sons when they approached Yahweh wrongly and died, 2 and he told Mosheh:

Tell your brother Aharon that if he doesn’t want to die, then he mustn’t just enter the holiest room inside the curtain at any old time. The atonement lid is on the sacred box, and I will appear in a cloud over that lid.[ref]

3 This is how Aharon must enter the sacred tent: he must acquire a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He must bathe himself in water and then put on linen underclothes, followed by his sacred linen tunic and tie the linen sash around it. Then he must wrap the linen turban on. Those are all sacred clothes.

5 Then Aharon must acquire two young goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 He must present the bull as a sin offering for himself to make both him and his household right with God. 7 Then he must take the two goats and make them stand in front of Yahweh at the entrance to the sacred tent, 8 and throw dice to decide which one is for Yahweh, and one is to be the ‘scapegoat’. 9 Then Aharon must present the goat that’s for Yahweh, and offer it as a sin offering, 10 but the chosen ‘scapegoat’ must be kept standing there in front of Yahweh, because it’ll be used to make the people right with Yahweh, and be sent into the wilderness.

11 Then Aharon must present the bull for his own sin offering to make him and his household right with God, then he’ll slaughter the bull for the sin offering for himself. 12 Then he must get a panful of burning coals off the altar in front of Yahweh as well as two handfuls of finely-ground, fragrant incense, and take them inside the curtain 13 where he’ll put the incense on the coals in Yahweh’s presence. Then the smoke cloud from the incense will cover the atonement lid on the sacred chest, and he won’t die. 14 Then he must take some of the bull’s blood, and using his finger, he must flick the blood seven times onto the eastern the side of the lid and seven times onto the front of the lid.

15 Then Aharon must slaughter the goat for the people’s sin offering, and take its blood inside the curtain, and do the same with it that he did to the bull’s blood—flicking it onto the side and front of the atonement lid,[ref] 16 thus making the Israeli people right with Yahweh for their uncleanness and their rebellion and disobedience. That’s also for the sacred tent which is among the people with their uncleanness. 17 No one else can enter the sacred tent when Aharon enters to make atonement in the sacred room until he leaves again. He must make atonement for himself and his household, as well as for the whole Israeli community, 18 then he’ll go out to the altar that’s in front of Yahweh and make atonement for that—he must take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on the four projecting corners of the altar. 19 Then he must flick blood on to it seven times with his finger, thus purifying it and removing the uncleanness of the Israeli people from it.

20 When Aharon has finished purifying the sacred room, the sacred tent, and the altar, then he should present the live goat. 21 He must place both his hands on the goat’s head, and confess all of Israel’s disobedience, rebellion, and shortcomings—symbolically placing them onto the goat’s head, and then he must choose a man that’s nearby to take it into the wilderness. 22 Then he’ll release the goat there in the wilderness, and the goat will carry all their sins into that barren land.

23 Then Aharon must enter the sacred tent and take off the linen garment that he’d put on as he’d entered into the sacred room and leave them there.[ref] 24 Then he must wash himself in water in a sacred place, put on his regular clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the burnt offering for the people, thus making both himself and the people right with Yahweh. 25 Then he must burn the fat from the sin offering up on the altar. 26 Also, the person who led away the ‘scapegoat’ must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and then he can reenter the camp. 27 Then the remains of the bull and the goat from the sin offerings (whose blood was taken into the sacred room to make atonement) must be taken to a place outside the camp where they must be burnt—skins, flesh, and dung.[ref] 28 The man who burnt them must then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and then he can reenter the camp.

29 This will be a permanent regulation for you all:

On the 10th of the seventh month (of Tishrei—around September/October), all of you including those who are native-born as well as foreigners living among you, must humble yourselves and not work that day[ref] 30 because on that day, the high priest will purify you all from your sins to make you right with Yahweh, and you’ll be ‘clean’. 31 It’ll be a very sacred rest day for you, and you all must humble yourselves—a permanent regulation for you all. 32 The priest who’s anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest must be the one to make atonement, and he must be wearing his sacred linen clothes. 33 He will first purify the sacred room and the sacred tent, and the altar, and then make all the priests right with Yahweh and finally, the entire community. 34 That will become a permanent regulation every year to make all the Israelis right with Yahweh because of their sins.

So Mosheh did exactly as Yahweh had instructed him.