Leviticus 9-12

Amplified Bible

Aaron Offers Sacrifices

9 And it happened on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; ² and he said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer both before the Lord.^{(A) 3} Then say to the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering, ⁴ and a bull and a ram as peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with [olive] oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.’” ⁵ So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and all the congregation approached and stood before the Lord. ⁶ Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” ⁷ Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and present your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and present the offering of the people and make atonement for them, just as the Lord has commanded.”^(B)

⁸ So Aaron approached the altar and killed the calf as the sin offering, which was designated for himself. ⁹ The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; he dipped his finger in the blood and put some of it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the rest of the blood at the altar’s base; ¹⁰ but the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹ And Aaron burned the meat and the hide in the fire outside the camp.

¹² Then he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him and he sprinkled it around on the altar. ¹³ They brought the burnt offering to him piece by piece, with the head, and Aaron offered them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ He also washed the entrails and the legs, and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵ Then Aaron presented the people’s offering. He took the goat for the sin offering of the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, as he did the first.^{(C) 16} He also presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the ordinance. ¹⁷ Next Aaron presented the grain offering and took a handful of it and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.

¹⁸ He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings which was for the people; and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him and he sprinkled it around on the altar, ¹⁹ As for the portions of fat from the bull and from the ram—the fat tail, and the fat covering the internal organs, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver— ²⁰ they now put the portions of fat on the breasts; and Aaron offered the fat up in smoke on the altar. ²¹ But the breasts and the right thigh Aaron presented as a wave offering before the Lord, just as Moses had commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and came down [from the altar of burnt offering] after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings. ²³ Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord [the Shekinah cloud] appeared to all the people [as promised].^{(D) 24} Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell face downward [in awe and worship].

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective [ceremonial] censers, put fire in them, placed incense on it and offered ^[a]strange (unauthorized, unacceptable) fire before the Lord, [an act] which He had not commanded them to do. ² And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord said:

So Aaron, therefore, said nothing.

⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel who was Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come here, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary and take them outside the camp.” ⁵ So they came forward and carried them, still in their undertunics, outside the camp, as Moses had said. ⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his [younger] sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not ^[b]uncover your heads nor let your hair hang loose nor tear your clothes [as expressions of mourning], so that you will not die [also] and so that He will not express His wrath and anger toward all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning which the Lord has brought about. ⁷ You shall not even go out of the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, or you will die; for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did [everything] according to the word of Moses.

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, ⁹ “^[c]Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the Tent of Meeting, so that you will not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations— ¹⁰ and to make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy (sacred) and the common (profane), and between the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean;^{(E) 11} and you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them ^[d]through Moses.”

¹² Then Moses said to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the offerings by fire to the Lord, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. ¹³ You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion and your sons’ portion, from the offerings by fire to the Lord; for so I have been commanded. ¹⁴ But the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you; for the breast and the thigh are your portion and your sons’ portion, given out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the Israelites. ¹⁵ They shall bring the thigh presented by lifting up and the breast presented by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord. This shall be yours and your sons’ with you, as your perpetual portion, just as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, ¹⁷ “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; and God gave it to you to remove the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸ Behold, its blood was not brought into the Holy Place; you certainly should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.” ¹⁹ Then Aaron said to Moses, “This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord?”^{(F) 20} When Moses heard that, he was satisfied.

Laws about Animals for Food

11 The Lord spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Among all the animals which are on the earth, these are the animals which you may eat.^{(G) 3} You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof [that is, a hoof split into two parts especially at its distal extremity] and chews the cud. ⁴ Nevertheless, you are not to eat these, among those which chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is [ceremonially] unclean to you. ⁵ And the ^[e]shaphan, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁶ And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁷ And the swine, because it divides the hoof and makes a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat; ¹⁰ but whatever does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the teeming life in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are [to be considered] detestable to you.^{(H) 11} They shall be ^[f]hated things to you. You may not eat their meat; you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Avoid the Unclean

¹³ ‘These you shall detest among the birds; they are not to be eaten, for they are ^[g]hated things: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, ¹⁴ the kite, every kind of falcon, ¹⁵ every kind of raven, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you; ²¹ yet of all winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat: the whole species of migratory locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper.^{(I) 23} But all other winged insects which are four footed are detestable to you.

²⁴ ‘By [contact with] these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening (dusk), ²⁵ and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶ Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not have a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷ Also all animals that walk on their paws, among all kinds of animals that walk on four legs, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening, ²⁸ and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These also are unclean to you among the swarming things that crawl around on the ground [and multiply profusely]: the mole, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon. ³¹ These [creatures] are unclean to you among all that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. ³² Also anything on which one of them falls after dying becomes unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing, or a skin, or a sack—any article that is used—it must be put in water, and will be unclean until the evening; then it becomes clean. ³³ As for any earthenware container into which any of these [crawling things] falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you shall break the container. ³⁴ Any of the food which may be eaten, but on which [unclean] water falls, shall become unclean, and any liquid that may be drunk in every container shall become unclean. ³⁵ Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a spring or a cistern (reservoir) collecting water shall be clean; but whoever touches one of these carcasses shall be unclean. ³⁷ If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean; ³⁸ but if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘If one of the animals that you may eat dies [of natural causes], whoever touches its carcass becomes unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ And whoever eats some of its meat shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening; also whoever picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ ‘Now everything that swarms on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all things that swarm on the ground, you shall not eat; for they are detestable. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves loathsome (impure, repulsive) by [eating] any swarming thing; you shall not make yourselves unclean by them so as to defile yourselves. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground.^{(J) 45} For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”^(K)

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] unclean and the [ceremonially] clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.

Laws of Motherhood

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days, unclean as during her monthly period. ³ On the eighth day the flesh of the male child’s foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then she shall remain [intimately separated] thirty-three days to be purified from the blood; she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the [courtyard of the] sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as during her monthly period, and she shall remain [intimately separated] sixty-six days to be purified from the blood.

⁶ ‘When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting a one year old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering; ⁷ and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female child. ⁸ If she cannot afford a lamb then she shall take two turtledoves or young pigeons, one as a burnt offering, the other as a sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”^(L)