Brokenness Before Forgiveness

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall 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 offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 And 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 in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32 And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33 He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all 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 once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses. – Leviticus 16:23-34 ESV

In what has come to be known as The Song of the Suffering Servant, the prophet Isaiah predicts the future death of the Lord’s Messiah. In this prophetic passage, Isaiah describes in great detail the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). And there is a portion of the passage that sounds eerily similar to the fate suffered by the scapegoat.

…the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living. – Isaiah 53:6-8 ESV

Just as Aaron laid his hands on the scapegoat to transfer the sins of the people onto the innocent animal, God laid the iniquities of mankind onto His sinless and undeserving Son. For a time on the cross, as Jesus bore the weight of the sins of humanity, He was separated from His Heavenly Father. His unbroken communion with His Father was temporarily shattered, causing Him to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 ESV).

Like the scapegoat, Jesus found Himself cast from God’s presence – cut off from the land of the living. But Jesus’ separation was temporary. He died, paying the full debt owed because of mankind’s sins. But He also rose from the dead as evidence that His sacrifice satisfied the demands of a just and holy God. The scapegoat was led into the wilderness where it would die. But it would experience no resurrection. And the next year, another goat would take its place, suffering the very same fate. And this would go on for centuries because the people of Israel would continue to sin and remain in constant need of atonement.

But one day, Jesus would come and do what no scapegoat could ever do. According to the apostle Peter, Jesus would be the final and perfect sacrifice, offering His sinless life in place of sinful humanity, dying the death they owed so that, by faith, they might enjoy atonement, the forgiveness of their sins, and the hope of eternal life.

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. – 1 Peter 3:18 NLT

Once Aaron had overseen the sending away of the scapegoat, he was to go through a ritual of cleansing, removing his blood-stained garments, washing his body with water, and putting on his high-priestly robes. Having removed the last vestiges of sin and corruption, Aaron then a burnt offering for himself and for the people. He also burned the fat of the purification offering. The final step in the sacrificial process was to have the hides, flesh, and dung of the bull and goat taken outside the camp and burned. The one assigned to this rather unpleasant task was to ceremonially cleanse himself before returning to the camp. This completed the process of removing all sin and defilement from the Tabernacle and from within the family of Israel.

But there was one more vital step required for the Day of Atonement to be complete and satisfactory. God ordered that the entire day be “a Sabbath day of complete rest” (Leviticus 16:31 NLT). No work was to be done. No food was to be eaten. God describes this day of complete abstinence as a day for “afflicting the soul.” As Aaron was busy offering sacrifices on their behalf, they were to deny themselves the normal aspects of daily life. Rather than eat, they were to fast and pray. Instead of bathing, they were to cover themselves with sackcloth and ashes, a sign of mourning over their sins. They were to cease from all work and place their trust in the atoning work of the high priest as he interceded on their behalf. This final step in the process was required for the atoning benefits to take full effect.

On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins. – Leviticus 16;30 NLT

Aaron could carry out every part of the process established by God, but if the people refused to own up to the seriousness of their own sins and “afflict their souls” appropriately, his efforts would be for naught. David, the great king of Israel, understood the need for repentance. After having an affair with another man’s wife and arranging for that man’s murder so the woman could be his, David was punished by God for his crimes. The baby born from this adulterous relationship died. And after David had taken time to contemplate his actions, he wrote the following:

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
    You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. – Pslam 51:16-17 NLT

David understood that no amount of blood sacrifices could cleanse him of his sins if he was unwilling to own up to what he had done. The apostle John put it this way:

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. – 1 John 1:6 ESV

John knew that unacknowledged sin that remains unconfessed destroys a believer's fellowship with God. And he went on to warn about the danger of denying sin in the face of the Spirit’s convicting ministry.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. – 1 John 1:8 ESV

John wasn’t denying the efficacy of Jesus’ sacrifice. In fact, he made it clear that “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7 ESV). The problem arises when we deny or debate the existence of sin in our lives and refuse to confess.

