Exodus 29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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) 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. You shall make them of choice wheat flour.(B) 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket and bring the bull and the two rams. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.(C) 5 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) 6 and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban.(E) 7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.(F) 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them,(G) 9 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)
The Daily Offerings
38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old regularly each day.(AE) 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, 40 and with the first lamb one-tenth of a measure of choice flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb you shall offer in the evening and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire[c] to the Lord. 42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.(AF) 43 I will meet with the Israelites there, and it shall be sanctified by my glory;(AG) 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests.(AH) 45 I will dwell among the Israelites, and I will be their God.(AI) 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.(AJ)
Exodus 29
Common English Bible
Instructions for the priests’ ordination
29 Now this is what you should do to make them holy in order to serve me as priests. Take a young bull and two flawless rams. 2 Take unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread made with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. Make them out of high-quality wheat flour. 3 Put them all in one basket and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the meeting tent and wash them with water. 5 Then take the priestly clothes and put them on Aaron: the tunic, the vest’s robe, the vest itself, and the chest pendant. Put the vest on him with the vest’s belt. 6 Set the turban on his head and place the holy crown on the turban. 7 Take the anointing oil and pour it on his head to anoint him. 8 Then present his sons and put the tunics on them. 9 Tighten the sashes on them, on both Aaron and his sons. Wrap the turbans on their heads. It will be a permanent regulation that the duties of priesthood belong to them. In this way, you will ordain Aaron and his sons.
10 Present the bull at the front of the meeting tent. Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the bull’s head. 11 Then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the meeting tent’s entrance. 12 Take some of the bull’s blood and smear it on the altar’s horns with your finger. Pour out the rest of the blood at the altar’s base. 13 Then take all the fat that covers the inner organs, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys along with the fat that is on them, and burn them up in smoke on the altar. 14 Burn the rest of the meat of the bull, its hide, and the intestines with their contents with a fire outside the camp. It is a purification offering.
15 Choose one of the rams, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the ram’s head. 16 Then slaughter the ram. Take its blood and throw it against all the altar’s sides. 17 Cut up the ram into parts. Wash its inner organs and legs, and put them together with its parts and its head. 18 Then turn the entire ram into smoke by burning it on the altar. It is an entirely burned offering for the Lord, a soothing smell, a food gift for the Lord.
19 Take the second ram, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the ram’s head. 20 Slaughter the ram. Take some of its blood and smear it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Throw the rest of the blood against all the altar’s sides. 21 Then take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle them on Aaron and on his clothes and on his sons and on his sons’ clothes. In this way, Aaron, his sons, and all their priestly garments will be holy.
22 Take the fatty parts of the ram: the fat tail, the fat around the inner organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat around them, and the right thigh (because it is a ram for ordination). 23 Add one loaf of bread, one flatbread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that was presented to the Lord. 24 Place all of these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and lift them as an uplifted offering in the Lord’s presence. 25 Then take them from their hands and turn them into smoke by burning them on the altar with the entirely burned offering as a soothing smell in the Lord’s presence. It is a food gift for the Lord.
26 Take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination and lift it as an uplifted offering in the Lord’s presence. It will be your portion. 27 Make holy the breast that was lifted for the uplifted offering and the thigh that was raised for the gift offering from the ram for the ordination. They belong to Aaron and his sons. 28 Those parts will be given to Aaron and his sons from the Israelites as a permanent provision, because they are a gift offering. They will be a gift offering from the Israelites, their gift offering to the Lord from their well-being sacrifices.
29 Aaron’s holy clothes should be passed on to his sons after him. His sons should be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 The son who is priest in his place should wear them seven days when he comes into the meeting tent to minister in the sanctuary.
31 Take the ram for the ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons will eat the ram’s meat and the bread that is in the basket at the meeting tent’s entrance. 33 They alone should eat the food that was used to purify them, to ordain them, and to make them holy. No one else should eat it because it is holy. 34 If any meat for the ordination or any of the bread is left over until morning, then you should burn the leftovers with fire. It shouldn’t be eaten because it’s holy.
35 Treat Aaron and his sons just as I have commanded you. Ordain them for seven days. 36 Every day you should offer a bull as a purification offering for reconciliation. You should remove the sin from the altar through a ritual of reconciliation, and you should anoint the altar to make it holy. 37 Seven days you should perform the ritual of reconciliation for the altar and make it holy. In this way, the altar will become most holy, and whatever touches the altar will also become holy.
Instructions for daily entirely burned offerings
38 Now this is what you should offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs regularly every day. 39 Offer one lamb in the morning and offer the other lamb at twilight. 40 With the first lamb, add one-tenth of a measure of the high-quality flour mixed with a quarter of a hin[a] of oil from crushed olives and a quarter of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 With the second lamb offered at twilight, again include a grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning as a soothing smell, a gift offering for the Lord. 42 This should be the regular entirely burned offering in every generation at the meeting tent’s entrance in the Lord’s presence. There I will meet with you, and there I will speak to you. 43 I will meet with the Israelites there, and it will be made holy by my glorious presence. 44 I will make the meeting tent and the altar holy. Likewise, I will make Aaron and his sons holy to serve me as priests. 45 I will be at home among the Israelites, 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 could make a home among them. I am the Lord their God.
Footnotes
- Exodus 29:40 One hin is approximately one gallon.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible