¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our ^(A)God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.

^16 (A)And ^[a]after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, ^(B)came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they ^(C)strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 Then the Lord said to Aaron: ^(A)“You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall ^(B)bear the ^[a]iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. ² Also bring with you your brethren of the ^(C)tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^(D)joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of ^[b]witness. ³ They shall attend to your ^[c]needs and ^(E)all the needs of the tabernacle; ^(F)but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, ^(G)lest they die—they and you also. ⁴ They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; ^(H)but an outsider shall not come near you. ⁵ And you shall attend to ^(I)the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(J)that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself have ^(K)taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; ^(L)they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁷ Therefore ^(M)you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and ^(N)behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a ^(O)gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁴⁰ to be a ^[a]memorial to the children of Israel ^(A)that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

Aaron and His Sons Consecrated^(A)

29 “And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: ^(B)Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ² and ^(C)unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour). ³ You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.

⁴ “And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ^(D)and you shall wash them with water. ^5 (E)Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with ^(F)the intricately woven band of the ephod. ^6 (G)You shall put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ And you shall take the anointing ^(H)oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. ⁸ Then ^(I)you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ⁹ And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. ^(J)The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall ^(K)consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ “You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(L)Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ¹² You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on ^(M)the horns of the altar with your finger, and ^(N)pour all the blood beside the base of the altar. ¹³ And ^(O)you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But ^(P)the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

^15 (Q)“You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall ^(R)put their hands on the head of the ram; ¹⁶ and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and ^(S)sprinkle it all around on the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. ¹⁸ And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a ^(T)burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

^19 (U)“You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. ²¹ And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of ^(V)the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and ^(W)he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² “Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), ^23 (X)one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; ²⁴ and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall ^(Y)wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ^25 (Z)You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ “Then you shall take ^(AA)the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. ²⁷ And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate ^(AB)the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons ^(AC)by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; ^(AD)it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord.

²⁹ “And the ^(AE)holy garments of Aaron ^(AF)shall be his sons’ after him, ^(AG)to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them. ^30 (AH)That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for ^(AI)seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to minister in the ^[a]holy place.

³¹ “And you shall take the ram of the consecration and ^(AJ)boil its flesh in the holy place. ³² Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the ^(AK)bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ^33 (AL)They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; ^(AM)but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then ^(AN)you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ “Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. ^(AO)Seven days you shall consecrate them. ³⁶ And you ^(AP)shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. ^(AQ)You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. ³⁷ Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. ^(AR)Whatever touches the altar must be holy.

⁵ Now ^(A)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(B)keep My covenant, then ^(C)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is ^(D)Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a ^(E)kingdom of priests and a ^(F)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”