Leviticus 8–9

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

8The Lord said to Moses, ²“Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of my presence and bring the priestly garments, the anointing oil, the young bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. ³Then call the whole community together there.”

⁴Moses did as the Lord had commanded, and when the community had assembled, ⁵he said to them, “What I am now about to do is what the Lord has commanded.”

⁶Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and told them to take a ritual bath. ⁷He put the shirt and the robe on Aaron and the sash round his waist. He put the ephod^a on him and fastened it by putting its finely woven belt round his waist. ⁸He put the breast-piece on him and put the Urim and Thummim^b in it. ⁹He placed the turban on his head, and on the front of it he put the gold ornament, the sacred sign of dedication, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁰Then Moses took the anointing oil and put it on the Tent of the Lord’s presence and everything that was in it, and in this way he dedicated it all to the Lord. ¹¹He took some of the oil and sprinkled it seven times on the altar and its equipment and on the basin and its base, in order to dedicate them to the Lord. ¹²He ordained Aaron by pouring some of the anointing oil on his head. ¹³Next, Moses brought the sons of Aaron forward and put shirts on them, put sashes round their waists, and tied caps on their heads, just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁴Then Moses brought the young bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁵Moses killed it and took some of the blood, and with his finger put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, in order to dedicate it. He then poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. In this way he dedicated it and purified it. ¹⁶Moses took all the fat on the internal organs, the best part of the liver, and the kidneys with the fat on them, and burnt it all on the altar. ¹⁷He took the rest of the bull, including its skin, flesh, and intestines, and burnt it outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁸Next, Moses brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁹Moses killed it and threw the blood on all four sides of the altar. ^20–21He cut the ram in pieces, washed the internal organs and the hind legs with water, and burnt the head, the fat, and all the rest of the ram on the altar, just as the Lord had commanded. This burnt offering was a food offering, and the smell was pleasing to the Lord.

²²Then Moses brought the second ram, which was for the ordination of priests, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ²³Moses killed it and took some of the blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Moses then threw the rest of the blood on all four sides of the altar. ²⁵He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat covering the internal organs, the best part of the liver, the kidneys with the fat on them, and the right hind leg. ²⁶Then he took one loaf of bread from the basket of unleavened bread dedicated to the Lord, one loaf made with oil, and one biscuit, and he put them on top of the fat and the right hind leg. ²⁷He put all this food in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they presented it as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸Then Moses took the food from them and burnt it on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as an ordination offering. This was a food offering, and the smell was pleasing to the Lord. ²⁹Then Moses took the breast and presented it as a special gift to the Lord. It was Moses’ part of the ordination ram. Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded.

³⁰Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his sons and on their clothes. In this way he consecrated them and their clothes to the Lord.

³¹Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Take the meat to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord’s presence, boil it, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, just as the Lord commanded. ³²Burn up any meat or bread that is left over. ³³You shall not leave the entrance of the Tent for seven days, until your ordination rites are completed. ³⁴The Lord commanded us to do what we have done today, in order to take away your sin. ³⁵You must stay at the entrance of the Tent day and night for seven days, doing what the Lord has commanded. If you don’t, you will die. This is what the Lord has commanded me.” ³⁶So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Aaron Offers Sacrifices

9The day after the ordination rites were completed, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. ²He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull and a ram without any defects and offer them to the Lord, the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering. ³Then tell the people of Israel to take a male goat for a sin offering, a one-year-old calf, and a one-year-old lamb without any defects for a burnt offering, ⁴and a bull and a ram for a fellowship offering. They are to sacrifice them to the Lord with the grain offering mixed with oil. They must do this because the Lord will appear to them today.”

⁵They brought to the front of the Tent everything that Moses had commanded, and the whole community assembled there to worship the Lord. ⁶Moses said, “The Lord has commanded you to do all this, so that the dazzling light of his presence can appear to you.” ^7*Then he said to Aaron, “Go to the altar and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering to take away your sins and the sins of the people. Present this offering to take away the sins of the people, just as the Lord commanded.”

⁸Aaron went to the altar and killed the young bull which was for his own sin offering. ⁹His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it, put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and poured out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ¹⁰Then he burnt on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the best part of the liver, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹But he burnt the meat and the skin outside the camp.

¹²He killed the animal which was for his own burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ¹³They handed him the head and the other pieces of the animal, and he burnt them on the altar. ¹⁴Then he washed the internal organs and the hind legs and burnt them on the altar on top of the rest of the burnt offering.

¹⁵After that, he presented the people’s offerings. He took the goat that was to be offered for the people’s sins, killed it, and offered it, as he had done with his own sin offering. ¹⁶He also brought the animal for the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. ¹⁷He presented the grain offering and took a handful of flour and burnt it on the altar. (This was in addition to the daily burnt offering.) ^18*He killed the bull and the ram as a fellowship offering for the people. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ¹⁹Aaron put the fat parts of the bull and the ram ²⁰on top of the breasts of the animals and carried it all to the altar. He burnt the fat on the altar ²¹and presented the breasts and the right hind legs as the special gift to the Lord for the priests, as Moses had commanded.

^22*When Aaron had finished all the sacrifices, he raised his hands over the people and blessed them, and then stepped down. ²³Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the Lord’s presence, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence appeared to all the people. ²⁴Suddenly the Lord sent a fire, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they all shouted and bowed down with their faces to the ground.