Leviticus 10
New American Standard Bible
The Sin of Nadab and Abihu
10 Now (A)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective (B)firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on [a]the fire and offered [b]strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 2 (C)And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,
‘By those who (D)come near Me I [c](E)will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will (F)be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
4 Moses called also to (G)Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to an area outside of the camp.” 5 So they came forward and carried them, still in their (H)tunics, to an area outside the camp, just as Moses had said. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “(I)Do not [d]uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you do not die and He does not (J)become wrathful against all the congregation. But your [e]kinsmen, the entire house of Israel, shall weep for the burning which the Lord has [f]brought about. 7 You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for (K)the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.
8 The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “(L)Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you do not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations— 10 and (M)to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and (N)so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”
12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, (O)Eleazar and Ithamar, “(P)Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire and eat it as unleavened bread beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the Lord’s offerings by fire; for so I have been commanded. 14 (Q)The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. 15 They shall bring (R)the thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”
16 But Moses searched carefully for the (S)goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17 “Why (T)did you not eat the sin offering at the [g]holy place? For it is most holy, and [h]He gave it to you to take away (U)the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. 18 Behold, (V)since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you certainly should have (W)eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded!” 19 But Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, this very day they (X)presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?” 20 When Moses heard that, it was good in his sight.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 10:1 Lit it
- Leviticus 10:1 I.e., unauthorized
- Leviticus 10:3 Or will show Myself holy
- Leviticus 10:6 Lit unbind
- Leviticus 10:6 Lit brothers
- Leviticus 10:6 Lit burned
- Leviticus 10:17 I.e., the courtyard of the tabernacle, not the sanctuary
- Leviticus 10:17 Or was given
Leviticus 10
Names of God Bible
Improper Conduct for Priests
10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took an incense burner and put burning coals and incense in it. Then in Yahweh’s presence they offered this unauthorized fire. 2 A fire flashed from Yahweh and burned them, and they died in the presence of Yahweh.
3 Moses said to Aaron, “This is exactly what Yahweh said:
‘I will show my holiness among those who come to me.
I will show my glory to all the people.’”
Aaron was speechless.
4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle, Uzziel. He told them, “Come and take your relatives away from in front of the holy place. Take them outside the camp.” 5 So they came and took them away to a place outside the camp, as Moses told them. The dead men were still in their linen robes.
6 Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar: “Do not mourn by leaving your hair uncombed or tearing your clothes. If you do, you will die and Yahweh will become angry with the whole congregation. All the other Israelites may cry over the fire Yahweh sent, but you may not. 7 You must not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting or else you, too, will die, because Yahweh has anointed you with his oil.” They obeyed Moses.
Proper Conduct for Priests
8 Yahweh spoke to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons must not drink any wine or liquor when you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a permanent law for generations to come. 10 Teach them the difference between what is holy and what is unholy, what is clean and what is unclean.[a] 11 Also teach the Israelites all the laws that Yahweh gave them through Moses.”
12 Moses told Aaron and his surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering left over from the offering by fire to Yahweh. Make unleavened bread, and eat it next to the altar because it is very holy. 13 Eat it in a holy place because it is the part of the offering by fire to Yahweh that belongs to you and your children. That is the command I received. 14 Also eat the breast presented to the Lord and the thigh that was given as a contribution. You and your sons and daughters may eat them in a clean place because they are your part of the fellowship offerings from the Israelites. 15 They will bring the thigh given as a contribution, the breast presented to the Lord, and the fat that is to be burned and present them to Yahweh. These parts will belong to you and your children. This will be a permanent law, as Yahweh has commanded.”
Eleazar and Ithamar Sacrifice the Offering for Sin
16 Moses tried to find out what had happened to the male goat that was supposed to be the offering for sin. To his surprise, it had already been burned. So he became angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s surviving sons. 17 He asked them, “Why didn’t you eat the offering for sin in the holy place? It is very holy and was given to you to take away the sins of the congregation and to make peace with the Lord for them. 18 Since its blood was not brought inside the holy place, you certainly should have eaten it there, as I commanded.”
