Leviticus 8-11

New American Standard Bible

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(A)Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the ^(B)garments and ^(C)the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread, ³ and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting.” ⁴ So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, ⁵ Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded us to do.”

⁶ Then ^(D)Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and he ^(E)washed them with water. ⁷ Then he ^(F)put the tunic on ^[a]Aaron and wrapped his waist with the sash, and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him; and he wrapped his waist with the artistic band of the ephod, ^[b]with which he fitted it to him. ⁸ He then placed the ^[c]breastpiece on him, and in the ^[d]breastpiece he put the ^[e](G)Urim and the Thummim. ⁹ He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed ^(H)the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁰ Moses then took ^(I)the anointing oil and anointed the ^[f]tabernacle and everything that was in it, and consecrated them. ¹¹ He also sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to ^(J)consecrate them. ¹² Then he poured some of the ^(K)anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him. ^13 (L)Next Moses had Aaron’s sons come near, and he clothed them with tunics and wrapped their waists with sashes, and bound ^[g]caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁴ Then he brought ^(M)the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. ¹⁵ Next ^[h]Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger ^(N)put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. ¹⁶ He also ^(O)took all the fat that was on the entrails and the ^[i]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar. ^17 (P)But the bull and its hide, its flesh, and its refuse he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁸ Then he presented ^(Q)the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹ And ^[j]Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. ²⁰ When he had cut the ram into its pieces, Moses ^(R)offered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke. ²¹ After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses ^(S)offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²² Then he presented the second ram, ^(T)the ram of ^[k]ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ^23 [l]And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and ^(U)put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ He also had Aaron’s sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then ^(V)sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. ²⁵ He then took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the ^[m]lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh. ²⁶ And ^(W)from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh. ²⁷ He then ^(X)put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁸ Then Moses ^(Y)took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for ^(Z)a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the Lord. ²⁹ Moses also took ^(AA)the breast and presented it as a wave offering before the Lord; it was ^(AB)Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁰ So Moses ^(AC)took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “^(AD)Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, ^(AE)saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³² And ^(AF)the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. ³³ And ^(AG)you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ^[n]ordain you through seven days. ³⁴ The Lord has commanded us to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. ³⁵ At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and ^(AH)fulfill your duty to the Lord, so that you will not die; for so I have been commanded.” ³⁶ Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Aaron Offers Sacrifices

9 Now it came about ^(AI)on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; ² and he said to Aaron, “^(AJ)Take for yourself a calf, a bull, as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, both without defect, and offer them before the Lord. ³ Then you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without defect, as a burnt offering, ⁴ and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today ^(AK)the Lord will appear to you.’” ⁵ So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation came near and stood before the Lord. ⁶ And Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, so that ^(AL)the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” ⁷ Moses then said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and ^[o](AM)offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, so that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then make the offering ^[p]for the people, so that you may make atonement for them, just as the Lord has commanded.”

^8 (AN)So Aaron came near to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the sin offering which was for himself. ^9 (AO)Aaron’s sons then presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood and ^(AP)put some on the horns of the altar, and poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ¹⁰ The fat and the kidneys and the ^[q]lobe of the liver of the sin offering he then offered up in smoke on the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^11 (AQ)The flesh and the hide, however, he burned with fire outside the camp.

¹² Then he slaughtered the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar. ¹³ They brought the burnt offering to him in ^[r]pieces, with the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ He also washed the entrails and the legs, and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵ Then he presented the people’s offering, and took the ^(AR)goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and slaughtered it and offered it for sin, like the first. ¹⁶ He also presented the burnt offering, and ^[s]offered it according to ^(AS)the ordinance. ¹⁷ Next he presented ^(AT)the grain offering, and filled his ^[t]hand with some of it and offered it up in smoke on the altar, ^(AU)besides the burnt offering of the morning.

¹⁸ Then ^(AV)he slaughtered the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings which was for the people; and Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar. ¹⁹ As for the portions of fat from the ox and from the ram, the fat tail, the fat ^(AW)covering, the kidneys, and the ^[u]lobe of the liver, ²⁰ they now placed the portions of fat on the breasts; and he offered ^[v]them up in smoke on the altar. ²¹ But ^(AX)the breasts and the right thigh Aaron ^[w]presented as a wave offering before the Lord, just as Moses had commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and ^(AY)blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings. ²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, ^(AZ)the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ^24 (BA)Then fire went out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell ^[x]face downward.

