The Day of Atonement
(Leviticus 23:26–32; Numbers 29:7–11)

1And the Lord spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they were destroyed for offering strange fire. 2And he instructed him, saying: Speak to your brother Aaron, so that he may not, at any time, enter into the Sanctuary, which is within the veil, before the propitiatory by which the ark is covered, so that he may not die, (for I will appear in a cloud above the oracle) 3unless he will have done these things beforehand. He shall offer a calf for sin, and a ram as a holocaust. 4He shall be vested with a linen tunic. He shall conceal his nakedness with linen undergarments. He shall be wrapped with a linen belt, and he shall impose a linen headdress on his head. For these are holy vestments. All of these he shall put on, after he has been washed. 5And he shall receive, from the entire multitude of the sons of Israel, two he-goats for sin, and one ram as a holocaust. 6And when he has presented the calf, and has prayed for himself and for his own house, 7he shall cause the two he-goats to stand in the sight of the Lord at the entrance to the tabernacle of the testimony. 8And casting lots over them both, one is to be offered to the Lord, and the other is to be the emissary goat. 9The one whose lot fell out to be offered to the Lord, he shall offer for sin. 10But the one who is to be the emissary goat shall stand before the Lord, so that he may pour the prayers upon him, and may send him away into the wilderness.

11After these things have been duly celebrated, he shall offer the calf, and praying for himself and for his own house, he shall immolate it. 12And taking up the censer, which he has filled from the burning coals of the altar, and drawing up with his hands the aromatic compound for incense, he shall enter within the veil, into the holy place, 13so that when the aromatics are placed upon the fire, its cloud and vapor may cover the oracle, which is above the testimony, and he may not die. 14Likewise, he shall take some of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle it with his finger seven times opposite the propitiatory, toward the east.

15And when he has slain the he-goat for the sin of the people, he shall carry its blood within the veil, just as he was instructed to do with the blood of the calf, so that he may sprinkle it away from the area of the oracle, 16and so that he may expiate the Sanctuary from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and from their prevarications and every one of their sins. According to this rite, he shall act toward the tabernacle of the testimony, which is fixed among them in the midst of the filth of their habitation. 17Let no man be in the tabernacle when the high priest enters the Sanctuary in order to pray for himself, and for his house, and for the entire assembly of Israel, until he exits. 18And when he has exited to the altar which is before the Lord, let him pray for himself, and taking the blood of the calf, and of the he-goat, let him pour it upon its horns all around. 19And sprinkling with his finger seven times, let him expiate and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.

20After he has cleansed the Sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the altar, then let him offer the living goat. 21And placing both hands upon its head, let him confess all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all of their offenses and sins. And calling these down upon its head, he shall send it away, by means of a man prepared to do so, into the desert. 22And when the goat has carried all their iniquities into a solitary land, and has been released into the desert,

23Aaron shall return into the tabernacle of the testimony. And placing aside the vestments, which he had worn before when he entered into the Sanctuary, and leaving them there, 24he shall wash his flesh in the holy place, and he shall be clothed in his own garments. And departing afterwards, he shall present his own holocaust and that of the people: he shall pray as much for himself as for the people. 25And the fat which is offered for sins, he shall burn upon the altar. 26Yet truly, he who has sent away the emissary goat shall wash his clothes and his body with water, and so he shall enter into the camp. 27But the calf and the he-goat, which were immolated for sin, and whose blood was brought into the Sanctuary to complete the expiation, these shall be carried outside the camp and be burned with fire: as with their skins, so also with their flesh and dung. 28And whoever will have burned them shall wash his clothes and flesh with water, and so he shall enter into the camp.

29And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall do no work, neither someone native born, nor the newcomer who sojourns among you. 30On this day, there shall be atonement for you, and also a cleansing from all your sins. You shall be cleansed in the sight of the Lord. 31For it is a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls as a perpetual observance. 32And the priest who has been anointed, and whose hands have been consecrated to exercise the priesthood in the place of his father, shall make atonement. And he shall be clothed with the linen robe and the holy vestments. 33And he shall expiate the Sanctuary and the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar, likewise the priest and all the people. 34And this shall be to you a perpetual law, that you pray for the sons of Israel, and for all their sins once a year. Therefore, he did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.