And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Parallel translations
- WEB The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.
- BSB The goat will carry on itself all their iniquities into a solitary place, and the man will release it into the wilderness.
- NKJV The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
- NASB Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an isolated territory; he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
- NLT As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.
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
The goat carries all the people's sins to a solitary land and is released. Their iniquity is removed far away, never to return.
Overview
The scapegoat bears Israel's sins into an uninhabited region and is let go, depicting the complete and final removal of guilt. As far as the east is from the west, so God removes sin from His people. This fulfills in Christ, who takes away the sin of the world so that it is remembered against us no more.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 1:29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
- Isa 53:11–12He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
- Mic 7:19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
- Gal 3:13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
- Ps 103:12As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
- Ps 103:10He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
- 1 Pet 2:24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
- Heb 9:28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
- Ezek 18:22All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 16:22 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.