The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons^(A)

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of my presence and bring the priestly garments, the anointing oil, the young bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. ³ Then call the whole community together there.”

⁴ Moses did as the Lord had commanded, and when the community had assembled, ⁵ he said to them, “What I am now about to do is what the Lord has commanded.”

⁶ Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and had them take a ritual bath. ⁷ He put the shirt and the robe on Aaron and the sash around his waist. He put the ephod^[a] on him and fastened it by putting its finely woven belt around his waist. ⁸ He put the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim^[b] in it. ⁹ He placed the turban on his head, and on the front of it he put the gold ornament, the sacred sign of dedication, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil and put it on the Tent of the Lord's presence and everything that was in it, and in this way he dedicated it all to the Lord. ¹¹ He took some of the oil and sprinkled it seven times on the altar and its equipment and on the basin and its base, in order to dedicate them to the Lord. ¹² He ordained Aaron by pouring some of the anointing oil on his head. ¹³ Next, Moses brought the sons of Aaron forward and put shirts on them, put sashes around their waists, and tied caps on their heads, just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁴ Then Moses brought the young bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁵ Moses killed it and took some of the blood, and with his finger put it on the projections at the corners of the altar, in order to dedicate it. He then poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. In this way he dedicated it and purified it. ¹⁶ Moses took all the fat on the internal organs, the best part of the liver, and the kidneys with the fat on them, and burned it all on the altar. ¹⁷ He took the rest of the bull, including its skin, flesh, and intestines, and burned it outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁸ Next, Moses brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁹ Moses killed it and threw the blood on all four sides of the altar. ^20-21 He cut the ram in pieces, washed the internal organs and the hind legs with water, and burned the head, the fat, and all the rest of the ram on the altar, just as the Lord had commanded. This burnt offering was a food offering, and its odor was pleasing to the Lord.

²² Then Moses brought the second ram, which was for the ordination of priests, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ²³ Moses killed it and took some of the blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Then he brought Aaron's sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Moses then threw the rest of the blood on all four sides of the altar. ²⁵ He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat covering the internal organs, the best part of the liver, the kidneys with the fat on them, and the right hind leg. ²⁶ Then he took one loaf of bread from the basket of unleavened bread dedicated to the Lord, one loaf made with oil, and one thin cake, and he put them on top of the fat and the right hind leg. ²⁷ He put all of this food in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they presented it as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸ Then Moses took the food from them and burned it on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as an ordination offering. This was a food offering, and its odor was pleasing to the Lord. ²⁹ Then Moses took the breast and presented it as a special gift to the Lord. It was Moses' part of the ordination ram. Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded.

³⁰ Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his sons and on their clothes. In this way he consecrated them and their clothes to the Lord.

³¹ Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Take the meat to the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence, boil it, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, just as the Lord commanded. ³² Burn up any meat or bread that is left over. ³³ You shall not leave the entrance of the Tent for seven days, until your ordination rites are completed. ³⁴ The Lord commanded us to do what we have done today, in order to take away your sin. ³⁵ You must stay at the entrance of the Tent day and night for seven days, doing what the Lord has commanded. If you don't, you will die. This is what the Lord has commanded me.” ³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Aaron Offers Sacrifices

9 The day after the ordination rites were completed, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. ² He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull and a ram without any defects and offer them to the Lord, the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering. ³ Then tell the people of Israel to take a male goat for a sin offering, a one-year-old calf, and a one-year-old lamb without any defects for a burnt offering, ⁴ and a bull and a ram for a fellowship offering. They are to sacrifice them to the Lord with the grain offering mixed with oil. They must do this because the Lord will appear to them today.”

⁵ They brought to the front of the Tent everything that Moses had commanded, and the whole community assembled there to worship the Lord. ⁶ Moses said, “The Lord has commanded you to do all this, so that the dazzling light of his presence can appear to you.” ^7 (B)Then he said to Aaron, “Go to the altar and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering to take away your sins and the sins of the people. Present this offering to take away the sins of the people, just as the Lord commanded.”

⁸ Aaron went to the altar and killed the young bull which was for his own sin offering. ⁹ His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it, put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and poured out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ¹⁰ Then he burned on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the best part of the liver, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹ But he burned the meat and the skin outside the camp.

¹² He killed the animal which was for his own burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ¹³ They handed him the head and the other pieces of the animal, and he burned them on the altar. ¹⁴ Then he washed the internal organs and the hind legs and burned them on the altar on top of the rest of the burnt offering.

¹⁵ After that, he presented the people's offerings. He took the goat that was to be offered for the people's sins, killed it, and offered it, as he had done with his own sin offering. ¹⁶ He also brought the animal for the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. ¹⁷ He presented the grain offering and took a handful of flour and burned it on the altar. (This was in addition to the daily burnt offering.) ^18 (C)He killed the bull and the ram as a fellowship offering for the people. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ¹⁹ Aaron put the fat parts of the bull and the ram ²⁰ on top of the breasts of the animals and carried it all to the altar. He burned the fat on the altar ²¹ and presented the breasts and the right hind legs as the special gift to the Lord for the priests, as Moses had commanded.

^22 (D)When Aaron had finished all the sacrifices, he raised his hands over the people and blessed them, and then stepped down. ²³ Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Suddenly the Lord sent a fire, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they all shouted and bowed down with their faces to the ground.

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the Lord. But this fire was not holy, because the Lord had not commanded them to present it. ² Suddenly the Lord sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said, ‘All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.’”^[c] But Aaron remained silent.

⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, “Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp.” ⁵ So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent. ⁷ Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the Lord.” So they did as Moses said.

Rules for Priests

⁸ The Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. ¹⁰ You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. ¹¹ You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses.”

^12 (E)Moses said to Aaron and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the food offered to the Lord, make unleavened bread with it and eat it beside the altar, because this offering is very holy. ¹³ Eat it in a holy place; it is the part that belongs to you and your sons from the food offered to the Lord. That is what the Lord commanded me. ^14 (F)But you and your families may eat the breast and the hind leg that are presented as the special gift and the special contribution to the Lord for the priests. You may eat them in any ritually clean place. These offerings have been given to you and your children as the part that belongs to you from the fellowship offerings of the people of Israel. ¹⁵ They shall bring the hind leg and the breast at the time the fat is presented as a food offering to the Lord. These parts belong to you and your children forever, just as the Lord commanded.”

¹⁶ Moses asked about the goat for the sin offering and learned that it had already been burned. This made him angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, and he demanded, ^17 (G)“Why didn't you eat the sin offering in a sacred place? It is very holy, and the Lord has given it to you in order to take away the sin of the community. ¹⁸ Since its blood was not brought into the sacred Tent, you should have eaten the sacrifice there, as I commanded.”

¹⁹ Aaron answered, “If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved? The people presented their sin offering to the Lord today, and they brought their burnt offering, but still these terrible things have happened to me.” ²⁰ When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.