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, ^othe bull of the sin ^poffering, the two rams, and the basket ^qof unleavened bread, ³and assemble the whole community ^rat 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 ^son 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 ^tinto the breastpiece. ⁹He also put the turban ^uon his head and placed the gold medallion, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^v

¹⁰Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it to consecrate ^wthem. 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. ^x12He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed and consecrated him. ^y13Then 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, ^ztook the blood, and applied it with his finger to the horns of the altar on all sides, purifying ^athe altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement can be made on it. ^bc16Moses took all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys ^dwith their fat, and he burned them on the altar. ^e17He burned up the bull with its hide, flesh, and dung outside the camp, ^fas 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 ^gsprinkled the blood on all sides of the altar. ²⁰Moses cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces, and the suet, ^h21but he washed the entrails and shanks with water. He then burned the entire ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the Lord as He had commanded Moses.

²²Next he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, ⁱand Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ²³Moses slaughtered it, ^jtook 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. ^k24Moses 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 sprinkled the blood on all sides of the altar. ²⁵He took the fat—the fat tail, ^lall 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. ^m27He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and waved 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 fire offering to the Lord. ²⁹He also took the breast and waved it before the Lord as a presentation offering; it was Moses’ 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. ⁿ

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: ^oAaron and his sons are to eat it. ^p32You must burn up what remains of the meat and bread. ^q33You must 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. ^r34The Lord commanded what has been done today in order to make atonement for you. ^s35You must remain at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the Lord’s charge ^tso that you will not die, ^ufor 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. ^v2He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull for a sin ^woffering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, ^xand present them before the Lord. ³And tell the Israelites: ^yTake 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 ^zto 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 ^amay 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. ^bcSacrifice 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 up the flesh and the hide ^doutside the camp. ^e

¹²Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he sprinkled 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 shanks 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. ^f17Next he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering. ^g

¹⁸Finally, he slaughtered the ox and the ram as the people’s fellowship sacrifice. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he sprinkled 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 waved the breasts ^hand the right thigh as a presentation offering ⁱbefore the Lord, as Moses had commanded. ^j

²²Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed ^kthem. 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 consumed ^lthe burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted ^mand fell facedown on the ground. ⁿ

Nadab and Abihu

10Aaron’s sons Nadab ^oand Abihu ^peach took his own firepan, ^qput fire in it, placed incense on it, ^rand presented unauthorized ^sfire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them to do. ²Then fire came from the Lord ^tand burned them to death before the Lord. ^u3So Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when He said:

I will show My holiness ^vw

to those who are near Me, ^x

and I will reveal My glory ^yz

before all the people.”

But Aaron remained silent.

⁴Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, ^asons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, ^band said to them, “Come here and carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” ^c5So 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, ^d“Do not let your hair hang loose ^eand do not tear your garments, ^for else you will die, and the Lord will become angry ^gwith the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn ^hover that tragedy when the Lord sent the fire. ⁷You must not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, for the Lord’s anointing oil ⁱis 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 ^jor beer ^kwhen you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute ^lthroughout your generations. ¹⁰You must distinguish ^mbetween the holy and the common, ⁿand the clean and the unclean, ^o11and teach the Israelites all the statutes ^pthat 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 fire offerings ^qto the Lord, and eat it…