17. No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the lord.
18. “Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the lord. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar.
19. Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.
20. “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.
21. He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.
22. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.
23. “When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there.