Leviticuschapter 16

A.Not at just any time may he entervv. 1-5

1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. 3 This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

B.Two goats and the casting of lotsvv. 6-10

6 Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8 After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat, 9 he shall present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

C.Blood carried inside the veilvv. 11-14

11 When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. 12 Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil. 13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die. 14 And he is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the east side of the mercy seat; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the mercy seat.

D.Cleansing the holy place and the altarvv. 15-19

15 Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities. 17 No one may be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he leaves, after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to 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 is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

E.The goat that carries sins awayvv. 20-22

20 When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat. 21 Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.

F.Wash, burn, and afflict your souls each yearvv. 23-34

23 Then Aaron is to enter the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen garments he put on before entering the Most Holy Place, and leave them there. 24 He is to bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his own clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 The man who released the goat as the scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung must be burned up. 28 The one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 29 This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you— 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the assembly. 34 This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement once a year for the Israelites because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

The Day of Atonement.

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The Day of Atonement. The book's centre. Aaron must not come at all times into the holy place within the veil, lest he die; for the LORD appears in the cloud upon the mercy seat. Once a year he enters. First a bullock for his own sin, then two goats for the sin of the people. One goat slain as the sin offering; the blood sprinkled on and before the mercy seat. The second goat is the scapegoat. Azazel. Sent away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, ‘bearing upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited’. Fine linen garments; the camp cleansed. Hebrews 9–10 reads the whole chapter as the shadow whose substance is Christ entering once into the holy place.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Law · Moses — Leviticus overview

A. 1–5 Not at just any time may he enter
B. 6–10 Two goats and the casting of lots
C. 11–14 Blood carried inside the veil
D. 15–19 Cleansing the holy place and the altar
E. 20–22 The goat that carries sins away
F. 23–34 Wash, burn, and afflict your souls each year

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Leviticus 169 verses
- Leviticus 16:3This is how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
- Leviticus 16:4He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them.
- Leviticus 16:6Aaron is to present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.
- Leviticus 16:10But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
- Leviticus 16:16So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities.
- Leviticus 16:18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar.
- Read Leviticus 16: 3 more there →
Hebrews 98 verses
- Hebrews 9:3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,
- Hebrews 9:7But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
- Hebrews 9:12He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
- Hebrews 9:13For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,
- Hebrews 9:22According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
- Hebrews 9:23So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- Read Hebrews 9: 2 more there →
Leviticus 48 verses
- Leviticus 4:3If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
- Leviticus 4:4He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD.
- Leviticus 4:5Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting.
- Leviticus 4:7The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- Leviticus 4:8Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Leviticus 4:11But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs and its entrails and dung—
- Read Leviticus 4: 2 more there →
Exodus 295 verses
- Exodus 29:4Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.
- Exodus 29:9Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.
- Exodus 29:13Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.
- Exodus 29:29The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them.
- Exodus 29:36Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.
- Read Exodus 29 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Exodus 304 verses
- Exodus 30:7And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.
- Exodus 30:10Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”
- Exodus 30:20Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made by fire to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die.
- Exodus 30:34The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,
- Read Exodus 30 →
Hebrews 72 verses
- Hebrews 7:19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
- Hebrews 7:27Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.
- Read Hebrews 7 →
Isaiah 532 verses
- Isaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- Isaiah 53:11After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.
- Read Isaiah 53 →
Ezekiel 442 verses
- Ezekiel 44:17When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.
- Ezekiel 44:19When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
- Read Ezekiel 44 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.