Leviticus 9:1–11:47

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

Clean and Unclean Land Animals

11The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ²“Tell the Israelites: You may eat ^yall these kinds of land animals. ^z3You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. ⁴But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

the camel, ^athough it chews the cud,

does not have divided hooves—it is unclean for you;

⁵the hyrax, ^bcthough it chews the cud,

does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;

⁶the hare, though it chews the cud,

does not have hooves—it is unclean for you;

⁷the pig, though it has divided hooves,

does not chew the cud—it is unclean for you.

⁸Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses—they are unclean for you. ^d

Clean and Unclean Aquatic Animals

⁹“This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or streams. ¹⁰But these are to be detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales among all the swarming things and other living creatures ^ein the water. ¹¹They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. ¹²Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you.

Unclean Birds

¹³“You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable:

the eagle, ^fgthe bearded ^hvulture,

the black vulture, ⁱ¹⁴the kite, ^j

any kind of falcon, ^kl

¹⁵every kind of raven, ¹⁶the ostrich, ^m

the short-eared owl, ⁿthe gull, ^o

any kind of hawk, ^p

¹⁷the little ^qowl, the cormorant, ^r

the long-eared owl, ^st

¹⁸the white ^uowl, the desert owl, ^vw

the osprey, ^x19the stork, ^y

any kind of heron, ^z

the hoopoe, and the bat.

Clean and Unclean Flying Insects

²⁰“All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. ²¹But you may eat these kinds of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. ²²You may eat these:

any kind of locust, ^akatydid, cricket, and grasshopper.

²³All other winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you.

Purification after Touching Dead Animals

²⁴“These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean ^buntil evening, ²⁵and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. ^c26All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷All the four-footed animals ^dthat walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, ²⁸and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

²⁹“These creatures that swarm ^eon the ground are unclean for you:

the weasel, ^fthe mouse, ^g

any kind of large lizard, ^h

³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, ⁱ

the common lizard, ^jthe skink, ^k

and the chameleon. ^l

³¹These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. ³²When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean—any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, ^mor any implement used for work. It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. ³³If any…