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:10 ESV

For God to institute an entire day dedicated to the removal of all sin and then have His people deny the very existence of that sin would have been a travesty. Yet, John reminds us that, even today, those who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, need to own up to their sin, repent and seek forgiveness. And when we “afflict our souls” through confession, prayer, and fasting, we enjoy the cleansing and life-giving joy of complete forgiveness.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 ESV

Sin was inevitable for the people of Israel. That’s why the Day of Atonement was an annual event. God knew His people would disobey His commands and end up defiling themselves, the camp, and the Tabernacle itself. In doing so, they would break fellowship with Him. Their defilement would require purification. But it all began with a humble admission of their sin and their need for cleansing by God. Atonement is always a gift from God and never a work we perform. Aaron did all the work on behalf of the people. The only thing required of them was confession and contrition. As David so aptly put it: “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (Psalms 51:17 NLT).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Beauty of God’s Forgiveness and Forgetfulness

6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make 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 Azazel. 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 Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

11 “Aaron shall present the 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 a 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 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he 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 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that 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, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make 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 No 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 before the Lord and make 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 atoning 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 put 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 bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.” – Leviticus 16:6-22 ESV

God ordered Aaron to bring a bull, one ram, and two male goats to the Tabernacle for use as sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. Each of these animals had a different role to play in the annual ceremony and verses 6-10 provide a succinct summary of their use. The bull was to be offered by Aaron himself as a sin offering that was intended to provide purification for him and his family members. Once this process of atonement was complete, he was properly prepared to act on behalf of the people of Israel.

The next step in the process was to cast lots over the two goats. This was done to determine which goat would serve as a blood sacrifice and which goat would be released into the wilderness. It remains unclear how the casting of lots took place, but the Hebrews practiced this form of divination as a way to determine God’s will. The Book of Proverbs states that the “lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33 ESV).

By casting lots, Aaron was allowing God to make the determination as to the fate of each of the goats. One was to be slaughtered for the sins of the people, with its blood used to purify the Tabernacle, the altar, and the Holy of Holies. The life of this innocent animal would serve as a form of substitutionary atonement so that all of the sins the people had committed that year could be forgiven and forgotten. King David wrote the following Psalm to celebrate the goodness and graciousness of God.

He revealed his character to Moses
    and his deeds to the people of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He will not constantly accuse us,
    nor remain angry forever.
He does not punish us for all our sins;
    he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
    is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us
    as the east is from the west. – Psalm 103:7-12 NLT

The imagery of the two goats aptly illustrates David’s point. The first goat died so that the Israelites might live. But the second goat lived so that the sins of the Israelites might be symbolically removed from them. This goat has come to be known as the “scapegoat,” a term first coined by William Tyndale. The Hebrew term used for this goat is עֲזָאזֵל (ʿazaʾzel), and it appears four times in the Scriptures, all in this passage. The exact meaning of the term has been much debated over the centuries.

The passage suggests that one goat was chosen “for the Lord,” while the other was to be “for Azazel.” Over the centuries, many scholars have determined that the word, “Azazel” could best be defined as “the goat that departs.” This is what led Tyndale and others to refer to this animal as the “scapegoat.” Even the modern definition of the term, “scapegoat” reflects the practice of using this animal as a substitute or proxy for the people. Dictionary.com defines a scapegoat as “a person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place.”

Yet, more recent scholarship has arrived at a different meaning for the name, “Azazel.”

“The most common view among scholars today is that it is the proper name of a particular demon (perhaps even the Devil himself) associated with the wilderness desert regions.…Even if a demon or the demonic realm is the source for the name, however, there is no intention here of appeasing the demons. The goal is to remove the impurity and iniquity from the community in order to avoid offending the Lord and the repercussions of such.” – NET Bible Study Notes

Whatever the exact meaning of the word, Azazel, it is clear that this goat, like its companion, was intended to serve as a substitute. The only difference was that its life was spared. It was allowed to live but was forcibly banned from the community and sent out into the wilderness, bearing the sins of the entire nation.

“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. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.” – Leviticus 16:21-22 NLT

These two goats served two separate but connected roles. One provided its blood as atonement for the sins of the people. This blood was sprinkled on the altar in order to “cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel” (Leviticus 16:19 ESV). The presence of unconfessed and unatoned-for sin among the people had ended up contaminating the Tabernacle which required its purification. So, Aaron was required to sprinkle the blood “over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat” (Leviticus 16:14 ESV). In doing so, he would “make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins” (Leviticus 16:16 ESV).

But the second goat served a different but no less important purpose. The sins of the people were ceremonially transferred to this goat by the laying on of hands. As the God-ordained representative of the people, Aaron verbally confessed their sins and placed them on the “scapegoat.” If the name, Azazel, was meant to represent Satan, perhaps this ritual was intended to send the people’s sins back to where they belonged, back to the one who was the ultimate cause of all sin. By sending the goat into the wilderness, they were returning their sins to their source. The blood of the first goat provided purification and cleansing from their sins. But the life of the second goat provided a permanent separation from those sins.

Amazingly, both goats represent the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The apostle Peter describes how Jesus served as both the source of our atonement and the means of permanent separation from our sin.  

He never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly.
He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.
Once you were like sheep
    who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
    the Guardian of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:22-25 NLT

The “scapegoat” was exiled to the wilderness, where it would ultimately die from either exposure or by being eaten by a predator. Symbolically, the sins it carried would die along with it. In the same sense, Jesus bore our sins on the cross, and when He died, our sins died with Him. In a way, before coming to faith in Christ, each believer lived under the weight of sin and, like the scapegoat, wandered the wilderness of life waiting for death. But Jesus provided a means by which those sins could be paid for, forgiven, and removed forever. He paid the debt we owed with His own blood, atoning for all our sins – past, present, and future – and removing any trace of them from our record.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-14 NLT

As the Israelites stood and watched as that second goat was led into the wilderness, they must have felt a palpable sense of relief and thanksgiving. Sins they didn’t even know they had committed were disappearing into the distance. Sins they had committed but had refused to confess had been removed from their record and transferred to that innocent animal, never to be seen or heard from again. Many of them had lived with the burden of unconfessed sin all year long. But now, they were able to enjoy God’s forgiveness as well as His gracious forgetfulness. As the goat disappeared into the distance, so did the memory of their sin. That’s why the apostle John reminded his readers:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Day of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the 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 come 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 I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the 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. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.” – Leviticus 16:1-5 ESV

At the midway point of the book of Leviticus, we find God instituting what came to be known as the Day of Atonement. It remains one of the most sacred days on the Hebrew calendar and is better known today as Yom Kippur. This solemn day was intended to prepare the people of Israel for another year of holy living before the Lord. It would culminate the 364 days of the previous year during which the people had been expected to keep all the sacrificial rituals and purity regulations outlined in chapters 1-15. While many of the sacrifices offered throughout the year could provide atonement for individual sins, the Day of Atonement was designed to atone for the sins of the entire community. 

This once-a-year rite was prescribed by God so that no sins would be overlooked or unaccounted for. God knew that during the normal course of life, the people of Israel would fail to account for every sin they had committed. Neglect or denial could result in unconfessed sins that left the individual Israelite in a state of defilement and impurity before God, and any sin left unatoned for would impact the entire community’s standing before God. So, the Day of Atonement served as a year-end purification ritual that would account for all the residual sins that remained hidden and in need of atonement.

On this one day out of the year, the high priest was given access to the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was located. Only on this day was Aaron allowed to enter the inner recesses of the Tabernacle where God’s presence dwelled above the Mercy Seat. So, it was on this solemn and highly sacred day that the high priest, acting as a mediator between God and the people of Israel, passed through the veil and ventured into the presence of Yahweh. But for that to happen, the high priest and every Israelite must be free from all sin and defilement. Nothing could be left out or overlooked. No hidden sins could be ignored. No impurity or moral imperfection could be treated as insignificant or unimportant. Entrance into God’s presence required complete holiness which demanded a total absence of any trace of sin.

