Leviticus 8–12

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

8:1–36pp—Ex 29:1–37

8The Lord said to Moses, ²“Bring Aaron and his sons,^x their garments,^y the anointing oil,^z the bull for the sin offering,^aa the two rams^b and the basket containing bread made without yeast,^{c 3}and gather the entire assembly^d at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” ⁴Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁵Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.^e” ⁶Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.^{f 7}He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him.^{g 8}He placed the breastpiece^h on him and put the Urim and Thummimⁱ in the breastpiece. ⁹Then he placed the turban^j on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem,^k on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.^l

¹⁰Then Moses took the anointing oil^m and anointedⁿ the tabernacle^o and everything in it, and so consecrated them. ¹¹He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.^{p 12}He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed^q him to consecrate him.^{r 13}Then he brought Aaron’s sons^s forward, put tunics^t on them, tied sashes around them and fastened caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.^u

¹⁴He then presented the bull^v for the sin offering,^w and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.^{x 15}Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood,^y and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar^z to purify the altar.^a He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it.^{b 16}Moses also took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. ¹⁷But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its intestines^c he burned up outside the camp,^d as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁸He then presented the ram^e for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. ¹⁹Then Moses slaughtered the ram and splashed the blood against the sides of the altar. ²⁰He cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat.^{f 21}He washed the internal organs and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²²He then presented the other ram, the ram for the ordination,^g and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.^{h 23}Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its 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.^{i 24}Moses also 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. Then he splashed blood against the sides of the altar.^{j 25}After that, he took the fat^k, the fat tail, all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. ²⁶And from the basket of bread made without yeast, which was before the Lord, he took one thick loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf,^l and he put these on the fat portions and on the right thigh. ²⁷He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they waved them before the Lord^m as a wave offering. ²⁸Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. ²⁹Moses also took the breast, which was his share of the ordination ram,ⁿ and waved it before the Lord as a wave offering, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁰Then Moses^o took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments^p and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated^q Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.

³¹Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting^r and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I was commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.’ ³²Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. ³³Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days.^{s 34}What has been done today was commanded by the Lord^t to make atonement for you. ³⁵You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires,^u so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.”

³⁶So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses.

The Priests Begin Their Ministry

9On the eighth day^v Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders^w of Israel. ²He said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf for your sin offering^a and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the Lord. ³Then say to the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat^x for a sin offering,^y a calf^z and a lamb^a—both a year old and without defect—for a burnt offering, ⁴and an ox^bb and a ram for a fellowship offering^c to sacrifice before the Lord, together with a grain offering mixed with olive oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.^d’ ”

⁵They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the Lord. ⁶Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord^e may appear to you.”

⁷Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people;^f sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.^g”

⁸So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering^h for himself. ⁹His sons brought the blood to him,ⁱ and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.^{j 10}On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the Lord commanded Moses; ¹¹the flesh and the hide^k he burned up outside the camp.^l

¹²Then he slaughtered the burnt offering.^m His sons handed him the blood,ⁿ and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. ¹³They handed him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar.^{o 14}He washed the internal organs and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.^p

¹⁵Aaron then brought the offering that was for the people.^q He took the goat for the people’s sin offering and slaughtered it and offered it for a sin offering as he did with the first one.

¹⁶He brought the burnt offering and offered it in the prescribed way.^{r 17}He also brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering.^s

¹⁸He slaughtered the ox and the ram as the fellowship offering for the people.^t His sons handed him the blood, and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁹But the fat portions of the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver—²⁰these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. ²¹Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the Lord as a wave offering,^u as Moses commanded.

²²Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them.^v And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

²³Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting.^w When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord^x appeared to all the people. ²⁴Fire^y came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.^z

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

10Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu^a took their censers,^b put fire in them^c and added incense;^d and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord,^e contrary to his command.^{f 2}So fire came out^g from the presence of the Lord and consumed them,^h and they died before the Lord.^{i 3}Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:

“ ‘Among those who approach me^j

I will be proved holy;^k

in the sight of all the people

I will be honored.^l’ ”

Aaron remained silent.

⁴Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan,^m sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel,ⁿ and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp,^o away from the front of the sanctuary.^p” ⁵So they came and carried them, still in their tunics,^q outside the camp, as Moses ordered.

⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar,^r “Do not let your hair become unkempt^as and do not tear your clothes,^t or you will die and the Lord will be angry with the whole community.^u But your relatives, all the Israelites, may mourn^v for those the Lord has destroyed by fire. ⁷Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting^w or you will die, because the Lord’s anointing oil^x is on you.” So they did as Moses said.

⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, ⁹“You and your sons are not to drink wine^y or other fermented drink^z whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance^a for the generations to come, ¹⁰so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,^{b 11}and so you can teach^c the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.^d”

¹²Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering^e left over from…