The Day of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after ^cthe death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to ^dcome at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For ^eI will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: ^fwith a bull from the herd for a sin offering and ^ga ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on ^hthe holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. ⁱHe shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from ^jthe congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

6 “Aaron shall ^koffer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall ^lmake atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for ^mAzazel.¹ 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for ^mAzazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to ^mAzazel.

11 “Aaron shall present ^kthe bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take ⁿa censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 ^oand put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover ^pthe mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And ^qhe shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 ^r“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood ^sinside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall ^tmake atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 ^uNo one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is ^vbefore the Lord and ^wmake atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

20 “And when he has made an end of ^xatoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall ^yput them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall ^zbear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and ^ahe shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and ^bshall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and ^coffer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And ^dthe fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who lets the goat go to ^eAzazel shall wash his clothes and ^fbathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 ^gAnd 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. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. 28 And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that ^hin the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall ⁱafflict yourselves² and shall do no work, either ^jthe native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you ^kto cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 ^lIt is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall ⁱafflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32 ^mAnd the priest who is anointed and ⁿconsecrated as priest in his father’s place ^oshall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33 He shall make atonement for ^pthe holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for ^qthe altar, and he shall make atonement for ^rthe priests and for ^sall the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel ^tonce in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron³ did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, ^uone who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in ^vthe true tent¹ that the Lord ^wset up, not man. 3 For ^xevery high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus ^yit is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve ^za copy and ^ashadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ^b“See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ² has obtained a ministry that is ^cas much more excellent than the old as ^dthe covenant ^ehe mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 ^fFor if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

8 For he finds fault with them when he says:³

13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And ^lwhat is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The Earthly Holy Place

1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and ^man earthly place of holiness. 2 For ⁿa tent⁴ was prepared, the first section, in which were ^othe lampstand and ^pthe table and ^qthe bread of the Presence.⁵ It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind ^rthe second curtain was a second section⁶ called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden ^saltar of incense and ^tthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ua golden urn holding the manna, and ^vAaron’s staff that budded, and ^wthe tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were ^xthe cherubim of glory overshadowing ^ythe mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 These preparations having thus been made, ^zthe priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only ^athe high priest goes, and he but ^aonce a year, and not without taking blood, ^bwhich he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that ^cthe way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age).⁷ According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered ^dthat cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with ^efood and drink and ^fvarious washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^gof the good things that have come,⁸ then through ^hthe greater and more perfect tent (ⁱnot made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he ^jentered ^konce for all into the holy places, not by means of ^lthe blood of goats and calves but ^mby means of his own blood, ⁿthus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if ^othe blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^pthe ashes of a heifer, sanctify⁹ for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will ^qthe blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^roffered himself without blemish to God, ^spurify our¹⁰ conscience ^tfrom dead works ^uto serve the living God.

15 Therefore he is ^vthe mediator of a new covenant, so that ^wthose who are called may ^xreceive the promised eternal inheritance, ^ysince a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.¹¹ 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For ^za will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^awithout blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^bthe blood of calves and goats, ^cwith water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, ^d“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^ethe tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^fwithout the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for ^gthe copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^hmade with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ⁱon our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^jthe high priest enters ^kthe holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^lhe has appeared ^monce for all ⁿat the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as ^oit is appointed for man to die once, and ^pafter that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once ^qto bear the sins of ^rmany, will appear ^sa second time, ^tnot to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^uwaiting for him.

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

1 For since the law has but ^va shadow ^wof the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, ^xit can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But ^yin these sacrifices ^zthere is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For ^ait is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Consequently, ^bwhen Christ¹² came into the world, he said,

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in ^csacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, ^d“Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will ^ewe have been sanctified through the offering of ^fthe body of Jesus Christ ^gonce for all.

11 And every priest stands ^hdaily at his service, ⁱoffering repeatedly the same sacrifices, ^jwhich can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ¹³ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he ^ksat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time ^luntil his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering ^mhe has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

17 then he adds,

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 ^pTherefore, brothers,¹⁴ since we have confidence to enter ^qthe holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by ^rthe new and living way that he opened for us through ^sthe curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have ^ta great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts ^usprinkled clean ^vfrom an evil conscience and our bodies ^wwashed with pure water. 23 ^xLet us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for ^yhe who promised is faithful. 24 And ^zlet us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 ^anot neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ^ball the more as you see ^cthe Day drawing near.

26 For ^dif we go on sinning deliberately ^eafter receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^fthere no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 ^gbut a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^ha fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 ⁱAnyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^jon the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^kwho has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^lthe blood of the covenant ^mby which he was sanctified, and has ⁿoutraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, ^o“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^p“The Lord will judge his people.” 31 ^qIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after ^ryou were enlightened, you endured ^sa hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being ^tpublicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For ^uyou had compassion on those in prison, and ^vyou joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had ^wa better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^xa great reward. 36 For ^yyou have need of endurance, so that ^zwhen you have done the will of God you may ^areceive what is promised. 37 For,

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.