This paper examines atonement motifs in Lev 16. The Day of Atonement consists of a two-part ritual: the slaughtering of a purification offering (hatta‘t) and the release of a scapegoat. I have not attempted to chart new territory with regard to hatta‘t, and I largely agree with Milgrom who argues that substitution is not a proper categorical description for the hatta‘t. The hatta‘t purifies the tabernacle rather than substitutes for the sin of the people. The second part of the ritual, the release of the scapegoat, has also been understood through the lens of the substitution motif. The goat is thought to be sent out into the wilderness to its death in place of the people of Israel, thus avoiding the wrath of God (i.e. punishment by death). I argue that this is a misunderstanding of both the ritual of the scapegoat and the nature of God’s character. I do, however, see a different kind of substitution present in the ritual. The traditional substitutionary model has argued that the wages of sin is death (often through a Pauline/NT lens), but upon a closer reading of Leviticus (and much of the Pentateuch), the wages of sin is banishment. The scapegoat, therefore, is a physical representation of what might happen if sin/impurity continues to exist. The scapegoat is separated from the community in the same way that a person would be separated from the community if he or she is impure. In this way, the scapegoat acts as a substitute for the sinful people, once a year reminding them of the wages of sin and the grace of YHWH through his provision of a scapegoat. The punishment is not purely punitive, it is a necessary corollary to the belief that the holy and unholy cannot coexist.