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.