¹² Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water^(A)

The Rites of Ordination

8 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Take Aaron and his sons with him, the vestments, the anointing oil, the bull for the purification offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread;^{(A) 3} and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” ⁴ And Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ⁵ Moses said to the congregation, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.”

⁶ Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.^{(B) 7} He put the tunic on him, fastened the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He then put the decorated band of the ephod around him, tying the ephod to him with it. ⁸ He placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim.^{(C) 9} And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden ornament, the holy diadem, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(D)

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it and consecrated them.^{(E) 11} He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its base, to consecrate them. ¹² He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him.^{(F) 13} And Moses brought forward Aaron’s sons and clothed them with tunics and fastened sashes around them and tied headdresses on them, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(G)

Aaron’s Priesthood Inaugurated

9 On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ² He said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf for a purification offering and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.^{(A) 3} And say to the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat for a purification offering; a calf and a lamb, yearlings without blemish, for a burnt offering;^{(B) 4} and an ox and a ram for an offering of well-being to sacrifice before the Lord; and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.’ ” ⁵ They brought what Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. ⁶ And Moses said, “This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”^{(C) 7} Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and sacrifice your purification offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and sacrifice the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”^(D)

⁸ Aaron drew near to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the purification offering, which was for himself.^{(E) 9} The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.^{(F) 10} But the fat, the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver from the purification offering he turned into smoke on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses, ¹¹ and the flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp.^(G)

¹² Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he dashed it against all sides of the altar. ¹³ And they brought him the burnt offering piece by piece and the head, which he turned into smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ He washed the entrails and the legs and, with the burnt offering, turned them into smoke on the altar.

¹⁵ Next he presented the people’s offering. He took the goat of the purification offering that was for the people and slaughtered it and presented it as a purification offering like the first one.^{(H) 16} He presented the burnt offering and sacrificed it according to regulation.^{(I) 17} He presented the grain offering, and, taking a handful of it, he turned it into smoke on the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.^(J)

¹⁸ He slaughtered the ox and the ram as a sacrifice of well-being for the people. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, which he dashed against all sides of the altar,^{(K) 19} and the fat of the ox and of the ram: the fatty tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat on them,^[a] and the appendage of the liver. ²⁰ They first laid the fat on the breasts, and the fat was turned into smoke on the altar, ²¹ and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron raised as an elevation offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.^(L)

²² Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down after sacrificing the purification offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being. ²³ Moses and Aaron entered the tent of meeting and then came out and blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.^{(M) 24} Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.^(N)

⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,^(A)

³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin,^[a] he condemned sin in the flesh,^(A)

³⁴ He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.^(A)

³⁵ The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[a] will be holy; he will be called Son of God.^(A)

¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him.^(A)

The Good News of Deliverance