Exodus 29
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition
The Ordination of the Priests
29 Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. You shall make them of choice wheat flour. 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. 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; 6 and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy diadem on the turban. 7 You shall take the anointing-oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them, 9 and you shall gird them with sashes[a] and tie head-dresses on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs by a perpetual ordinance. You shall then ordain Aaron and his sons.
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, 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. 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. 14 But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin-offering.
15 Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 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 whole ram into smoke on the altar; it is a burnt-offering to the Lord; it is a pleasing odour, an offering by fire to the Lord.
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.
22 You shall also take the fat of the ram, the fat-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; 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. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands, and turn them into smoke on the altar on top of the burnt-offering of pleasing odour before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
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. 27 You shall consecrate the breast that was raised as an elevation-offering and the thigh that was raised as an elevation-offering from the ram of ordination, from that which belonged to Aaron and his sons. 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.
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. 30 The son who is priest in his place shall wear them for seven days, when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
31 You shall take the ram of ordination, and boil its flesh in a holy place; 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. 33 They themselves shall eat the food by which atonement is made, to ordain and consecrate them, but no one else shall eat of them, because they are holy. 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.
35 Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, just as I have commanded you; over seven days you shall ordain them. 36 Also every day you shall offer a bull as a sin-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. 37 For 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.
The Daily Offerings
38 Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old regularly each day. 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 odour, an offering by fire 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 you, to speak to you there. 43 I will meet the Israelites there, and it shall be sanctified by my glory; 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate, to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the Israelites, and I will be their God. 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.
Footnotes
- Exodus 29:9 Gk: Heb sashes, Aaron and his sons
Exodus 29
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 29
Consecration of the Priests. 1 “You shall observe this rite to consecrate them as my priests: Take a bull and two rams without defect, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers with oil spread on them. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 Put them in one basket and bring them and offer them together with the young bull and the two rams.
4 “Then have Aaron and his sons approach the entrance to the meeting tent and wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and clothe Aaron in the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate. Wrap the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him. 6 Place the turban on his head and put the holy crown over the turban. 7 Then pour the anointing oil on his head and anoint him.
8 “As for his sons, make them draw near and clothe them in their tunics, 9 wrap their sashes around them, and tie their caps on them. They will participate in the priesthood by an eternal statute. This is how you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10 The Offering of the Sacrifices.“Then have the young bull brought in front of the meeting tent. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 11 Kill the bull before the Lord, at the entrance to the meeting tent. 12 Take part of its blood and with a finger put it on the horns of the altar. The rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar.
13 “Take the fat that surrounds its entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that surrounds them, and burn them as a sacrifice on the altar. 14 But the meat of the bull, its skin and its dung, you must burn outside the camp. It is a sin offering.
15 “Then take one of the rams. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 16 Kill the ram and gather its blood and pour it around the altar. 17 Cut the ram into pieces. Wash the entrails and the legs and put them with the pieces and the head. 18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a pleasing fragrance[a] to the Lord, a burnt offering to the Lord.
19 “Take the second ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head, 20 and you shall kill it. Take part of its blood and place it on the right ear lobe of Aaron and the right ear lobes of his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then pour out the blood around the altar. 21 Take some of the blood on the altar and some anointing oil and sprinkle Aaron and his vestments, the sons of Aaron and their vestments. Thus, he shall be consecrated with his vestments together with his sons and their vestments.
22 “Take the fat of the ram: the tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh, for it is a ram of consecration. 23 Also take a round loaf of bread, a cake of bread mixed with oil, and an unleavened wafer from the basket of unleavened breads placed before the altar. 24 Put all of it into the hands of Aaron and the hands of his sons. They shall wave it as an offering before the Lord.[b] 25 Take everything from their hands and burn it on the altar. It shall be a pleasant fragrance to the Lord, a burnt offering to the Lord.
26 “Take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as an offering before the Lord. It shall be your portion. 27 Consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the offering and wave it. It is offered from the ram of the consecration, and it is for Aaron and his sons. 28 It is to belong to Aaron and his sons as the portion reserved to them. This shall be an eternal statute for the children of Israel. It will be the priests’ portion to be offered by the children of Israel from their peace offerings, an offering unto the Lord.
29 The Transmission of the Sacred Vestments.“The sacred vestments of Aaron shall belong to his sons after him. They shall be anointed and consecrated in them. 30 Those descendants of Aaron who succeed him in the priesthood and who enter into the meeting tent to minister in the sanctuary shall wear these vestments for seven days.
31 The Sacred Food of the Priests.“Take the ram of consecration and cook its meat in a holy place. 32 At the entrance to the meeting tent, Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread of the basket. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was obtained. No outsider can eat them, for they are holy things. 34 If any of the meat of consecration or the bread is left over in the morning, you shall burn whatever is left over with fire; it shall not be eaten, for it is holy. 35 Do to Aaron and to his sons what I have commanded you to do. For seven days you shall consecrate them.
36 The Consecrated Altar and the Daily Sacrifice.“For each of seven days you shall offer a young bull as a sin offering for atonement. You shall also make a sin offering for the atonement for the altar, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. It shall thus become a most holy thing, and whatever touches the altar will become holy.[c]
38 “Now this is what you shall offer up on the altar every day and forever: two lambs, a year old. 39 You shall offer one of these lambs in the morning and the second lamb in the evening. 40 With the first lamb you shall offer a tenth of a measure of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of olive oil and a fourth of a hin of wine as a libation. 41 Offer the second lamb in the evening with the same offering and libation as in the morning. It will be a pleasant fragrance to the Lord, a burnt offering to the Lord.
42 “It shall be a perpetual burnt offering throughout all your generations at the entrance to the meeting tent, in the presence of the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.
43 “I will meet with the children of Israel in this place that will be consecrated to my glory. 44 I will consecrate the meeting tent and the altar. I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to be my priests. 45 I will live in the midst of the children of Israel and I will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am the Lord, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I, the Lord, their God, might live in their midst.
Footnotes
- Exodus 29:18 A pleasing fragrance: an anthropomorphism expressing the idea that the Lord accepts the sacrifice (see Gen 8:21; Lev 1:9; Num 28:2). Burnt offering: a sacrifice in which the entire animal is burned.
- Exodus 29:24 See Lev 7:30. The object sacrificed was several times passed over the altar and then drawn back, in order to express the idea of an offering being made to God.
- Exodus 29:37 Just as those who ministered had to be cleansed and make atonement before offering worship, so too, the altar must be sanctified so that anything that touched it was holy.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
