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16. The Day of Atonement

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. ² The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

³ “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering Or purification offering; here and throughout this chapter and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. ⁵ From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷ Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 10 and 26. ⁹ Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

¹¹ “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. ¹² He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. ¹³ He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. ¹⁴ He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.

¹⁵ “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. ¹⁶ In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.

¹⁸ “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

²⁰ “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. ²¹ He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. ²² The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

²³ “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. ²⁴ He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.

²⁹ “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves Or must fast; also in verse 31 and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— ³⁰ because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. ³¹ It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. ³² The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments ³³ and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

³⁴ “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”

And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.

16. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place. The cleansing of the sanctuary might seem absurd, as if it were in man’s power to pollute what God Himself had consecrated; for we know that God remains true, although all’ the world be unholy, and consequently that whatever God has appointed changes not its nature through the sins of men. Yet, if no contagion from men’s sins had infected the tabernacle, this cleansing would have been superfluous. But although the sanctuary in itself may have contracted no defilement from the guilt of the people, still, in regard to the sin and guilt of the people themselves, it is justly accounted unclean. And thus sin is made more exceeding sinful, inasmuch as men, even though their intention be to serve God, profane His sacred name, if they do so carelessly or irreverently. It was at that time a detestable sacrilege in all to defile the altar and sanctuary of God; and Moses convicts the Israelites of this sacrilege when He commands the sanctuary to be cleansed. Moreover, let us learn that men may so contaminate the sacred things of God as that their nature should still remain unaltered and their dignity inviolate. Wherefore Moses expressly states that the sanctuary is cleansed not from its own uncleanness, but from that of the children of Israel. We must now apply the substance of this type to our own use. By Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God appears to us in his only-begotten Son: these are the pledges of our holiness; yet such is our corruption that we never cease from profaning, as far as in us lies, these instruments of the Spirit whereby God sanctifies us. Since, however, we have now no victims to kill, we must mourn and humbly pray that Christ, by the sprinkling of His blood, may blot out and cleanse these defilements of ours, by which Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are polluted. The reason of the purification is also to be observed, viz., because the tabernacle “dwelleth among them in the midst of their uncleanness;” ²⁴⁷²⁴⁷ Margin, A.V. by which words Moses signifies that men are so polluted and full of corruptions that they contaminate all that is holy without the intervention of a means of purification; for he takes it for granted that men cannot but bring some impurity with them. What he had said of the inner sanctuary he extends to the altar and the whole of the tabernacle.