Leviticus 9–10

The Priestly Ministry Begins

9It came to pass on the ^aeighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ²And he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young ^bbull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. ³And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, ^c‘Take a kid of the goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering, ⁴also a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and ^da grain offering mixed with oil; for ^etoday the Lord will appear to you.’ ”

⁵So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting. And all the congregation drew near and stood ¹before the Lord. ⁶Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you.” ⁷And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, ^foffer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. ^gOffer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”

⁸Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ⁹Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar. ^10hBut the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹ⁱThe flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.

¹²And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, ^jwhich he sprinkled all around on the altar. ^13kThen they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar. ^14lAnd he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

^15mThen he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one. ¹⁶And he brought the burnt offering and offered it ⁿaccording to the ²prescribed manner. ¹⁷Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, ^obesides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.

¹⁸He also killed the bull and the ram as ^psacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar, ¹⁹and the fat from the bull and the ram—the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver; ²⁰and they put the fat on the breasts. ^qThen he burned the fat on the altar; ²¹but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved ^ras a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

²²Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, ^sblessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. ²³And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, ²⁴and ^tfire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they ^ushouted and fell on their ^vfaces.

The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu

10Then Nadab ^aand Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^beach took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered ^cprofane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ²So ^dfire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. ³And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:

‘By those ^ewho come near Me

I must be regarded as holy;

And before all the people

I must be glorified.’ ”

So Aaron held his peace.

⁴Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, ^fcarry your brethren from ¹before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not ²uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and ^gwrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, ³bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. ^7hYou shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, ⁱfor the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

Conduct Prescribed for Priests

⁸Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: ^9j“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, ¹⁰that you may ^kdistinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, ^11land that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”

¹²And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: ^m“Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; ⁿfor it is most holy. ¹³You shall eat it in a ^oholy place, because it is your ⁴due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord; for ^pso I have been commanded. ^14qThe breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your ^rdaughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ ^sdue, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. ^15tThe thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶Then Moses made careful inquiry about ^uthe goat of the sin offering, and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ^17v“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear ^wthe guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? ¹⁸See! ^xIts blood was not brought inside ⁵the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, ^yas I commanded.”

¹⁹And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, ^zthis day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, ^awould it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰So when Moses heard that, he was content.