¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service.

^16 (A)And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^17 (B)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall ^(A)bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, ^(B)and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. ² And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may ^(C)join you and ^(D)minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ They shall keep guard over you and ^(E)over the whole tent, ^(F)but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar ^(G)lest they, and you, die. ⁴ They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, ^(H)and no outsider shall come near you. ⁵ And you shall ^(I)keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, ^(J)that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. ^6 (K)And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. ^(L)They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷ And ^(M)you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and ^(N)that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[a] and ^(O)any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁴⁰ to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so ^(A)that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the Lord said to him through Moses.

Consecration of the Priests

29 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. ^(A)Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, ^2 (B)and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³ You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. ⁴ You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^(C)wash them with water. ⁵ Then ^(D)you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the ^(E)skillfully woven band of the ephod. ^6 (F)And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ You shall take ^(G)the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸ Then you ^(H)shall bring his sons and put coats on them, ⁹ and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with ^(I)sashes and bind caps on them. And ^(J)the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ^(K)ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. ^(L)Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹² and ^(M)shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the ^(N)horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of^[a] the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. ¹³ And you shall take all ^(O)the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire ^(P)outside the camp; ^(Q)it is a sin offering.

¹⁵ “Then ^(R)you shall take one of the rams, and ^(S)Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, ¹⁶ and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall ^(T)cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, ¹⁸ and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a ^(U)pleasing aroma, a food offering^[b] to the Lord.

^19 (V)“You shall take the other ram, ^(W)and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, ²⁰ and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. ²¹ Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the ^(X)anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.

²² “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the ^(Y)fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ^(Z)ordination), ²³ and ^(AA)one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. ²⁴ You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and ^(AB)wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then ^(AC)you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a ^(AD)pleasing aroma before the Lord. It is a food offering to the Lord.

²⁶ “You shall take the ^(AE)breast of the ram of Aaron's ^(AF)ordination and ^(AG)wave it for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion. ²⁷ And you shall consecrate the ^(AH)breast of the wave offering that is waved and the ^(AI)thigh of the priests' portion that is contributed from the ram of ^(AJ)ordination, from what was Aaron's and his sons'. ²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a ^(AK)perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a ^(AL)contribution. It shall be a ^(AM)contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

²⁹ “The holy garments of Aaron ^(AN)shall be for his sons after him; they shall ^(AO)be anointed in them and ordained in them. ³⁰ The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them ^(AP)seven days.

³¹ “You shall take the ram of ordination and ^(AQ)boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the ^(AR)bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. ^33 (AS)They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an ^(AT)outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. ³⁴ And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall ^(AU)burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through ^(AV)seven days shall you ordain them, ³⁶ and every day you shall offer a ^(AW)bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall ^(AX)anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the ^(AY)altar shall be most holy. ^(AZ)Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

⁵ Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be ^(A)my treasured possession among all peoples, for ^(B)all the earth is mine; ⁶ and you shall be to me a ^(C)kingdom of priests and ^(D)a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”