Leviticus 9:7-10:20

EasyEnglish Bible

⁷ Moses said to Aaron, ‘Go to the altar. Sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to the Lord. You must do that to pay for your sins and those of the people. Then sacrifice the people's gift. Their offerings are an atonement for the bad things that they have done. The Lord said that you should do this.’

⁸ Aaron brought the young bull to the altar. He killed it. This was his offering to the Lord to atone for his sin. ⁹ His sons brought the blood to Aaron. He put his finger in the blood and he put it on the horns of the altar. He poured the blood that he did not use onto the floor in front of the altar. ¹⁰ Aaron burnt the fat, the kidneys and the best piece of the liver on the altar as a sin offering. He did it as the Lord had told Moses. ¹¹ He took the meat and the skin from the young bull outside the camp and he burnt it.

¹² Aaron brought the male sheep for the burnt offering to the altar. He killed it. His sons brought the blood to him. He threw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ¹³ The priests gave the pieces of the animal, including the head, to Aaron. Aaron burnt them on the altar. ¹⁴ He washed the inside parts and the legs. He burnt them on the altar on top of the burnt offering.

¹⁵ Aaron brought the goat. This was the people's sacrifice to God. Aaron killed it and he burnt it on the altar. It was an offering to atone for the people's sin. He offered this sacrifice in the same way as the first sacrifice for sin.

¹⁶ Aaron brought the other young cow. He killed it and he burnt it on the altar. He did it as Moses had told him. ¹⁷ He also brought the grain offering. He took some of it and he burnt it on the altar. He burnt it with the morning sacrifice.

¹⁸ Aaron killed the bull and the male sheep. These were friendship offerings from the people. The priests brought the blood to him. He threw it onto the sides of the altar. ¹⁹ Aaron took the fat tail, the fat and the kidneys and the best piece of the liver. ²⁰ He put them on the meat of the animal's ribs. Then he burnt the fat on the altar. ²¹ Aaron lifted up the meat as an offering to the Lord. Moses had told him that he must do this.

²² When Aaron had finished burning the gifts, he lifted up his hands over the people. He had sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the friendship offering. Then he asked God to do good things for the people. And Aaron came down from the altar.

²³ Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they asked God to do good things for the people. The bright light from the Lord appeared to the people to show how great he is. ²⁴ Then the Lord sent a fire to show that he accepted the gifts.^[a] It completely burnt all the fat and the offerings that were on the altar. The people were very happy when they saw this. They shouted and they fell down with their faces to the ground.

The Lord kills Nadab and Abihu

10 Nadab and Abihu were sons of Aaron.^[b] They put hot material in the pots that they used to burn incense. They threw incense over the hot material. They offered the incense to the Lord. This was a wrong thing to do. The Lord had not told them that they should do it. So it was wrong. ² The Lord was angry and he sent fire to burn them. They died there in front of the Lord's altar. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord said,

“People may come near to me. But those people must see that I am holy.

All the people must give honour to me.” ’

Aaron did not reply.

⁴ Mishael and Elzaphan were sons of Aaron's father's brother, Uzziel. Moses said to them, ‘Carry Nadab and Abihu away from the altar. Take your cousins outside the camp.’ ⁵ Nadab and Abihu were still wearing their robes. Mishael and Elzaphan carried Nadab and Abihu outside the camp. Moses had told them that they must do that.

⁶ Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, ‘Comb your hair. Do not tear your clothes. If you do that, you will die. And the Lord will be angry with all the people. But Israel's people can show that they are sad. They are sad because the Lord has killed Nadab and Abihu with fire. ⁷ If you go away from the door of the Tent of Meeting you will die. You will die because the Lord's holy oil is on you.’ So Aaron and his sons did as Moses had said.

⁸ The Lord then said to Aaron, ⁹ ‘Do not drink wine before you go into the Tent of Meeting. And do not drink anything that contains alcohol. If you do, you will die. This rule is for you and for all your sons and grandsons. ¹⁰ You must know what is holy. And you must know what is not holy. You must know what you can use. And you must know what you must not use to worship me. ¹¹ You must teach Israel's people all the rules that I, the Lord, gave to them by Moses.’

¹² Moses said to Aaron and to his two other sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘The grain offering is most holy. Take the part that you did not burn in front of the Lord. And make it into bread. Do not use yeast. Take it to the side of the altar and eat it. ¹³ Eat it in a holy place. The Lord has said that it is your part of the grain offering. It is for you and for your sons. ¹⁴ You and your sons and daughters can eat the meat of the ribs that you held up to God. And all your family can eat the top part of the leg. Eat the meat in a place that is clean and ready for God's use. It is your part of the people's friendship offering. ¹⁵ Bring the top of the leg and the meat of the ribs. Lift them up to the Lord. The Lord has given them to you and to your children. Lift them up with the fat parts of the burnt offering. He told you that you should do this.’

¹⁶ Moses looked for the goat that was to atone for the people's sin. Moses was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron. He was angry because they had burnt the goat. ¹⁷ Moses said to them, ‘This gift was for the Lord. It was a very holy gift. It was to atone for the people's sins. Why did you not take it to the holy place and eat it? ¹⁸ You did not bring the blood into the holy place. I told you that you must eat its meat in the Tent of Meeting.’ ¹⁹ Aaron said to Moses, ‘My sons sacrificed their gifts to the Lord today. But very bad things have happened to me today. I would not have given the Lord any pleasure if I had eaten the sin offering today.’ ²⁰ When Moses heard this, he was not angry any longer.