Consecration of the Priests

29 (A)Now this is [a]what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve as priests to Me: take one bull and two rams without blemish, and (B)unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers [b]spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. And you shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. Then (C)you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the (D)tunic and (E)the robe of the ephod, and (F)the ephod and (G)the [c]breastpiece, and wrap his waist with the skillfully (H)woven band of the ephod; and you shall set the (I)turban on his head and put (J)the holy crown on the turban. Then you shall take (K)the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and anoint him. You shall also bring his sons and put (L)tunics on them. And you shall wrap their waists with (M)sashes, Aaron and his sons, and fit [d]caps on them, and they shall have (N)the priesthood by a permanent statute. So you shall [e](O)ordain Aaron and his sons.

The Sacrifices

10 “Then you shall bring the bull in front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall (P)lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 And you shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12 Then you shall (Q)take some of the blood of the bull and put it on (R)the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 13 And you shall (S)take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the [f]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. 14 But (T)the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

15 (U)You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them [g]with its pieces and [h]its head. 18 And you shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: (V)it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

19 “Then (W)you shall take the [i]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 his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the (X)anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the [j]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of [k]ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread, and (Y)one cake of bread mixed with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord; 24 and you shall put [l]all these [m]in the [n]hands of Aaron and [o]in the [p]hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then (Z)you shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

26 “Then you shall take (AA)the breast of Aaron’s ram of [q]ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the [r]contribution which was waved and which was [s]offered from the ram of [t]ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is [u]a contribution; and it shall be [v]a contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their [w]contribution to the Lord.

29 (AB)The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, [x]so that they may be anointed and ordained in them. 30 For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his place shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place.

Food of the Priests

31 “Now you shall take the ram of [y]ordination and (AC)boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 33 So (AD)they shall eat [z]those things by which atonement was made [aa]at their ordination and consecration; but a [ab](AE)layman shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 And (AF)if any of the flesh of [ac]ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

35 “So you shall do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall [ad]ordain them for (AG)seven days. 36 (AH)Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall [ae]purify the altar when you make atonement [af]for it, and (AI)you shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 For seven days you shall make atonement [ag]for the altar and consecrate it; then (AJ)the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

38 “Now (AK)this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs each day, continuously. 39 The (AL)one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the [ah]other lamb you shall offer at [ai]twilight; 40 and there shall be a [aj]tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a [ak]fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. 41 The [al]other lamb you shall offer at [am]twilight, and shall offer with it [an]the same grain offering and [ao]the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, (AM)where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve as priests to Me. 45 And (AN)I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that (AO)I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 29:1 Lit the thing which
  2. Exodus 29:2 Or anointed
  3. Exodus 29:5 Or pouch
  4. Exodus 29:9 Lit headgear
  5. Exodus 29:9 Lit fill the hand of
  6. Exodus 29:13 Or appendage on
  7. Exodus 29:17 Lit on
  8. Exodus 29:17 Lit on its
  9. Exodus 29:19 Lit second
  10. Exodus 29:22 Or appendage on
  11. Exodus 29:22 Lit filling
  12. Exodus 29:24 Lit the whole
  13. Exodus 29:24 Lit on
  14. Exodus 29:24 Lit palms
  15. Exodus 29:24 Lit on
  16. Exodus 29:24 Lit palms
  17. Exodus 29:26 Lit filling
  18. Exodus 29:27 Or uplifted offering
  19. Exodus 29:27 Lit lifted up
  20. Exodus 29:27 Lit filling
  21. Exodus 29:28 Or uplifted offering
  22. Exodus 29:28 Or uplifted offering
  23. Exodus 29:28 Or uplifted offering
  24. Exodus 29:29 Lit for anointing in them and filling their hand in them
  25. Exodus 29:31 Lit filling
  26. Exodus 29:33 Lit them
  27. Exodus 29:33 Lit to fill their hand to sanctify them
  28. Exodus 29:33 Lit stranger
  29. Exodus 29:34 Lit filling
  30. Exodus 29:35 Lit fill their hand
  31. Exodus 29:36 Or offer a sin offering on the altar
  32. Exodus 29:36 Lit upon
  33. Exodus 29:37 Lit upon
  34. Exodus 29:39 Lit second
  35. Exodus 29:39 Lit between the two evenings
  36. Exodus 29:40 About 3 qt. or 2.8 liters
  37. Exodus 29:40 About 0.95 qt. or 0.9 liter
  38. Exodus 29:41 Lit second
  39. Exodus 29:41 Lit between the two evenings
  40. Exodus 29:41 Lit according to the grain offering of the morning
  41. Exodus 29:41 Lit according to its

Dedication of the Priests

29 “This is the ceremony you must follow when you consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams with no defects. Then, using choice wheat flour and no yeast, make loaves of bread, thin cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers spread with oil. Place them all in a single basket, and present them at the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams.

“Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle,[a] and wash them with water. Dress Aaron in his priestly garments—the tunic, the robe worn with the ephod, the ephod itself, and the chestpiece. Then wrap the decorative sash of the ephod around him. Place the turban on his head, and fasten the sacred medallion to the turban. Then anoint him by pouring the anointing oil over his head. Next present his sons, and dress them in their tunics. Wrap the sashes around the waists of Aaron and his sons, and put their special head coverings on them. Then the right to the priesthood will be theirs by law forever. In this way, you will ordain Aaron and his sons.

10 “Bring the young bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head. 11 Then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 12 Put some of its blood on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, and burn it all on the altar. 14 Then take the rest of the bull, including its hide, meat, and dung, and burn it outside the camp as a sin offering.

15 “Next Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the head of one of the rams. 16 Then slaughter the ram, and splatter its blood against all sides of the altar. 17 Cut the ram into pieces, and wash off the internal organs and the legs. Set them alongside the head and the other pieces of the body, 18 then burn the entire animal on the altar. This is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord.

19 “Now take the other ram, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head. 20 Then slaughter it, and apply some of its blood to the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. 21 Then take some of the blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and on their garments. In this way, they and their garments will be set apart as holy.

22 “Since this is the ram for the ordination of Aaron and his sons, take the fat of the ram, including the fat of the broad tail, the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, along with the right thigh. 23 Then take one round loaf of bread, one thin cake mixed with olive oil, and one wafer from the basket of bread without yeast that was placed in the Lord’s presence. 24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons to be lifted up as a special offering to the Lord. 25 Afterward take the various breads from their hands, and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering. It is a pleasing aroma to the Lord, a special gift for him. 26 Then take the breast of Aaron’s ordination ram, and lift it up in the Lord’s presence as a special offering to him. Then keep it as your own portion.

27 “Set aside the portions of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons. This includes the breast and the thigh that were lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. 28 In the future, whenever the people of Israel lift up a peace offering, a portion of it must be set aside for Aaron and his descendants. This is their permanent right, and it is a sacred offering from the Israelites to the Lord.

29 “Aaron’s sacred garments must be preserved for his descendants who succeed him, and they will wear them when they are anointed and ordained. 30 The descendant who succeeds him as high priest will wear these clothes for seven days as he ministers in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place.

31 “Take the ram used in the ordination ceremony, and boil its meat in a sacred place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons will eat this meat, along with the bread in the basket, at the Tabernacle entrance. 33 They alone may eat the meat and bread used for their purification[b] in the ordination ceremony. No one else may eat them, for these things are set apart and holy. 34 If any of the ordination meat or bread remains until the morning, it must be burned. It may not be eaten, for it is holy.

35 “This is how you will ordain Aaron and his sons to their offices, just as I have commanded you. The ordination ceremony will go on for seven days. 36 Each day you must sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering to purify them, making them right with the Lord.[c] Afterward, cleanse the altar by purifying it[d]; make it holy by anointing it with oil. 37 Purify the altar, and consecrate it every day for seven days. After that, the altar will be absolutely holy, and whatever touches it will become holy.

38 “These are the sacrifices you are to offer regularly on the altar. Each day, offer two lambs that are a year old, 39 one in the morning and the other in the evening. 40 With one of them, offer two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quart of pure oil of pressed olives; also, offer one quart of wine[e] as a liquid offering. 41 Offer the other lamb in the evening, along with the same offerings of flour and wine as in the morning. It will be a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord.

42 “These burnt offerings are to be made each day from generation to generation. Offer them in the Lord’s presence at the Tabernacle entrance; there I will meet with you and speak with you. 43 I will meet the people of Israel there, in the place made holy by my glorious presence. 44 Yes, I will consecrate the Tabernacle and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, 46 and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God.

Footnotes

  1. 29:4 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 29:10, 11, 30, 32, 42, 44.
  2. 29:33 Or their atonement.
  3. 29:36a Or to make atonement.
  4. 29:36b Or by making atonement for it; similarly in 29:37.
  5. 29:40 Hebrew 1⁄10 [of an ephah] [2.2 liters] of choice flour . . . 1⁄4 of a hin [1 liter] of pure oil . . . 1⁄4 of a hin of wine.