God Destroys Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their ·pans for burning incense [censers; firepans], put fire in them, and added incense; ·but they did not use the special fire Moses had commanded them to use in the presence of the Lord [^Land they offered unholy/illicit/^Lstrange fire such as he had not commanded them; ^Cthey failed, in some unknown way, to follow strict ritual protocol]. ² So fire came down from the Lord and ·destroyed [consumed] Nadab and Abihu, and they died in front of the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord was speaking about when he said,

So Aaron did not say anything about the death of his sons.

⁴ Aaron’s uncle Uzziel had two sons named Mishael and Elzaphan. Moses said to them, “Come here and pick up your cousins’ bodies. Carry them outside the camp away from the front of the ·Holy Place [sanctuary].” ⁵ So Mishael and Elzaphan obeyed Moses and carried the bodies of Nadab and Abihu, still clothed in the special priest’s inner robes [Ex. 28:39–43], outside the camp.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his other sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Don’t show sadness by tearing your clothes or leaving your hair uncombed. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with all the ·people [community; congregation; assembly]. All the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel, your relatives, may cry loudly about the Lord burning Nadab and Abihu, ⁷ but you must not even leave the Meeting Tent. If you go out of the entrance, you will die, because the ·Lord has appointed you to his service [^Lanointing oil of the Lord is on you].” So Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar obeyed Moses.