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

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And I will put this third into the fire,
    refine them as one refines silver,
    and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ”(A)

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16 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 ancestors.(A) 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.(B)

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Responsibility of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.(A) So bring with you also your brothers of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, in order that they may be joined to you and serve you while you and your sons with you are in front of the tent of the covenant.(B) They shall perform duties for you and for the whole tent. But they must not approach either the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, or else both they and you will die.(C) They are attached to you in order to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no outsider shall approach you.(D) You yourselves shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never again come upon the Israelites.(E) It is I who now take your brother Levites from among the Israelites; they are now yours as a gift, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service of the tent of meeting.(F) But you and your sons with you shall diligently perform your priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and the area behind the curtain. I give your priesthood as a gift;[a] any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.”(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 18.7 Heb as a service of gift

40 a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, shall approach to offer incense before the Lord, so as not to become like Korah and his congregation, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.(A)

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The Ordination of the Priests

29 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish,(A) and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. You shall make them of choice wheat flour.(B) You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket and bring the bull and the two rams. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.(C) Then you shall take the vestments and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece and gird him with the decorated band of the ephod,(D) and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban.(E) You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.(F) Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them,(G) and you shall gird them, Aaron and his sons, with sashes and tie headdresses on them, and the priesthood shall be theirs by a perpetual ordinance. You shall then ordain Aaron and his sons.(H)

10 “You shall bring the bull in front of the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull,(I) 11 and you shall slaughter the bull before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12 and shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and all the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar.(J) 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the appendage of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them and turn them into smoke on the altar.(K) 14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a purification offering.(L)

15 “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram,(M) 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and dash it against all sides of the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into its parts and wash its entrails and its legs and put them with its parts and its head 18 and turn the rest of the ram into smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a pleasing odor, an offering by fire[a] to the Lord.(N)

19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20 and you shall slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of the right ears of his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet and dash the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his vestments and on his sons and his sons’ vestments with him; then he and his vestments shall be holy, as well as his sons and his sons’ vestments with him.(O)

22 “You shall also take the fat of the ram, the fatty tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the appendage of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer, out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord,(P) 24 and you shall place all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons and raise them as an elevation offering before the Lord.(Q) 25 Then you shall take them from their hands and turn them into smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering for a pleasing odor before the Lord. It is an offering by fire[b] to the Lord.(R)

26 “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and raise it as an elevation offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion.(S) 27 You shall consecrate the breast that was raised as an elevation offering and the thigh that was lifted up as an offering from the ram of ordination, from that which belonged to Aaron and his sons.(T) 28 These things shall be a perpetual ordinance for Aaron and his sons from the Israelites, for this is an offering, and it shall be an offering by the Israelites from their sacrifice of offerings of well-being, their offering to the Lord.(U)

29 “The sacred vestments of Aaron shall be passed on to his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them.(V) 30 The son who is priest in his place shall wear them seven days when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.(W)

31 “You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place,(X) 32 and Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting.(Y) 33 They shall eat the food by which atonement is made, to ordain and consecrate them, but no one else shall eat of it, because it is holy.(Z) 34 If any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.(AA)

35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, just as I have commanded you; through seven days you shall ordain them.(AB) 36 Also every day you shall offer a bull as a purification offering for atonement. Also you shall offer a sin offering for the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it, to consecrate it.(AC) 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall become holy.(AD)

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Footnotes

  1. 29.18 Or a gift
  2. 29.25 Or a gift

Now, therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,(A) but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”(B)

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