Leviticus 9–10

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 prepared without yeast beside the altar, because it is especially holy. ¹³You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion ^rand your sons’ from the fire offerings to the Lord, for this is what I was commanded. ¹⁴But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution in any ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the Israelites’ fellowship sacrifices. ¹⁵They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the presentation offering, together with the offerings of fat portions made by fire, to wave as a presentation offering before the Lord. It will belong permanently ^sto you and your children, as the Lord commanded.”

¹⁶Later, Moses inquired about the male goat of the sin offering, but it had already been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s surviving sons, and asked, ¹⁷“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? ^tFor it is especially holy, and He has assigned it to you to take away the guilt ^uof the community ^vand make atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸Since its blood was not brought inside the sanctuary, you should have eaten it in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.” ^w

¹⁹But Aaron replied to Moses, “See, today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the Lord’s sight?” ²⁰When Moses heard this, it was acceptable to him. ^x