What separates the Day of Atonement from all the other days of the year is its emphasis on God’s provision for corporate absolution and sanctification. On that one day, God did for the people of Israel what they had failed to do for themselves. They had been given 364 days to confess and atone for all their sins but God knew that their efforts would be incomplete and unsatisfactory. Hidden sins would remain. Impurity would still infect the camp. And as long as this was true, the Holy of Holies would remain off-limits and God’s remain unapproachable. He would be among them but attainable by them.

So, God provided this gracious and undeserved plan for corporate atonement, and like all the other sacrifices He instituted, it involved the shedding of blood. And it required that the people enter into a period marked by stringent self-denial and a laser-beam focus on their need for God’s forgiveness and atonement.

“On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves. Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you. On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins. It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you.” – Leviticus 16:29-31 NLT

The chapter begins with a firm warning from God. He told Moses to remind Aaron of the danger of entering His presence unannounced or in a state of unholiness.

“Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.” – Leviticus 16:2 NLT

Only on this one day was Aaron allowed to venture into this most sacred section of the Tabernacle, and only after He had followed the stringent rules set out by God.

When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.” – Leviticus 16:3-5 NLT

These rules were non-negotiable and had to be followed down to the last letter. To fail to do so would result in death. Aaron was tasked with a heavy responsibility. He held the fate of the entire Israelite community in his hands. Any failure to carry out every detail of God’s instructions would have devastating consequences, not only for Aaron but for every Israelite man, woman, and child.

The central focus of the Tabernacle was that small room called the Holy of Holies in which the Ark of the Covenant was located. On top of this ornate gold-covered box was the Mercy Seat, a solid gold slab measuring 44” x 26,” and on which two golden cherubim were affixed with their outstretched wings covering the surface of the lid. The Hebrew name for this golden seat was כַּפֹּרֶת (kapōreṯ), which can be translated “place of atonement” or “place of propitiation.” The combined Ark and Mercy Seat served as God’s throne and footstool. It was here, in the inner recesses of the Tabernacle, that His holy presence dwelled among His people. But His holiness remained off-limits to the people as long as sin remained among them. No one was allowed to venture into His presence, including Moses or Aaron, as long as any sin remained unaccounted and unatoned for.

But the Day of Atonement was God’s gracious way of providing access to His presence despite the presence of sin among His people. He had made a way. And this providential provision by God had been going on ever since He had delivered the people of Israel from their captivity from Egypt.

“I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator and King.
I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
    making a dry path through the sea.
I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
    with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
    their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.” – Isaiah 43:15-17 NLT

God had made a way for them to escape their captivity in Egypt. But that was not the end.

“But forget all that—
    it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
The wild animals in the fields will thank me,
    the jackals and owls, too,
    for giving them water in the desert.
Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland
    so my chosen people can be refreshed.
I have made Israel for myself,
    and they will someday honor me before the whole world.” – Isaiah 43:18-21 NLT

God had made a way through the Red Sea and across an uninhabitable and inhospitable wilderness. He had provided for all their needs. And now, He was providing a way to escape the vice-like grasp of sin’s hold on their lives. They were still living in captivity to sin. They were suffering from spiritual thirst and hunger because of sin’s persistent presence in their lives. And while He had given them His law and the sacrificial system, they were incapable of flawless obedience and imperfect when it came to atoning for their own sins. So, God provided a way – a gracious and completely efficacious way that accounted for every sin so that perfect and complete atonement could be experienced by all.

But God’s way required complete dependence upon Him, and it demanded the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins. There was no way around the fact that sin demanded the death of the guilty party. But God had provided the sacrificial system as a way of exacting payment without demanding the life of the sinner. The sacrificial system provided a form of substitutionary atonement, where the unblemished animal shed its blood and gave its life on behalf of the guilty sinner. And this pattern was continued on the Day of Atonement but with the added benefit that the entire faith community was included in the process. Full atonement for all.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.