19 Aaron answered Moses, “Today they sacrificed their offering for sin and their burnt offering in Yahweh’s presence, and look what happened to me. If I had eaten the offering for sin today, would Yahweh have approved?”
20 When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 10:10 “Clean” refers to anything that is presentable to God. “Unclean” refers to anything that is not presentable to God.
Vayikra 10
Orthodox Jewish Bible
10 And Nadav and Avihu, the bnei Aharon, each took his censer, and put eish therein, and put ketoret (incense) thereon, and offered eish zarah (strange, unauthorized fire) before Hashem, which He commanded them not.
2 And there went out eish (fire) from the presence of Hashem, and devoured them, and they died before Hashem.
3 Then Moshe said unto Aharon, This is it that Hashem spoke, saying, I will show Myself kadosh among them that come near Me, and before kol HaAm (all the People) I will be honored. And Aharon was silent.
4 And Moshe called Mishael and Eltzaphan, the bnei Uzziel the dod (uncle) of Aharon, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the Kodesh to the outside of the machaneh.
5 So they went near, and carried them in the kuttanot of them out of the machaneh; as Moshe had said.
6 And Moshe said unto Aharon, and unto Eleazar and unto Itamar, his banim, Don’t uncover your head, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon kol HaEdah; but let your brethren, the kol Bais Yisroel, bewail the burning which Hashem hath kindled.
7 And ye shall not go out from the entrance of the Ohel Mo’ed, lest ye die; for the shemen mishchat (anointing oil) of Hashem is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moshe.
8 And Hashem spoke unto Aharon, saying,
9 Do not drink yayin nor strong drink, thou, nor thy banim with thee, when ye go into the Ohel Mo’ed, lest ye die; it shall be chukkat olam throughout your generations;
10 And that ye may put difference between kodesh and chol (common, profane), and between tameh (unclean) and tahor (clean);
11 And that ye may teach the Bnei Yisroel all the chukkim which Hashem hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moshe.
12 And Moshe spoke unto Aharon, and unto Eleazar and unto Itamar, his banim that were left, Take the minchah that remaineth of the offerings of Hashem made by eish, and eat it without leaven (i.e., matzot) beside the Mizbe’ach; for it is kodesh kodashim;
13 And ye shall eat it in the makom kadosh, because it is the chok (share, portion) of thee and thy banim, of the sacrifices of Hashem made by eish; for so I am commanded.
14 And the breast of the waving and raised up thigh shall ye eat in a makom tahor; thou, and thy banim, and thy banot with thee; for they are thy chok, and the chok of thy banim, which are given out of the zevakhim of shelamim (peace offerings) of the Bnei Yisroel.
15 The raised-up thigh and the breast of the waving shall they bring with the offerings made by eish of the chelavim (fat portions), to wave it for a wave offering before Hashem; and it shall be thine, and unto thy banim with thee, by a chok olam (portion forever); as Hashem hath commanded.
16 And Moshe diligently inquired about the sa’ir of the chattat, and, hinei, it was burned up; and he was angry with Eleazar and Itamar, the bnei Aharon which were left alive, saying,
17 Why have ye not eaten the chattat in the makom hakodesh, seeing it is kodesh kodashim, and G-d hath given it you to bear away the avon HaEdah, to make kapporah for them before Hashem?
18 Since the dahm of it was not brought in within HaKodesh, ye should indeed have eaten it in the Kodesh, as I commanded.
19 And Aharon said unto Moshe, See, today have they offered their chattat (sin offering) and their olah (burnt offering) before Hashem; and such things have befallen me; and if I had eaten the chattat today, should it have been accepted in the sight of Hashem?
20 And when Moshe heard that, he was satisfied.
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