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The Rites of Ordination

8The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²Take Aaron and his sons with him, the vestments, the anointing-oil, the bull of sin-offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; ³and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁴And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ⁵Moses said to the congregation, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.’

6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward, and washed them with water. ⁷He put the tunic on him, fastened the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He then put the decorated band of the ephod around him, tying the ephod to him with it. ⁸He placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. ⁹And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden ornament, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.

10 Then Moses took the anointing-oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. ¹¹He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its base, to consecrate them. ¹²He poured some of the anointing-oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him. ¹³And Moses brought forward Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with tunics, and fastened sashes around them, and tied head-dresses on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.

14 He led forward the bull of sin-offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bull of sin-offering, ¹⁵and it was slaughtered. Moses took the blood and with his finger put some on each of the horns of the altar, purifying the altar; then he poured out the blood at the base of the altar. Thus he consecrated it, to make atonement for it. ¹⁶Moses took all the fat that was around the entrails, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and turned them into smoke on the altar. ¹⁷But the bull itself, its skin and flesh and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.

18 Then he brought forward the ram of burnt-offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, ¹⁹and it was slaughtered. Moses dashed the blood against all sides of the altar. ²⁰The ram was cut into its parts, and Moses turned into smoke the head and the parts and the suet. ²¹And after the entrails and the legs were washed with water, Moses turned into smoke the whole ram on the altar; it was a burnt-offering for a pleasing odour, an offering by fire to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

22 Then he brought forward the second ram, the ram of ordination. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, ²³and it was slaughtered. Moses took some of its blood and 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. ²⁴After Aaron’s sons were brought forward, Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet; and Moses dashed the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. ²⁵He took the fat—the broad tail, all the fat that was around the entrails, the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat—and the right thigh. ²⁶From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of bread with oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. ²⁷He placed all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and raised them as an elevation-offering before the Lord. ²⁸Then Moses took them from their hands and turned them into smoke on the altar with the burnt-offering. This was an ordination-offering for a pleasing odour, an offering by fire to the Lord. ²⁹Moses took the breast and raised it as an elevation-offering before the Lord; it was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord commanded Moses.

30 Then Moses took some of the anointing-oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his vestments, and also on his sons and their vestments. Thus he consecrated Aaron and his vestments, and also his sons and their vestments.

31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, ‘Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination-offerings, as I was commanded, “Aaron and his sons shall eat it”; ³²and what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn with fire. ³³You shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day when your period of ordination is completed. For it will take seven days to ordain you; ³⁴as has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. ³⁵You shall remain at the entrance of the tent of meeting day and night for seven days, keeping the Lord’s charge so that you do not die; for so I am commanded.’ ³⁶Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded through Moses.

Aaron’s Priesthood Inaugurated

9On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ²He said to Aaron, ‘Take a bull calf for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt-offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. ³And say to the people of Israel, “Take a male goat for a sin-offering; a calf and a lamb, yearlings without blemish, for a burnt-offering; ⁴and an ox and a ram for an offering of well-being to sacrifice before the Lord; and a grain-offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.” ’ ⁵They brought what Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting; and the whole congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. ⁶And Moses said, ‘This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.’ ⁷Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Draw near to the altar and sacrifice your sin-offering and your burnt-offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and sacrifice the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as the Lord has commanded.’

8 Aaron drew near to the altar, and slaughtered the calf of the sin-offering, which was for himself. ⁹The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. ¹⁰But the fat, the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver from the sin-offering he turned into smoke on the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses; ¹¹and the flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp.

12 Then he slaughtered the burnt-offering. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he dashed it against all sides of the altar. ¹³And they brought him the burnt-offering piece by piece, and the head, which he turned into smoke on the altar. ¹⁴He washed the entrails and the legs and, with the burnt-offering, turned them into smoke on the altar.

15 Next he presented the people’s offering. He took the goat of the sin-offering that was for the people, and slaughtered it, and presented it as a sin-offering like the first one. ¹⁶He presented the burnt-offering, and sacrificed it according to regulation. ¹⁷He presented the grain-offering, and, taking a handful of it, he turned it into smoke on the altar, in addition to the burnt-offering of the morning.

18 He slaughtered the ox and the ram as a sacrifice of well-being for the people. Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, which he dashed against all sides of the altar, ¹⁹and the fat of the ox and of the ram—the broad tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat on them,^* and the appendage of the liver. ²⁰They first laid the fat on the breasts, and the fat was turned into smoke on the altar; ²¹and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron raised as an elevation-offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

22 Aaron lifted his hands towards the people and blessed them; and he came down after sacrificing the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, and the offering of well-being. ²³Moses and Aaron entered the tent of meeting, and then came out and blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ²⁴Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt-offering and the fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

Nadab and Abihu

10Now Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his censer, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered unholy fire before the Lord, such as he had not commanded them. ²And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord meant when he said,
“Through those who are near me
   I will show myself holy,
and before all the people
   I will be glorified.” ’
And Aaron was silent.

4 Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, ‘Come forward, and carry your kinsmen away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.’ ⁵They came forward and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had ordered. ⁶And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘Do not dishevel your hair, and do not tear your vestments, or you will die and wrath will strike all the congregation; but your kindred, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning that the Lord has sent. ⁷You shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the anointing-oil of the Lord is on you.’ And they did as Moses had ordered.

8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron: ⁹Drink no wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons, when you enter the tent of meeting, that you may not die; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations. ¹⁰You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; ¹¹and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.

12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: Take the grain-offering that is left from the Lord’s offerings by fire, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy; ¹³you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the offerings by fire to the Lord; for so I am commanded. ¹⁴But the breast that is elevated and the thigh that is raised, you and your sons and daughters as well may eat in any clean place; for they have been assigned to you and your children from the sacrifices of the offerings of well-being of the people of Israel. ¹⁵The thigh that is raised and the breast that is elevated they shall bring, together with the offerings by fire of the fat, to raise for an elevation-offering before the Lord; they are to be your due and that of your children for ever, as the Lord has commanded.

16 Then Moses made inquiry about the goat of the sin-offering, and—it had already been burned! He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and said, ¹⁷‘Why did you not eat the sin-offering in the sacred area? For it is most holy, and God^* has given it to you that you may remove the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord. ¹⁸Its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.’ ¹⁹And Aaron spoke to Moses, ‘See, today they offered their sin-offering and their burnt-offering before the Lord; and yet such things as these have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin-offering today, would it have been agreeable to the Lord?’ ²⁰And when Moses heard that, he agreed.