Exodus 29
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Ordination of the Priests
29 This is what you shall do to them to set them apart as holy, so that they can minister to me in the priest’s office:
Take one young bull and two rams without defect, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened rolls mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed[a] with oil. Make them from fine wheat flour. 3 Put them into one basket and bring them in the basket when you bring the bull and the two rams. 4 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and put them on Aaron: the tunic, the robe to be worn under the vest, the vest, and the pouch. Clothe him with the sash of the vest. 6 Set the turban on his head and put the holy crest on the turban. 7 Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head to anoint him. 8 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 Clothe them with sashes—Aaron and his sons—and bind small pointed turbans on them. Then they shall possess the priesthood by means of a perpetual regulation. You shall ordain Aaron and his sons for their work.[b]
10 Bring the bull in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Slaughter the bull in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the meat of the bull, its hide, and its intestines and their contents, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. This is a sin offering.
15 Then take the first ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 Slaughter the ram, and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. 17 You shall cut the ram into pieces, wash its internal organs and its legs, and put them with the other pieces and with its head. 18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. This is a whole burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire[c] to the Lord.
19 Then take the other ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall slaughter the ram. Take some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, 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 splash the blood all around on the altar. 21 Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and spatter it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on the garments of his sons, who are with him. So he and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments shall be consecrated. 22 From this ram take the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for this is a ram for the dedication), 23 and one loaf of bread, one roll made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. 24 You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for the burnt offering as a pleasant aroma before the Lord. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
26 Take the breast from Aaron’s ram of ordination and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion of the sacrifice. 27 Consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the elevated offering, which are waved and lifted up,[d] from the ram of ordination. They are for Aaron and for his sons. 28 It shall belong to Aaron and his sons perpetually as their portion of the offering from the people of Israel, because it is an elevated offering. It shall be an elevated offering from the people of Israel from their sacrifices, from their fellowship offerings, that is, their elevated offering to the Lord.
29 The holy garments of Aaron shall belong to his descendants after him, so they are to wear them while they are being anointed and ordained for their work. 30 The son who is to be high priest in Aaron’s place shall put them on for seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
31 Take the ram of ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but a non-priest[e] shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 If any of the meat or the bread from the ordination remains until the next morning, you shall burn the remainder with fire. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 This is what you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, exactly as I have commanded you. You shall ordain them[f] for seven days. 36 Every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to make it holy. 37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar to make it holy. The altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.
The Regular Daily Offerings
38 Now this is what you shall offer on the altar regularly, every day: two lambs a year old. 39 The first lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.[g] 40 With the first lamb offer two quarts[h] of fine flour mixed with a quart[i] of beaten olive oil,[j] and a quart of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and you shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire[k] to the Lord. 42 It shall be presented as a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. There I will meet with you to speak to you. 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and the place will be made holy by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and I will be their God. 46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
Footnotes
- Exodus 29:2 Or smeared
- Exodus 29:9 Literally fill the hands
- Exodus 29:18 Or perhaps a food offering or a special offering. The Hebrew term isheh was traditionally thought to be an offering made by fire because of its similarity to the Hebrew word for fire, but some contexts and some similar words in other Semitic languages suggest it may, at least at times, mean a gift of food. The Lord, of course, does not literally need food.
- Exodus 29:27 Waved and lifted up or elevated refer to the respective gestures with which these offerings were usually presented. This does not mean that all wave offerings and elevated offerings were literally elevated or waved.
- Exodus 29:33 Literally a stranger
- Exodus 29:35 Literally fill their hands
- Exodus 29:39 Literally between the evenings
- Exodus 29:40 That is, one tenth (of an ephah). The unit of measure is not specified. It is assumed that it is an ephah.
- Exodus 29:40 A fourth of a hin
- Exodus 29:40 The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb ktt is “beat.” The translation assumes that oil from beaten olives is the highest grade “extra virgin” olive oil from the first crushing or pressing of the olives, done by hand.
