Leviticus 16:20

New King James Version

"And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"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.

King James Version
And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:

Lexham English Bible
"And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and the tent of assembly and the altar; then he shall present the living goat.

New Century Version
"When Aaron has finished making the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar ready for service to the Lord , he will offer the living goat.

New English Translation
"When he has finished purifying the holy place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat.

Amplified Bible
"When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place and the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

New American Standard Bible
"When he finishes atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.

Geneva Bible (1587)
When he hath made an ende of purging the Holy place, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the altar, then he shall bring the liue goate:

Legacy Standard Bible
"And when he finishes making atonement for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring near the live goat.

Contemporary English Version
After you have purified the most holy place, the sacred tent, and the bronze altar, you must bring the live goat to the front of the tent.

Complete Jewish Bible
"When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he is to present the live goat.

Darby Translation
And when he hath ended making atonement for the sanctuary, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the living goat;

Easy-to-Read Version
"So Aaron will make the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar pure. Then he will bring the living goat to the front of the tent.

English Standard Version
"And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

George Lamsa Translation
And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat;

Good News Translation
When Aaron has finished performing the ritual to purify the Most Holy Place, the rest of the Tent of the Lord 's presence, and the altar, he shall present to the Lord the live goat chosen for Azazel.

Christian Standard Bible®
“When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat.

Literal Translation
And when he has finished atoning for the sanctuary, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, and has brought near the living goat;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And whan he hath made an ende of reconcylinge the Sanctuary, and the Tabernacle of witnesse, and the altare, he shal bringe the lyuynge goate.

American Standard Version
And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat:

Bible in Basic English
And when he has done whatever is necessary to make the holy place and the Tent of meeting and the altar free from sin, let him put the living goat before the Lord;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the aulter, he shall bryng the liue goate.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

King James Version (1611)
And when hee hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the Altar, hee shall bring the liue goate.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he shall finish making atonement for the sanctuary and for the tabernacle of witness, and for the altar; and he shall make a cleansing for the priests, and he shall bring the living goat;

English Revised Version
And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat:

Berean Standard Bible
When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he is to bring forward the live goat.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Aftir that he hath clensid the seyntuarie, and tabernacle, and auter, thanne offre he the lyuynge `buc of geet;

Young's Literal Translation
`And he hath ceased from making atonement [for] the sanctuary, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, and hath brought near the living goat;

Update Bible Version
And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat:

Webster's Bible Translation
And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy [place], and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:

World English Bible
When he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat:

New Living Translation
"When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.

New Life Bible
"When he finishes making the holy place, the meeting tent and the altar free from sin, he will give the live goat.

New Revised Standard
When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when he hath made an end of covering by propitiation the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, then shall he bring near the living goat.

Douay-Rheims Bible
After he hath cleaned the sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the altar, then let him offer the living goat.

Revised Standard Version
"And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat;

THE MESSAGE
"When Aaron finishes making atonement for the Holy of Holies, the Tent of Meeting, and the Altar, he will bring up the live goat, lay both hands on the live goat's head, and confess all the iniquities of the People of Israel, all their acts of rebellion, all their sins. He will put all the sins on the goat's head and send it off into the wilderness, led out by a man standing by and ready. The goat will carry all their iniquities to an empty wasteland; the man will let him loose out there in the wilderness.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.

Contextual Overview

²⁰ "And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. ²² The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. ²³ "Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ²⁴ And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, 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 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may 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 in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. ²⁸ Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

reconciling: Leviticus 16:16, Leviticus 6:30, Leviticus 8:15, Ezekiel 45:20, 2 Corinthians 5:19, Colossians 1:20

live goat: Romans 4:25, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, Revelation 1:18

Reciprocal: Leviticus 25:9 - the day

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy [place],.... That is, the holy of holies, by carrying in the blood of the bullock, and of the goat there, and sprinkling them as before observed:

and the tabernacle of the congregation; the great court where the people met, and where the altar of burnt offering stood:

and the altar; the altar of incense in the holy place; and so all the parts of the tabernacle were reconciled and atoned for, even the holy of holies, the holy place, and the court of the people: all the work the day of atonement, we are told w, was done according to the order prescribed, and that if anything was done before another, it was doing nothing: thus, for instance, if the blood of the goat went before (or was sprinkled before) the blood of the bullock, he must return and sprinkle of the blood of the goat after the blood of the bullock; and if before he has finished the puttings (of the blood) within, the blood is poured out, (that is, at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering,) he shall bring other blood, and return and sprinkle anew within, and so in the temple, and at the golden altar, for every atonement is by itself:

he shall bring the live goat; that which remained alive after the other was slain, as it was to do, according to the lot that fell upon it,

Leviticus 16:10; this was brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, whither the high priest went, and performed the following rites.

w Yoma, c. 5. sect. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It is important, in reference to the meaning of the day of atonement, to observe the order of the rites as they are described in these verses.

Leviticus 16:12

A censer - See Exodus 25:38 note.

The altar before the Lord - i. e. the altar of burnt-offering on which the fire was always burning.

Leviticus 16:14

The high priest must have come out from the most holy place to fetch the blood, leaving the censer smoking within, and then have entered again within the veil. He sprinkled the blood seven times upon the mercy-seat, on its east side (not “eastward”), and then seven times upon the floor in front of it. If the mercy-seat may be regarded as an altar, the holiest one of the three, on this one occasion in the year atonement was thus made for it, as for the other altars, with sacrificial blood.

Leviticus 16:15

Having completed the atonement in the holy of holies on behalf of the priests, the high priest had now to do the same thing on behalf of the people.

Leviticus 16:16

The “holy place” - Here the place within the veil, the holy of holies.

Tabernacle of the congregation - tent of meeting. atonement was now to be made for the tabernacle as a whole. The sense is very briefly expressed, but there seems to be no room to doubt that the high priest was to sprinkle the blood of each of the victims before the altar of incense, as he had done before the mercy-seat within the veil; and also to touch with blood the horns of the altar of incense Exodus 30:10.

That remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness - Compare Leviticus 16:19. The most sacred earthly things which came into contact with the nature of man needed from time to time to be cleansed and sanctified by the blood of the sin-offerings which had been taken into the presence of Yahweh. See Exodus 28:38 note.

Leviticus 16:18

The order of the ceremony required that atonement should first be made for the most holy place with the mercy-seat, then for the holy place with the golden altar, and then for the altar in the court. See Leviticus 16:20, Leviticus 16:33. The horns of the brazen altar were touched with the blood, as they were in the ordinary sin-offerings. Leviticus 4:25, Leviticus 4:30, Leviticus 4:34.

Of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat - Some of the blood of the two victims was mingled together in a basin.

Leviticus 16:21

Confess over him - The form of confession used on this occasion in later times was: “O Lord, Thy people, the house of Israel, have transgressed, they have rebelled, they have sinned before Thee. I beseech Thee now absolve their transgressions, their rebellion, and their sin that they have sinned against Thee, as it is written in the law of Moses Thy servant, that on this day he shall make atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins, and ye shall be clean.”

A fit man - literally, a timely man, or a man at hand. Tradition says that the man was appointed for this work the year before.

Leviticus 16:22

Unto a land not inhabited - Unto a place cut off, or (as in the margin) a place “of separation.”

It is evident that the one signification of the ceremony of this goat was the complete removal of the sins which were confessed over him. No symbol could so plainly set forth the completeness of Yahweh’s acceptance of the penitent, as a sin-offering in which a life was given up for the altar, and yet a living being survived to carry away all sin and uncleanness.