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Now ^(BB)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective ^(BC)firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on ^[y]the fire and offered ^[z]strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ^2 (BD)And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,

So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

⁴ Moses called also to ^(BH)Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to an area outside of the camp.” ⁵ So they came forward and carried them, still in their ^(BI)tunics, to an area outside the camp, just as Moses had said. ⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “^(BJ)Do not ^[ab]uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you do not die and He does not ^(BK)become wrathful against all the congregation. But your ^[ac]kinsmen, the entire house of Israel, shall weep for the burning which the Lord has ^[ad]brought about. ⁷ You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for ^(BL)the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸ The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, ⁹ “^(BM)Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you do not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations— ¹⁰ and ^(BN)to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹ and ^(BO)so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”

¹² Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, ^(BP)Eleazar and Ithamar, “^(BQ)Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire and eat it as unleavened bread beside the altar, for it is most holy. ¹³ You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the Lord’s offerings by fire; for so I have been commanded. ^14 (BR)The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your allotted portion and your sons’ allotted portion from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. ¹⁵ They shall bring ^(BS)the thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ But Moses searched carefully for the ^(BT)goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, ¹⁷ “Why ^(BU)did you not eat the sin offering at the ^[ae]holy place? For it is most holy, and ^[af]He gave it to you to take away ^(BV)the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸ Behold, ^(BW)since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you certainly should have ^(BX)eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded!” ¹⁹ But Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, this very day they ^(BY)presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰ When Moses heard that, it was good in his sight.

Laws about Animals for Food

11 The Lord spoke again to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^(BZ)These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth. ³ Whatever has a divided hoof, showing split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. ⁴ Nevertheless, ^(CA)you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which have a divided hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁵ Likewise, the rock hyrax, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁶ The ^[ag]rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁷ And the pig, for though it has a divided hoof, and so it shows a split hoof, it does not chew cud; it is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘^(CB)These you may eat, of whatever is in the water: everything that has fins and scales, in the water, in the seas, or in the rivers, you may eat. ^10 (CC)But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you, ¹¹ and they shall be detestable to you; you may not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Whatever in the water does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Avoid the Unclean

¹³ ‘Moreover, these ^(CD)you shall detest among the birds; they are detestable, not to be eaten: the ^[ah]eagle, the vulture, and the ^[ai]buzzard, ¹⁴ the red kite, the falcon in its kind, ¹⁵ every raven in its kind, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in its kind, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, and the ^[aj]great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the ^[ak]pelican, and the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, the heron in its kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All the ^[al]winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. ²¹ Yet these you may eat among all the ^[am]winged insects that walk on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to jump on the earth. ²² These of them you may eat: the locust in its kinds, the devastating locust in its kinds, the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds. ²³ But all other ^[an]winged insects which are four-footed are detestable to you.

²⁴ ‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, ²⁵ and ^(CE)whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. ²⁶ As for all the animals which have a divided hoof but do not show a split hoof, or do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷ Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening, ²⁸ and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the ^[ao]great lizard in its kinds, ³⁰ the gecko, the ^[ap]crocodile, the lizard, the ^[aq]sand reptile, and the chameleon. ³¹ These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. ³² Also anything on which one of them may fall when they are dead becomes unclean, including any wooden article, or clothing, or a hide, or a sack—any article ^[ar]of which use is made—^(CF)it shall be put in the water and be unclean until evening, then it becomes clean. ³³ As for any ^(CG)earthenware vessel into which one of them may fall, whatever is in it becomes unclean and you shall break ^[as]the vessel. ³⁴ Any of the ^[at]food which may be eaten, on which water comes, shall become unclean, and any ^[au]liquid which may be drunk in every vessel shall become unclean. ³⁵ Moreover, everything on which part of their carcass may fall becomes unclean; an oven or a ^[av]stove shall be smashed; they are unclean and shall continue as unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern ^[aw]collecting water shall be clean, though the one who touches their carcass shall be unclean. ³⁷ Now if a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean. ³⁸ But if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘Also if one of the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening. ^40 (CH)He, too, who eats some of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and the one who picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ ‘^(CI)Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable, not to be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet, in regard to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, because they are detestable. ^43 (CJ)Do not make ^[ax]yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean. ⁴⁴ For ^(CK)I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and ^(CL)be holy, because I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. ^45 (CM)For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; so ^(CN)you shall be holy, because I am holy.’”

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ^47 (CO)to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.