Leviticus 8–12

ORDINATION OF AARON AND HIS SONS

8The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Take Aaron, his sons with him, the garments, the anointing oil,^v the bull of the sin^B offering, the two rams, and the basket^w of unleavened bread, ³and assemble the whole community^x at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” ⁴So Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the community assembled at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁵Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.”

⁶Then Moses presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. ⁷He put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod^y on him. He put the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him. ⁸Then he put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and Thummim^z into the breastpiece. ⁹He also put the turban^aa on his head and placed the gold medallion, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^ab

¹⁰Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it to consecrate^ac them. ¹¹He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.^{ad 12}He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed and consecrated him.^{a 13}Then Moses presented Aaron’s sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, and fastened headbands on them, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁴Then he brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering. ¹⁵Then Moses slaughtered it, took the blood, and applied it with his finger to the horns of the altar on all sides, purifying^b the altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement can be made on it.^{Dc 16}Moses took all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys^d with their fat, and he burned them on the altar.^{e 17}He burned the bull with its hide, flesh, and waste outside the camp,^f as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁸Then he presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹Moses slaughtered it and splattered the blood on all sides of the altar. ²⁰Moses cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces, and the fat,^{g 21}but he washed the entrails and legs with water. He then burned the entire ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord as he had commanded Moses.

²²Next he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination,^h and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ²³Moses slaughtered it, took some of its blood, and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.^{i 24}Moses also presented Aaron’s sons and put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then Moses splattered the blood on all sides of the altar. ²⁵He took the fat—the fat tail,^j all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat—as well as the right thigh. ²⁶From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat portions and the right thigh.^{k 27}He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and presented them before the Lord as a presentation offering. ²⁸Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ²⁹He also took the breast and presented it before the Lord as a presentation offering; it was Moses’s portion of the ordination ram as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁰Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. In this way he consecrated Aaron and his garments, as well as his sons and their garments.^l

³¹Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket for the ordination offering as I commanded: Aaron and his sons are to eat it.^{m 32}Burn up what remains of the meat and bread.^{n 33}Do not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the time your days of ordination are completed, because it will take seven days to ordain you.^{D 34}The Lord commanded what has been done today in order to make atonement for you.^{o 35}You must remain at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the Lord’s charge^p so that you will not die,^q for this is what I was commanded.” ³⁶So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.

THE PRIESTLY MINISTRY INAUGURATED

9On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel.^{r 2}He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull for a sin^A offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish,^s and present them before the Lord. ³And tell the Israelites:^B Take a male goat for a sin offering; a calf and a lamb, male yearlings without blemish, for a burnt offering; ⁴an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the Lord; and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord is going to appear^t to you.”

⁵They brought what Moses had commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole community came forward and stood before the Lord. ⁶Moses said, “This is what the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord^u may appear to you.” ⁷Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering; make atonement for yourself and the people.^Ca Sacrifice the people’s offering and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”

⁸So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself. ⁹Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar. ¹⁰He burned the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe of the liver from the sin offering on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹He burned the flesh and the hide^b outside the camp.^c

¹²Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it on all sides of the altar. ¹³They brought him the burnt offering piece by piece, along with the head, and he burned them on the altar. ¹⁴He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵Aaron presented the people’s offering. He took the male goat for the people’s sin offering, slaughtered it, and made a sin offering with it as he did before. ¹⁶He presented the burnt offering and sacrificed it according to the regulation.^{d 17}Next he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering.^e

¹⁸Finally, he slaughtered the ox and the ram as the people’s fellowship sacrifice. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it on all sides of the altar. ¹⁹They also brought the fat portions from the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the fat surrounding the entrails, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe of the liver—²⁰and placed these on the breasts. Aaron burned the fat portions on the altar, ²¹but he presented the breasts^f and the right thigh as a presentation offering^g before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.^D

²²Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed^h them. He came down after sacrificing the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering. ²³Moses and Aaron then entered the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ²⁴Fire came from the Lord and consumedⁱ the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted^j and fell facedown.^k

NADAB AND ABIHU

10Aaron’s sons Nadab^l and Abihu^m each took his own firepan,ⁿ put fire in it, placed incense on it,^o and presented unauthorized^p fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. ²Then fire came from the Lord^q and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.^{r 3}Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has spoken:

I will demonstrate my holiness^As

to those who are near me,^t

and I will reveal my glory^Bu

before all the people.”

And Aaron remained silent.

⁴Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan,^v sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel,^w and said to them, “Come here and carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.”^{x 5}So they came forward and carried them in their tunics outside the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar,^y “Do not let your hair hang loose^z and do not tear your clothes,^aa or else you will die, and the Lord will become angry^ab with the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may weep^ac over the fire that the Lord caused. ⁷You must not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, for the Lord’s anointing oil^ad is on you.” So they did as Moses said.

REGULATIONS FOR PRIESTS

⁸The Lord spoke to Aaron: ⁹“You and your sons are not to drink wine^ae or beer^af when you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute^ag throughout your generations. ¹⁰You must distinguish^ah between the holy and the common,^ai and the clean and the unclean,^{aj 11}and teach the Israelites all the statutes^ak that the Lord has given to them through Moses.”

¹²Moses spoke to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: “Take the grain offering that is left over from the food offerings^a to the Lord, and eat it prepared without…