Leviticus 10

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.