← All Chapters The Book of Leviticus · Chapter 16

Leviticus 16: The Day of Atonement

Once a year the high priest enters the Most Holy Place with blood, and two goats carry away the sins of the people before a holy God.

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Leviticus 16 (WEB)

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Yahweh, and died;

2 and Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.

3 “Aaron shall come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 He shall put on the holy linen coat. He shall have the linen breeches on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on.

5 He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 “Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.

7 He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

8 Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

9 Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering.

10 But the goat, on which the lot fell for the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for the scapegoat into the wilderness.

11 “Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.

12 He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:

13 and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, so that he will not die.

14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.

16 He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness.

17 No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.

18 “He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar.

19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

20 “When he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.

22 The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.

23 “Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there.

24 Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.

25 The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.

26 “He who lets the goat go for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

27 The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire.

28 He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

29 “It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, the native-born, or the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you:

30 for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh.

31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.

32 The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments.

33 Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

34 “This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Summary

After the death of Aaron's two sons, Yahweh warns that the high priest may not enter the Most Holy Place behind the veil whenever he pleases, lest he die. On one appointed day each year Aaron is to approach with a bull for his own sin offering and two goats for the people. Clothed in simple linen and freshly washed, he offers the bull and brings its blood within the veil, with a cloud of incense covering the mercy seat. He then casts lots over the two goats—one for Yahweh and one for the scapegoat. The first goat is slain, and its blood is sprinkled on and before the mercy seat to make atonement for the Holy Place, defiled by Israel's uncleanness and transgressions. Over the living goat Aaron lays both hands, confesses all the iniquities of the people, and sends it away into the wilderness to carry their sins to a solitary land. The day is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest, when the people afflict their souls and do no work, for on this day atonement is made to cleanse them from all their sins before Yahweh. It is established as an everlasting statute, made once in the year. In all of it we see a vivid picture of the gospel: blood that cleanses and a substitute that bears sin away, fulfilled when Christ entered the true holy place once for all.

Key Figures

  • Aaron the high priest — The one who enters behind the veil with blood and confesses the people's sins over the scapegoat, foreshadowing a greater High Priest.
  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The holy God who appears in the cloud over the mercy seat and provides the way for sinners to be cleansed and live.
  • The goat for Yahweh — The sin offering whose blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat to atone for the sanctuary and the people.
  • The scapegoat — The living goat that carries Israel's confessed iniquities away into the wilderness, a picture of sins removed.

Key Verse

Leviticus 16:30 (WEB)

for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh.

Lessons Learned

  • Access to a holy God is not casual; it comes only on God's terms, through blood and atonement.
  • Sin must be both covered and carried away—pictured in the two goats, one slain and one sent off.
  • Atonement is God's gracious provision, given once a year so that Israel could be clean before him.
  • The whole day points beyond itself to Christ, our High Priest who entered the true sanctuary with his own blood.
  • God sets the terms of approach. Aaron must not come behind the veil “at all times… lest he die,” but only as God commands (Leviticus 16:2, WEB).
  • Atonement is by blood. The blood of the sin offering is sprinkled on and before the mercy seat to cleanse the Holy Place (Leviticus 16:15-16, WEB).
  • Sin is carried away. The live goat bears “all their iniquities… to a solitary land” (Leviticus 16:22, WEB), picturing sins truly removed.
  • Cleansing is God's gift. “On this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh” (Leviticus 16:30, WEB).
  1. Why does the chapter begin by recalling the death of Aaron's sons, and what does that teach about approaching God?
  2. What is the meaning of the two goats, and what does each one accomplish?
  3. Why was the Day of Atonement to be observed only once a year, and what did that yearly rhythm communicate?
  4. How does the New Testament present Jesus as the fulfillment of this day (see Hebrews 9-10)?
  5. What does it mean to you personally that your sins can be both forgiven and carried away? How might you rest in that today?
  1. The reminder of Nadab and Abihu's death (16:1-2) underscores that God's presence is not to be approached carelessly. Even the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place only as God prescribed. The whole chapter rests on a holy reverence: atonement is needed precisely because God is holy and we are not.
  2. One goat is slain as a sin offering, its blood cleansing the sanctuary and the people (16:15-16); the other, the scapegoat, carries the confessed sins away into the wilderness (16:21-22). Together they show two sides of atonement—sin paid for and sin removed—both fulfilled in Christ.
  3. Doing it once a year showed that the work was never finished; the same sacrifices had to be repeated. This annual rhythm kept Israel aware that sin remained an ongoing problem, preparing them to long for a final, once-for-all atonement.
  4. Hebrews presents Jesus as the High Priest who entered not an earthly sanctuary but heaven itself, not with the blood of goats but with his own blood, securing eternal redemption once for all. He is both the offering whose blood cleanses and the one who bears our sin away.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Encourage members to dwell on both halves of the good news—sins forgiven and sins removed “as far as the east is from the west.” Invite them to name a sin they keep carrying and to entrust it, as confessed, to the One who carries it away.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.