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)
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Exodus 29
New Living Translation
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. 2 Then, using choice wheat flour and no yeast, make loaves of bread, thin cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers spread with oil. 3 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.
4 “Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle,[a] and wash them with water. 5 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. 6 Place the turban on his head, and fasten the sacred medallion to the turban. 7 Then anoint him by pouring the anointing oil over his head. 8 Next present his sons, and dress them in their tunics. 9 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 29:4 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 29:10, 11, 30, 32, 42, 44.
- 29:33 Or their atonement.
- 29:36a Or to make atonement.
- 29:36b Or by making atonement for it; similarly in 29:37.
- 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.
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.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
