Leviticus 9–11

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 the food offerings prepared without yeast and presented to the Lord and eat it beside the altar,^f for it is most holy. ¹³Eat it in the sanctuary area,^g because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the Lord; for so I have been commanded.^{h 14}But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breastⁱ that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place;^j they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings. ¹⁵The thigh^k that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the food offerings, to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering.^l This will be the perpetual share for you and your children, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering^bm and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, ¹⁷“Why didn’t you eat the sin offeringⁿ in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt^o of the community by making atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place,^p you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.^q”

¹⁹Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering^r before the Lord, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” ²⁰When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

Clean and Unclean Food

11:1–23pp—Dt 14:3–20

11The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:^{s 3}You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

⁴“ ‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.^t The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷And the pig,^u though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.^v

⁹“ ‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. ¹⁰But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean.^{w 11}And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean.^{x 12}Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.^y

¹³“ ‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,^a the vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴the red kite, any kind^z of black kite, ¹⁵any kind of raven,^{a 16}the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸the white owl,^b the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹the stork,^c any kind^d of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.^e

²⁰“ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you.^{f 21}There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. ²²Of these you may eat any kind of locust,^g katydid, cricket or grasshopper. ²³But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.

²⁴“ ‘You will make yourselves unclean by these;^h whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.^{i 25}Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes,^j and they will be unclean till evening.^k

²⁶“ ‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. ²⁷Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁸Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.^l These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹“ ‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you:^m the weasel, the rat,ⁿ any kind of great lizard, ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. ³¹Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. ³²When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth.^o Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. ³³If one of…