Leviticus 16

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses after the two sons of Aaron died in bringing strange fire before the Lord, so they died.
2 And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to Aaron thy brother, and let him not come in at all times into the holy place within the veil before the propitiatory, which is upon the ark of the testimony, and he shall not die; for I will appear in a cloud on the propitiatory.
3 Thus shall Aaron enter into the holy place; with a calf of the herd for a sin-offering, and a ram for a whole-burnt-offering.
4 And he shall put on the consecrated linen tunic, and he shall have on his flesh the linen drawers, and shall gird himself with a linen girdle, and shall put on the linen cap, they are holy garments; and he shall bathe all his body in water, and shall put them on.
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering, and one lamb for a whole-burnt-offering.
6 And Aaron shall bring the calf for his own sin-offering, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and place them before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of witness.
8 and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scape-goat.
9 And Aaron shall bring forward the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and shall offer him for a sin-offering.
10 and the goat upon which the lot of the scape-goat came, he shall present alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon him, so as to send him away as a scape-goat, and he shall send him into the wilderness.
11 And Aaron shall bring the calf for his sin, and he shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and he shall kill the calf for his sin-offering.
12 And he shall take his censer full of coals of fire off the altar, which is before the Lord; and he shall fill his hands with fine compound incense, and shall bring it within the veil.
13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense shall cover the mercy-seat over the tables of testimony, and he shall not die.
14 And he shall take of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle with his finger on the mercy-seat eastward: before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle seven times of the blood with his finger.
15 And he shall kill the goat for the sin-offering that is for the people, before the Lord; and he shall bring in of its blood within the veil, and shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the calf, and shall sprinkle its blood on the mercy-seat, in front of the mercy-seat.
16 and he shall make atonement for the sanctuary on account of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and for their trespasses in the matter of all their sins; and thus shall he do to the tabernacle of witness established among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
17 and there shall be no man in the tabernacle of witness, when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, until he shall have come out; and he shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and for all the congregation of the children of Israel.
18 And he shall come forth to the altar that is before the Lord, and he shall make atonement upon it; and he shall take of the blood of the calf, and of the blood of the goat, and shall put it on the horns of the altar round about.
19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood upon it seven times with his finger, and shall purge it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and for the tabernacle of witness, and for the altar; and he shall make a cleansing for the priests, and he shall bring the living goat;
21 and Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat, and he shall declare over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their unrighteousness, and all their sins; and he shall lay them upon the head of the live goat, and shall send him by the hand of a ready man into the wilderness.
22 And the goat shall bear their unrighteousnesses upon him into a desert land; and Aaron shall send away the goat into the wilderness.
23 And Aaron shall enter into the tabernacle of witness, and shall put off the linen garment, which he had put on, as he entered into the holy place, and shall lay it by there.
24 And he shall bathe his body in water in the holy place, and shall put on his raiment, and shall go out and offer the whole-burnt-offering for himself and the whole-burnt-offering for the people: and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and for the people, as for the priests.
25 And he shall offer the fat for the sin-offering on the altar.
26 And he that sends forth the goat that has been set apart to be let go, shall wash his garments, and bathe his body in water, and afterwards shall enter into the camp.
27 And the calf for the sin-offering, and the goat for the sin-offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, they shall carry forth out of the camp, and burn them with fire, even their skins and their flesh and their dung.
28 And he that burns them shall wash his garments, and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he shall enter into the camp.
29 And this shall be a perpetual statute for you; in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall humble your souls, and shall do no work, the native and the stranger who abides among you.
30 For in this day he shall make an atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord, and ye shall be purged.
31 This shall be to you a most holy sabbath, a rest, and ye shall humble your souls; it is a perpetual ordinance.
32 The priest whomsoever they shall anoint shall make atonement, and whomsoever they shall consecrate to exercise the priestly office after his father; and he shall put on the linen robe, the holy garment.
33 And he shall make atonement for the most holy place, and the tabernacle of witness; and he shall make atonement for the altar, and for the priests; and he shall make atonement for all the congregation.
34 And this shall be to you a perpetual statute to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins: it shall be done once in the year, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Leviticus 16 Commentary

Chapter 16

The great day of atonement. (1-14) The sacrifices on it, The scape-goat. (15-34)

Verses 1-14 Without entering into particulars of the sacrifices on the great day of atonement, we may notice that it was to be a statute for ever, till that dispensation be at an end. As long as we are continually sinning, we continually need the atonement. The law of afflicting our souls for sin, is a statue which will continue in force till we arrive where all tears, even those of repentance, will be wiped from our eyes. The apostle observes it as a proof that the sacrifices could not take away sin, and cleanse the conscience from it, that in them there was a remembrance made of sin every year, upon the day of atonement, ( hebrews 10:1 hebrews 10:3 ) . The repeating the sacrifices, showed there was in them but a feeble effort toward making atonement; this could be done only by offering up the body of Christ once for all; and that sacrifice needed not to be repeated.

Verses 15-34 Here are typified the two great gospel privileges, of the remission of sin, and access to God, both of which we owe to our Lord Jesus. See the expiation of guilt. Christ is both the Maker and the Matter of the atonement; for he is the Priest, the High Priest, that makes reconciliation for the sins of the people. And as Christ is the High Priest, so he is the Sacrifice with which atonement is made; for he is all in all in our reconciliation to God. Thus he was figured by the two goats. The slain goat was a type of Christ dying for our sins; the scape-goat a type of Christ rising again for our justification. The atonement is said to be completed by putting the sins of Israel upon the head of the goat, which was sent away into a wilderness, a land not inhabited; and the sending away of the goat represented the free and full remission of their sins. He shall bear upon him all their iniquities. Thus Christ, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world, by taking it upon himself, ( John 1:29 ) . The entrance into heaven, which Christ made for us, was typified by the high priest's entrance into the most holy place. See ( Hebrews 9:7 ) . The high priest was to come out again; but our Lord Jesus ever lives, making intercession, and always appears in the presence of God for us. Here are typified the two great gospel duties of faith and repentance. By faith we put our hands upon the head of the offering; relying on Christ as the Lord our Righteousness, pleading his satisfaction, as that which alone is able to atone for our sins, and procure us a pardon. By repentance we afflict our souls; not only fasting for a time from the delights of the body, but inwardly sorrowing for sin, and living a life of self-denial, assuring ourselves, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By the atonement we obtain rest for our souls, and all the glorious liberties of the children of God. Sinner, get the blood of Christ effectually applied to thy soul, or else thou canst never look God in the face with any comfort or acceptance. Take this blood of Christ, apply it by faith, and see how it atones with God.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 16

This chapter treats of the day of atonement, and of the rites, sacrifices, and services of it, directs when Aaron should come into the holy of holies, Le 16:1,2; and in what habit he should then appear, and with what offerings both for himself, and for the people, Le 16:3-10; and that having slain his own sin offering, and that for the people, he should offer incense before the mercy seat, and sprinkle that with the blood of both, Le 16:11-15; and by these offerings make atonement for the holy place, the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, Le 16:16-19; and having done this, he was to take the live goat, lay his hands on it, confess over it, and put upon it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and then send it away by a fit man into the wilderness, Le 16:20-22; upon which he was to put off his linen garments, wash his flesh, and put them on again, and offer the burnt offering for himself, and for the people, Le 16:23-25; also he that let go the goat, and he that carried and burnt the sin offerings without the camp, were to wash themselves and clothes also, Le 16:26-28; the observance of this day, once a year, which was on the tenth of the seventh month, as a day of affliction and atonement, was to be a statute for ever to the children of Israel, Le 16:29-34.

Leviticus 16 Commentaries

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.