“Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood.
Parallel translations
- WEB “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.
- KJV Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
- BSB 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.
- NKJV “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
- NASB “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Aaron then kills the people's goat and sprinkles its blood on the mercy seat as he did the bull's. The nation's sins are atoned for at God's throne.
Overview
After atoning for himself, Aaron slays the goat for the people and applies its blood within the veil. This is the climactic moment when the nation's sins are covered before God. It foreshadows Christ, who by His own blood entered the true Holy Place once for all to secure eternal redemption for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Heb 9:7but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the errors of the people.
- Heb 2:17Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
- Heb 9:3After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,
- Heb 9:12nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.
- Lev 16:2and 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.
- Heb 5:3Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself.
- Heb 6:19This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil;
- Heb 9:25–26nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own,
- Lev 16:5–9He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 16:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.