Aaron: instead of repeating the name of Aaron here, Good News Translation has used the pronoun “he” for the sake of naturalness. But it then picks up the full noun in the following verse.

Shall cast lots upon the two goats: the root word from which cast lots comes is “stones.” Probably two objects made of stone or some other material were placed in some kind of container. One of the objects would have had the words “for the LORD” or simply “LORD” written on it. The other object would have been designated “for Azazel” or “Azazel.” This container would have been shaken in front of one of the two goats, and the first of the two objects that fell out of the container would indicate the destiny of that goat. If it said “for the LORD,” that goat would have been sacrificed; if it said “for Azazel” then the other goat would have become the sacrificial animal and that goat would be set free.

Translators need not describe the details of this method of drawing lots (especially since it is only an educated guess), but they should say in the most natural way possible that the fate of the two goats was decided in an arbitrary way. It was taken out of the realm of human decision-making. In some cases an explanatory footnote may be desired. One should avoid evoking ideas of sorcery in the translation. Also, particular care should be taken in the translation of the preposition rendered upon in Revised Standard Version. One should not give the impression that the stones were thrown on top of the goats.

Azazel: this term has presented difficulties to translators for many centuries. There are three possible interpretations for the meaning of this term:
(1) It may mean “the goat that departs” (that is, a scapegoat), as in King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version, and Living Bible.
(2) It may refer to “the place where the animal is dispatched” or “the Precipice,” followed only by New English Bible.
(3) It may be considered the proper name of a demon inhabiting the desert (that is, Azazel). This is the meaning accepted by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation, Bible de la Pléiade, New Jerusalem Bible, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Traduction oecuménique de la Bible, and Moffatt. This is not only the most popular interpretation but it is also the most likely. In the context of this verse it is probably better not to specify “the goat-demon called Azazel,” but this can be explained in a footnote or included in the translation at verse 10, where it is next mentioned. The term is also used in verse 26.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .