Ordination of the Priests

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Bring Aaron and his sons, along with their sacred garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of bread made without yeast, ³ and call the entire community of Israel together at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[a]”

⁴ So Moses followed the Lord’s instructions, and the whole community assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. ⁵ Moses announced to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded us to do!” ⁶ Then he presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. ⁷ He put the official tunic on Aaron and tied the sash around his waist. He dressed him in the robe, placed the ephod on him, and attached the ephod securely with its decorative sash. ⁸ Then Moses placed the chestpiece on Aaron and put the Urim and the Thummim inside it. ⁹ He placed the turban on Aaron’s head and attached the gold medallion—the badge of holiness—to the front of the turban, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and everything in it, making them holy. ¹¹ He sprinkled the oil on the altar seven times, anointing it and all its utensils, as well as the washbasin and its stand, making them holy. ¹² Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, anointing him and making him holy for his work. ¹³ Next Moses presented Aaron’s sons. He clothed them in their tunics, tied their sashes around them, and put their special head coverings on them, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁴ Then Moses presented the bull for the sin offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the bull’s head, ¹⁵ and Moses slaughtered it. Moses took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on the four horns of the altar to purify it. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Through this process, he made the altar holy by purifying it.^{[b] 16} Then Moses took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, and he burned it all on the altar. ¹⁷ He took the rest of the bull, including its hide, meat, and dung, and burned it on a fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁸ Then Moses presented the ram for the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head, ¹⁹ and Moses slaughtered it. Then Moses took the ram’s blood and splattered it against all sides of the altar. ²⁰ Then he cut the ram into pieces, and he burned the head, some of its pieces, and the fat on the altar. ²¹ After washing the internal organs and the legs with water, Moses burned the entire ram on the altar as a burnt offering. It was a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.

²² Then Moses presented the other ram, which was the ram of ordination. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head, ²³ and Moses slaughtered it. Then Moses took some of its blood and applied it to the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Next Moses presented Aaron’s sons and applied some of the blood to the lobes of their right ears, the thumbs of their right hands, and the big toes of their right feet. He then splattered the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar.

²⁵ Next Moses took the fat, 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. ²⁶ On top of these he placed a thin cake of bread made without yeast, a cake of bread mixed with olive oil, and a wafer spread with olive oil. All these were taken from the basket of bread made without yeast that was placed in the Lord’s presence. ²⁷ He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and he lifted these gifts as a special offering to the Lord. ²⁸ Moses then took all the offerings back from them and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering. This was the ordination offering. It was a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord. ²⁹ Then Moses took the breast and lifted it up as a special offering to the Lord. This was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, just as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁰ Next Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar, and he sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. In this way, he made Aaron and his sons and their garments holy.

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the remaining meat of the offerings at the Tabernacle entrance, and eat it there, along with the bread that is in the basket of offerings for the ordination, just as I commanded when I said, ‘Aaron and his sons will eat it.’ ³² Any meat or bread that is left over must then be burned up. ³³ You must not leave the Tabernacle entrance for seven days, for that is when the ordination ceremony will be completed. ³⁴ Everything we have done today was commanded by the Lord in order to purify you, making you right with him.^{[c] 35} Now stay at the entrance of the Tabernacle day and night for seven days, and do everything the Lord requires. If you fail to do this, you will die, for this is what the Lord has commanded.” ³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.

The Priests Begin Their Work

9 After the ordination ceremony, on the eighth day, Moses called together Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ² He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without defects, and present them to the Lord. ³ Then tell the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and take a calf and a lamb, both a year old and without defects, for a burnt offering. ⁴ Also take a bull^[d] and a ram for a peace offering and flour moistened with olive oil for a grain offering. Present all these offerings to the Lord because the Lord will appear to you today.’”

⁵ So the people presented all these things at the entrance of the Tabernacle,^[e] just as Moses had commanded. Then the whole community came forward and stood before the Lord. ⁶ And Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

⁷ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering to purify yourself and the people. Then present the offerings of the people to purify them, making them right with the Lord,^[f] just as he has commanded.”

⁸ So Aaron went to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself. ⁹ His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it and put it on the horns of the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ¹⁰ Then he burned on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹ The meat and the hide, however, he burned outside the camp.

¹² Next Aaron slaughtered the animal for the burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against all sides of the altar. ¹³ Then they handed him each piece of the burnt offering, including the head, and he burned them on the altar. ¹⁴ Then he washed the internal organs and the legs and burned them on the altar along with the rest of the burnt offering.

¹⁵ Next Aaron presented the offerings of the people. He slaughtered the people’s goat and presented it as an offering for their sin, just as he had first done with the offering for his own sin. ¹⁶ Then he presented the burnt offering and sacrificed it in the prescribed way. ¹⁷ He also presented the grain offering, burning a handful of the flour mixture on the altar, in addition to the regular burnt offering for the morning.

¹⁸ Then Aaron slaughtered the bull and the ram for the people’s peace offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against all sides of the altar. ¹⁹ Then he took the fat of the bull and the ram—the fat of the broad tail and from around the internal organs—along with the kidneys and the long lobes of the livers. ²⁰ He placed these fat portions on top of the breasts of these animals and burned them on the altar. ²¹ Aaron then lifted up the breasts and right thighs as a special offering to the Lord, just as Moses had commanded.

