1And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron , when they offered before the LORD , and died ; 2And the LORD said unto Moses , Speak unto Aaron thy brother , that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat , which is upon the ark ; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. 3Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering , and a ram for a burnt offering . 4He shall put on the holy linen coat , and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh , and shall be girded with a linen girdle , and with the linen mitre shall he be attired : these are holy garments ; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water , and so put them on . 5And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering , and one ram for a burnt offering . 6And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering , which is for himself , and make an atonement for himself, and for his house . 7And he shall take the two goats , and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation . 8And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats ; one lot for the LORD , and the other lot for the scapegoat . 9And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’s lot fell , and offer him for a sin offering . 10But the goat , on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat , shall be presented alive before the LORD , to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness .
The Rituals of Atonement
11And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering , which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house , and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: 12And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD , and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small , and bring it within the vail : 13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD , that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony , that he die not: 14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock , and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward ; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times . 15Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering , that is for the people , and bring his blood within the vail , and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock , and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat , and before the mercy seat : 16And he shall make an atonement for the holy place , because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel , and because of their transgressions in all their sins : and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation , that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness . 17And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place , until he come out , and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household , and for all the congregation of Israel . 18And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD , and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock , and of the blood of the goat , and put it upon the horns of the altar round about . 19And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times , and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel .
The Significance of the Scapegoat
20And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place , and the tabernacle of the congregation , and the altar , he shall bring the live goat : 21And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat , and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel , and all their transgressions in all their sins , putting them upon the head of the goat , and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness : 22And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited : and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness .
The Perpetual Statute
23And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation , and shall put off the linen garments , which he put on when he went into the holy place , and shall leave them there: 24And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place , and put on his garments , and come forth , and offer his burnt offering , and the burnt offering of the people , and make an atonement for himself, and for the people . 25And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar . 26And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes , and bathe his flesh in water , and afterward come into the camp . 27And the bullock for the sin offering , and the goat for the sin offering , whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place , shall one carry forth without the camp ; and they shall burn in the fire their skins , and their flesh , and their dung . 28And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes , and bathe his flesh in water , and afterward he shall come into the camp . 29And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month , on the tenth day of the month , ye shall afflict your souls , and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country , or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD . 31It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls , by a statute for ever . 32And the priest , whom he shall anoint , and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement , and shall put on the linen clothes , even the holy garments : 33And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary , and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation , and for the altar , and he shall make an atonement for the priests , and for all the people of the congregation . 34And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year . And he did as the LORD commanded Moses .