- Exodus 29:41 Or perhaps a special offering or food offering
Exodus 29
Lexham English Bible
Instructions for Consecrating Aaron and His Sons
29 “And this is the thing that you will do for them to consecrate them to serve as a priest for me: Take one young bull[a] and two rams without defect 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened, ring-shaped bread cakes mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened breads smeared with oil. You will make them with finely milled wheat flour, 3 and you will put them on one basket, and you will bring them on the basket and bring the bull and the two rams. 4 And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of assembly, and you will wash them with water. 5 And you will take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe of the ephod, and you will fasten to him the ephod and the breast piece with the waistband of the ephod. 6 And you will set the turban on his head, and you will put the holy diadem on the turban. 7 And you will take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 And you will bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. 9 And you will gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and wrap headdresses on them. And priesthood will be theirs as a lasting rule, and you will ordain Aaron and his sons.[b]
10 “And you will bring the bull before the tent of assembly, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 And you will slaughter the bull before Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of assembly. 12 And you will take some of the blood of the bull and with your finger put it on the horns of the altar, and you will pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 And you will take and turn into smoke on the altar all the fat covering the inner parts and the lobe on the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them. 14 And the flesh of the bull and its skin and its offal you will burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15 “And you will take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 And you will slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it on the altar all around. 17 And you will cut the ram into pieces and wash its inner parts, and you will put its legs with its pieces and with its head. 18 And you will turn into smoke on the altar all of the ram; it is a burnt offering for Yahweh; it is a smell of appeasement, an offering by fire for Yahweh.
19 “And you will take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 And you will slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe and on the right earlobe of his sons and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe[c] of their right foot, and you will sprinkle the blood at the base of the altar all around. 21 And you will take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and you will spatter it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him, and he will be sacred, and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 22 And you will take from the ram the fat and the fat tail and the fat covering the inner parts and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh, because it is the ram of ordination.
23 “And one loaf of bread and one ring-shaped bread cake of oiled bread and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh— 24 you will put them all on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and you will wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. 25 And you will take them from their hand and turn them to smoke on the altar beside the burnt offering as a fragrance of appeasement before Yahweh; it is an offering made by fire before Yahweh.
26 “And you will take the breast section from the ram of ordination that is for Aaron, and you will wave it as a wave offering before Yahweh. It will be your portion. 27 And you will consecrate the wave offering breast section and the thigh of the contribution that was waved and that was presented[d] from the ram of the ordination that is for Aaron and for his sons. 28 And it will be for[e] Aaron and for his sons as a lasting rule from the Israelites,[f] because it is a contribution, and it will be a contribution from the Israelites[g] from their sacrifices of fellowship, their contribution to Yahweh.
29 “And the holy garments that are for Aaron will be for his sons after him in which to anoint them and to ordain them.[h] 30 Seven days the priest who replaces him from among his sons will wear them, who comes to the tent of assembly to serve in the sanctuary. 31 And you will take the ram of ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons will eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the tent of assembly. 33 And they will eat them—the things by which atonement was made for them to ordain them to consecrate them—and a stranger will not eat them because they are holy objects. 34 If any remains until morning from the ordination meat or from the bread, you will burn the remainder in fire; it will not be eaten, because it is a holy object. 35 And you will do so for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; seven days you will ordain them.
Instructions for Regular Offerings at the Tabernacle
36 “And you will offer a bull for a sin offering every day for the atonement; and you will offer a sin offering on the altar[i] when you make atonement for it, and you will anoint it to consecrate it. 37 Seven days you will make atonement for the altar, and you will consecrate it, and the altar will be a most holy thing.[j] Anyone who[k] touches the altar will be holy.
38 “And this is what you shall offer on the altar: Two one-year-old[l] male lambs every day[m] continually. 39 The first lamb you will offer in the morning, and the second lamb you will offer at twilight.[n] 40 And a tenth of finely milled flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a libation with the first lamb. 41 And the second lamb you will offer at twilight;[o] you will offer a grain offering and its libation like that of the morning for a fragrance of appeasement, an offering made by fire for Yahweh. 42 It will be a burnt offering of continuity throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of assembly before Yahweh, where I will meet with you to speak to you there.
43 “And I will meet with the Israelites[p] there, and it will be consecrated by my glory. 44 And I will consecrate the tent of assembly and the altar, and Aaron and his sons I will consecrate to serve as priests for me. 45 And I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites,[q] and I will be their God. 46 And they will know that I am Yahweh, their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt in order to dwell in their midst. I am Yahweh their God.
Footnotes
- Exodus 29:1 Literally “a son of cattle”
- Exodus 29:9 Literally “you will fill the hand of Aaron and the hands of his sons”
- Exodus 29:20 Literally “the thumb of”
- Exodus 29:27 Literally “lifted up”
- Exodus 29:28 Or “belong to”
- Exodus 29:28 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 29:28 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 29:29 Literally “to fill in them their hands”
- Exodus 29:36 Or “you will purify the altar”
- Exodus 29:37 Literally “a holiness of holinesses” or “a holy thing among holy things,” a thing of utmost holiness
- Exodus 29:37 Or “anything that”; literally “all touching”
- Exodus 29:38 Literally “sons of a year”
- Exodus 29:38 Literally “for the day,” or per day
- Exodus 29:39 Literally “between the evenings”
- Exodus 29:41 Literally “between the evenings”
- Exodus 29:43 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Exodus 29:45 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
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