²² After that, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then, after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down from the altar. ²³ Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. ²⁴ Fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. ² So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when he said,

And Aaron was silent.

⁴ Then Moses called for Mishael and Elzaphan, Aaron’s cousins, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel. He said to them, “Come forward and carry away the bodies of your relatives from in front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” ⁵ So they came forward and picked them up by their garments and carried them out of the camp, just as Moses had commanded.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not show grief by leaving your hair uncombed^[g] or by tearing your clothes. If you do, you will die, and the Lord’s anger will strike the whole community of Israel. However, the rest of the Israelites, your relatives, may mourn because of the Lord’s fiery destruction of Nadab and Abihu. ⁷ But you must not leave the entrance of the Tabernacle^[h] or you will die, for you have been anointed with the Lord’s anointing oil.” So they did as Moses commanded.

Instructions for Priestly Conduct

⁸ Then the Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “You and your descendants must never drink wine or any other alcoholic drink before going into the Tabernacle. If you do, you will die. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation. ¹⁰ You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean. ¹¹ And you must teach the Israelites all the decrees that the Lord has given them through Moses.”

¹² Then Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take what is left of the grain offering after a portion has been presented as a special gift to the Lord, and eat it beside the altar. Make sure it contains no yeast, for it is most holy. ¹³ You must eat it in a sacred place, for it has been given to you and your descendants as your portion of the special gifts presented to the Lord. These are the commands I have been given. ¹⁴ But the breast and thigh that were lifted up as a special offering may be eaten in any place that is ceremonially clean. These parts have been given to you and your descendants as your portion of the peace offerings presented by the people of Israel. ¹⁵ You must lift up the thigh and breast as a special offering to the Lord, along with the fat of the special gifts. These parts will belong to you and your descendants as your permanent right, just as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ Moses then asked them what had happened to the goat of the sin offering. When he discovered it had been burned up, he became very angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons. ¹⁷ “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sacred area?” he demanded. “It is a holy offering! The Lord has given it to you to remove the guilt of the community and to purify the people, making them right with the Lord.^{[i] 18} Since the animal’s blood was not brought into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the meat in the sacred area as I ordered you.”

¹⁹ Then Aaron answered Moses, “Today my sons presented both their sin offering and their burnt offering to the Lord. And yet this tragedy has happened to me. If I had eaten the people’s sin offering on such a tragic day as this, would the Lord have been pleased?” ²⁰ And when Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

Ceremonially Clean and Unclean Animals

11 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. ³ You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. ⁴ You may not, however, eat the following animals^[j] that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵ The hyrax^[k] chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. ⁶ The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. ⁷ The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. ⁸ You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

⁹ “Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams. ¹⁰ But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water. ¹¹ They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. ¹² Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³ “These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the kite, falcons of all kinds, ¹⁵ ravens of all kinds, ¹⁶ the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the barn owl, the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ “You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you. ²¹ You may, however, eat winged insects that walk along the ground and have jointed legs so they can jump. ²² The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. ²³ All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.

²⁴ “The following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean. If any of you touch their carcasses, you will be defiled until evening. ²⁵ If you pick up their carcasses, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.

²⁶ “Any animal that has split hooves that are not evenly divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled. ²⁷ Of the animals that walk on all fours, those that have paws are unclean. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. ²⁸ If you pick up its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening. These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹ “Of the small animals that scurry along the ground, these are unclean for you: the mole rat, the rat, large lizards of all kinds, ³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹ All these small animals are unclean for you. If any of you touch the dead body of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. ³² If such an animal dies and falls on something, that object will be unclean. This is true whether the object is made of wood, cloth, leather, or burlap. Whatever its use, you must dip it in water, and it will remain defiled until evening. After that, it will be ceremonially clean and may be used again.

³³ “If such an animal falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot will be defiled, and the pot must be smashed. ³⁴ If the water from such a container spills on any food, the food will be defiled. And any beverage in such a container will be defiled. ³⁵ Any object on which the carcass of such an animal falls will be defiled. If it is an oven or hearth, it must be destroyed, for it is defiled, and you must treat it accordingly.

³⁶ “However, if the carcass of such an animal falls into a spring or a cistern, the water will still be clean. But anyone who touches the carcass will be defiled. ³⁷ If the carcass falls on seed grain to be planted in the field, the seed will still be considered clean. ³⁸ But if the seed is wet when the carcass falls on it, the seed will be defiled.

³⁹ “If an animal you are permitted to eat dies and you touch its carcass, you will be defiled until evening. ⁴⁰ If you eat any of its meat or carry away its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.

⁴¹ “All small animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them. ⁴² This includes all animals that slither along on their bellies, as well as those with four legs and those with many feet. All such animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them. ⁴³ Do not defile yourselves by touching them. You must not make yourselves ceremonially unclean because of them. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground. ⁴⁵ For I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.

⁴⁶ “These are the instructions regarding land animals, birds, marine creatures, and animals that scurry along the ground. ⁴⁷ By these instructions you will know what is unclean and clean, and which animals may be eaten and which may not be eaten.”