Leviticus 8–12

CHAPTER 8

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“^aTake Aaron and his sons with him, and the ^bgarments and ^cthe anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread,

³and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting.”

⁴So Moses did just as Yahweh commanded him. Then the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting,

⁵and Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to do.”

⁶Then ^aMoses had Aaron and his sons come near and ^bwashed them with water.

⁷And he ^aput the tunic on him and girded him with the sash and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod, ¹with which he tied it to him.

⁸He then placed the ¹breastpiece on him, and in the ²breastpiece he put ^3athe Urim and the Thummim.

⁹He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed ^athe golden plate, the holy crown, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

¹⁰Moses then took ^athe anointing oil and anointed the ¹tabernacle and all that was in it and set them apart as holy.

¹¹And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the laver and its stand, to ^aset them apart as holy.

¹²Then he poured some of the ^aanointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to set him apart as holy.

^13aNext Moses brought Aaron’s sons near and clothed them with tunics and girded them with sashes and bound ¹caps on them, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

¹⁴Then he brought ^athe bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.

¹⁵Next ¹Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger ^aput some of it around on the horns of the altar and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and set it apart as holy, to make atonement for it.

¹⁶He also ^atook all the fat that was on the entrails, and the ¹lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar.

^17aBut the bull and its hide and its flesh and its refuse he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

¹⁸Then he brought near ^athe ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

¹⁹¹Then Moses slaughtered it and splashed the blood around on the altar.

²⁰And he cut the ram into its pieces. Then Moses ^aoffered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke.

²¹And he washed the entrails and the legs with water. Then Moses ^aoffered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²²Then he brought near the second ram, ^athe ram of ¹ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

²³¹And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and ^aput it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.

²⁴He also brought Aaron’s sons near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then ^asplashed the rest of the blood around on the altar.

²⁵And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the ¹lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh.

^26aFrom the basket of unleavened bread that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and he placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh.

²⁷He then ^aput all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and waved them as a wave offering before Yahweh.

²⁸Then Moses ^atook them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for ^ba soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to Yahweh.

²⁹Moses also took ^athe breast and waved it as a wave offering before Yahweh; it was ^bMoses’ portion of the ram of ordination, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁰So Moses ^atook some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he set Aaron apart as holy, his garments and his sons and the garments of his sons with him.

³¹Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “^aBoil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, ^bsaying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’

³²“^aAnd the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire.

³³“^aAnd you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ¹ordain you through seven days.

³⁴“Yahweh has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf.

³⁵“At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and ^akeep the charge of Yahweh, so that you will not die, for so I have been commanded.”

³⁶Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh had commanded through Moses.

CHAPTER 9

Aaron Brings Offerings

¹Now it happened ^aon the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel;

²and he said to Aaron, “^aTake for yourself a calf, a bull, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and bring them near before Yahweh.

³“Then to the sons of Israel you shall speak, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering,

⁴and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today ^aYahweh will appear to you.’”

⁵So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation came near and stood before Yahweh.

⁶And Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded you to do, that ^athe glory of Yahweh may appear to you.”

⁷Moses then said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and ^aoffer your sin offering and your burnt offering, that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then offer the offering ¹for the people, that you may make atonement for them, just as Yahweh has commanded.”

^8aSo Aaron came near to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the sin offering which was for himself.

^9aThen Aaron’s sons brought the blood near to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood and ^bput some on the horns of the altar and poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹⁰The fat and the kidneys and the ¹lobe of the liver of the sin offering he then offered up in smoke on the altar just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

^11aThe flesh and the skin, however, he burned with fire outside the camp.

¹²Then he slaughtered the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him, and he splashed it around on the altar.

¹³And they handed the burnt offering to him in ¹pieces, with the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar.

¹⁴He also washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵Then he brought near the people’s offering and took the ^agoat of the sin offering which was for the people and slaughtered it and offered it for sin, like the first.

¹⁶He also brought near the burnt offering and ¹offered it according to ^athe legal judgment.

¹⁷Next he brought near ^athe grain offering and filled his ¹hand with some of it and offered it up in smoke on the altar, ^bbesides the burnt offering of the morning.

¹⁸Then ^ahe slaughtered the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings which was for the people; and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him, and he splashed it around on the altar.

¹⁹As for the portions of fat from the ox and from the ram, the fat tail and the fat ^acovering and the kidneys and the ¹lobe of the liver,

²⁰they now placed the portions of fat on the breasts; and he offered ¹them up in smoke on the altar.

²¹But ^athe breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before Yahweh, just as Moses had commanded.

²²Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and ^ablessed them, and he stepped down after offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.

²³And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. Then they came out and blessed the people. And ^athe glory of Yahweh appeared to all the people.

^24aThen fire came out from before Yahweh and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar. And all the people saw it and shouted and fell on their faces.

CHAPTER 10

Nadab and Abihu Offer Strange Fire

¹Then ^aNadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective ^bfirepans and put fire in them. Then they placed incense on it and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which He had not commanded them.

^2aAnd fire came out from the presence of Yahweh and consumed them, and they died before Yahweh.

³Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what Yahweh spoke, saying,

‘By those who ^acome near Me I ^1bwill be treated as holy,

And before all the people I will ^cbe glorified.’”

So Aaron kept silent.

⁴Then Moses called to ^aMishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come near, carry your ¹relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.”

⁵So they came near and carried them still in their ^atunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “^aDo not ¹uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not ^bbecome wrathful against all the congregation. But your ²relatives, the whole house of Israel, shall weep over the…