The Tent of Meeting

⁷ Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.”^(A) Anyone inquiring^(B) of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. ⁸ And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents,^(C) watching Moses until he entered the tent. ⁹ As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud^(D) would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke^(E) with Moses. ¹⁰ Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.^(F)

⁸⁹ When Moses entered the tent of meeting^(A) to speak with the Lord,^(B) he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover^(C) on the ark of the covenant law.^(D) In this way the Lord spoke to him.

¹¹ The Lord would speak to Moses face to face,^(A) as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua^(B) son of Nun did not leave the tent.

The Cloud Above the Tabernacle

¹⁵ On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law,^(A) was set up,^(B) the cloud^(C) covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire.^{(D) 16} That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire.^{(E) 17} Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out;^(F) wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped.^{(G) 18} At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained^(H) in camp. ¹⁹ When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order^(I) and did not set out.^{(J) 20} Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. ²² Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. ²³ At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.

³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out;^{(A) 37} but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud^(B) of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

Consecration of the Priests^(A)

29 “This is what you are to do to consecrate^(B) them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect.^{(C) 2} And from the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil.^{(D) 3} Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams.^{(E) 4} Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.^{(F) 5} Take the garments^(G) and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband.^{(H) 6} Put the turban^(I) on his head and attach the sacred emblem^(J) to the turban. ⁷ Take the anointing oil^(K) and anoint him by pouring it on his head. ⁸ Bring his sons and dress them in tunics^{(L) 9} and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons.^[a](M) The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance.^(N)

“Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ “Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.^{(O) 11} Slaughter it in the Lord’s presence^(P) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹² Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns^(Q) of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar.^{(R) 13} Then take all the fat^(S) on the internal organs,^(T) the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines^(U) outside the camp.^(V) It is a sin offering.^[b]

¹⁵ “Take one of the rams,^(W) and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.^{(X) 16} Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Cut the ram into pieces and wash^(Y) the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces. ¹⁸ Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma,^(Z) a food offering presented to the Lord.

¹⁹ “Take the other ram,^(AA) and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.^{(AB) 20} Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet.^(AC) Then splash blood against the sides of the altar.^{(AD) 21} And take some blood^(AE) from the altar and some of the anointing oil^(AF) and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated.^(AG)

²² “Take from this ram the fat,^(AH) the fat tail, the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This is the ram for the ordination.) ²³ From the basket of bread made without yeast, which is before the Lord, take one round loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf. ²⁴ Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and have them wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.^{(AI) 25} Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord, a food offering presented to the Lord.^{(AJ) 26} After you take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination, wave it before the Lord as a wave offering, and it will be your share.^(AK)

²⁷ “Consecrate those parts of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons:^(AL) the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. ²⁸ This is always to be the perpetual share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.^(AM)

²⁹ “Aaron’s sacred garments^(AN) will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.^{(AO) 30} The son^(AP) who succeeds him as priest and comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place is to wear them seven days.

³¹ “Take the ram^(AQ) for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place.^{(AR) 32} At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread^(AS) that is in the basket. ³³ They are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no one else may eat^(AT) them, because they are sacred. ³⁴ And if any of the meat of the ordination ram or any bread is left over till morning,^(AU) burn it up. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

³⁵ “Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them. ³⁶ Sacrifice a bull each day^(AV) as a sin offering to make atonement^(AW). Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate^(AX) it. ³⁷ For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.^(AY)

¹⁹ The Lord also said to Moses, ²⁰ “This is the offering Aaron and his sons are to bring to the Lord on the day he^[a] is anointed:^(A) a tenth of an ephah^[b](B) of the finest flour^(C) as a regular grain offering,^(D) half of it in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ It must be prepared with oil on a griddle;^(E) bring it well-mixed and present the grain offering broken^[c] in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. ²² The son who is to succeed him as anointed priest^(F) shall prepare it. It is the Lord’s perpetual share and is to be burned completely.^{(G) 23} Every grain offering of a priest shall be burned completely; it must not be eaten.”

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons^(A)

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Bring Aaron and his sons,^(B) their garments,^(C) the anointing oil,^(D) the bull for the sin offering,^[a](E) the two rams^(F) and the basket containing bread made without yeast,^{(G) 3} and gather the entire assembly^(H) at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” ⁴ Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

⁵ Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.^(I)” ⁶ Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.^{(J) 7} He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him.^{(K) 8} He placed the breastpiece^(L) on him and put the Urim and Thummim^(M) in the breastpiece. ⁹ Then he placed the turban^(N) on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem,^(O) on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.^(P)

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil^(Q) and anointed^(R) the tabernacle^(S) and everything in it, and so consecrated them. ¹¹ He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.^{(T) 12} He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed^(U) him to consecrate him.^{(V) 13} Then he brought Aaron’s sons^(W) forward, put tunics^(X) on them, tied sashes around them and fastened caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.^(Y)

¹⁴ He then presented the bull^(Z) for the sin offering,^(AA) and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.^{(AB) 15} Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood,^(AC) and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar^(AD) to purify the altar.^(AE) He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it.^{(AF) 16} Moses also took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. ¹⁷ But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its intestines^(AG) he burned up outside the camp,^(AH) as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁸ He then presented the ram^(AI) for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. ¹⁹ Then Moses slaughtered the ram and splashed the blood against the sides of the altar. ²⁰ He cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat.^{(AJ) 21} He washed the internal organs and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²² He then presented the other ram, the ram for the ordination,^(AK) and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.^{(AL) 23} Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.^{(AM) 24} Moses also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then he splashed blood against the sides of the altar.^{(AN) 25} After that, he took the fat^(AO), the fat tail, all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. ²⁶ And from the basket of bread made without yeast, which was before the Lord, he took one thick loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf,^(AP) and he put these on the fat portions and on the right thigh. ²⁷ He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they waved them before the Lord^(AQ) as a wave offering. ²⁸ Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. ²⁹ Moses also took the breast, which was his share of the ordination ram,^(AR) and waved it before the Lord as a wave offering, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁰ Then Moses^(AS) took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments^(AT) and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated^(AU) Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.

³¹ Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting^(AV) and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I was commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.’ ³² Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. ³³ Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days.^{(AW) 34} What has been done today was commanded by the Lord^(AX) to make atonement for you. ³⁵ You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires,^(AY) so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.”

³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses.