The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (A)Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the (B)garments and (C)the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread, and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting.” So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded us to do.”

Then (D)Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and he (E)washed them with water. Then he (F)put the tunic on [a]Aaron and wrapped his waist with the sash, and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him; and he wrapped his waist with the artistic band of the ephod, [b]with which he fitted it to him. He then placed the [c]breastpiece on him, and in the [d]breastpiece he put the [e](G)Urim and the Thummim. He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed (H)the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 Moses then took (I)the anointing oil and anointed the [f]tabernacle and everything that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 He also sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to (J)consecrate them. 12 Then he poured some of the (K)anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him. 13 (L)Next Moses had Aaron’s sons come near, and he clothed them with tunics and wrapped their waists with sashes, and bound [g]caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

14 Then he brought (M)the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Next [h]Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger (N)put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He also (O)took all the fat that was on the entrails and the [i]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar. 17 (P)But the bull and its hide, its flesh, and its refuse he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

18 Then he presented (Q)the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And [j]Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 When he had cut the ram into its pieces, Moses (R)offered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke. 21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses (S)offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

22 Then he presented the second ram, (T)the ram of [k]ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 [l]And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and (U)put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 He also had Aaron’s sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then (V)sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. 25 He then took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the [m]lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh. 26 And (W)from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh. 27 He then (X)put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. 28 Then Moses (Y)took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for (Z)a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the Lord. 29 Moses also took (AA)the breast and presented it as a wave offering before the Lord; it was (AB)Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

30 So Moses (AC)took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.

31 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “(AD)Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, (AE)saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32 And (AF)the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. 33 And (AG)you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will [n]ordain you through seven days. 34 The Lord has commanded us to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. 35 At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and (AH)fulfill your duty to the Lord, so that you will not die; for so I have been commanded.” 36 Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 8:7 Lit him
  2. Leviticus 8:7 Lit and with it
  3. Leviticus 8:8 Or breast pouch
  4. Leviticus 8:8 Or breast pouch
  5. Leviticus 8:8 Meanings of Urim and Thummim uncertain
  6. Leviticus 8:10 Or dwelling place
  7. Leviticus 8:13 Lit headgear
  8. Leviticus 8:15 Lit he slaughtered it and Moses took
  9. Leviticus 8:16 Or appendage on
  10. Leviticus 8:19 Lit He slaughtered it and Moses sprinkled
  11. Leviticus 8:22 Lit filling, and so throughout the ch
  12. Leviticus 8:23 Lit He slaughtered it and Moses took
  13. Leviticus 8:25 Or appendage on
  14. Leviticus 8:33 Lit fill your hands

Consecration of the Kohanim

Then Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: “Take Aaron and his sons with him, the garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams and the basket of matzot. Then assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.”

So Moses did as Adonai commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, Moses said to the congregation, “This is what Adonai has commanded to be done.”

Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and tied the skillfully decorated sash of the ephod around him and fastened it on him. He then placed the breastplate on Aaron, and inside the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. He set the turban on his head, and on front of the turban he set the golden plate, the holy crown, just as Adonai commanded Moses. 10 Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and all that was in it, and so consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled the oil on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. 12 He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13 Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with tunics, tied sashes on them, and fastened headbands on them, as Adonai had commanded Moses.

14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Moses then slaughtered it, took the blood and dabbed it onto the horns of the altar with his finger, and so purified the altar. Then he poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He then took all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and burned it up as smoke on the altar. 17 But the bull and its hide, its flesh and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp, as Adonai had commanded. 18 He then presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 Then Moses slaughtered it and splashed the blood around on the altar. 20 After he cut the ram into its pieces, Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fat. 21 He washed the innards and the legs with water. Then Moses burned the whole ram up in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Adonai, as Adonai had commanded Moses.

22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 Moses slaughtered it, took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the great toe of his right foot. 24 Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons and put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet. Then Moses splashed the blood around on the altar. 25 He took the fat, the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the innards, as well as the cover of the liver, the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh. 26 Then out of the basket of matzah that was before Adonai, he took one matzah cake, one cake of oiled bread and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. 27 He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in the hands of his sons, and waved them for a wave offering before Adonai. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were a consecration for a soothing aroma. It was an offering by fire to Adonai. 29 Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before Adonai. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, just as Adonai commanded Moses.

30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

31 Moses then said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and eat it there, along with the bread that is in the basket of ordination, as I commanded, saying: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.’ 32 What remains of the meat and of the bread you shall burn with fire.

33 You are not to go out from the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are fulfilled, for he will be filling your hands for seven days. 34 What has been done this day, Adonai has commanded to be done, in order to make atonement for you. 35 You are to stay at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days, and keep Adonai’s command, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” 36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things that Adonai commanded through Moses.

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