Exodus 29

Make Aaron and His Sons Priests—Leviticus 8:1–36

1 The Lord continued, “Now, this is what you must do in order to set Aaron and his sons apart to serve me as priests:“Take a young bull that has no defects and two rams that have no defects.2 Use the finest wheat flour, but no yeast, and bake some loaves of bread, some rings of bread made with olive oil, and some wafers brushed with olive oil.

3 Put the bread in a basket, and bring the basket along with the young bull and the two rams.
4 “Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and wash them.5 Take the clothes, and put them on Aaron—the linen robe, the ephod and the robe that is worn with it, and the breastplate. Use the belt to tie it on him tightly.6 Put his turban on him, and fasten the holy crown to it.

7 Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him.
8 “Have his sons come forward. Dress them in their linen robes,

9 and put turbans on them. Tie belts around the waists of Aaron and his sons. They alone are to be priests; this is a permanent law. In this way you will ordain Aaron and his sons.
10 “Then bring the young bull to the front of the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons will place their hands on its head.11 Slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

12 Take some of the bull’s blood, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger. Pour the rest of it out at the bottom of the altar.
13 “Then take all the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

14 But burn the bull’s meat, skin, and excrement outside the camp. It is an offering for sin.
15 “Take one of the rams. Then Aaron and his sons will place their hands on its head.16 Slaughter it, take the blood, and throw it against the altar on all sides.17 Cut the ram into pieces, wash the internal organs and legs, and put them with the other pieces and the head.

18 Then burn the whole ram on the altar. It’s a burnt offering, a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
19 “Take the other ram. Then Aaron and his sons will place their hands on its head.20 Slaughter it, take some of the blood, and put it on the right ear lobes of Aaron and his sons, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet. Throw the rest of the blood against the altar on all sides.

21 Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes and on his sons and their clothes. In this way Aaron, his sons, and their clothes will be holy.
22 “From this same ram take the fat, the fat from the tail, the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This is the ram for the ordination.)23 From the basket of unleavened bread which is in the Lord’s presence, take a round loaf of bread, a ring of bread made with olive oil, and a wafer.24 Put all of these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, who will offer them to the Lord.

25 Then take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering. It’s a soothing aroma in the Lord’s presence, an offering by fire to the Lord.
26 “Take the breast from the ram used for Aaron’s ordination, and present it to the Lord. This will be your share.27 Set apart as holy the breast that is offered to the Lord and the thigh that is the contribution. Both will come from the ram used for the ordination. They both belong to Aaron and his sons.

28 It is a permanent law that the Israelites give this portion to Aaron and his sons as a contribution. This will also be their contribution to the Lord from the fellowship offerings.
29 “Aaron’s holy clothes will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.

30 The son who succeeds him as priest—the one who goes into the tent of meeting to serve in the holy place—will wear them for seven days.
31 “Take the ram used for the ordination, and boil its meat in a holy place.32 At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons will eat the meat of the ram and the bread left in the basket.33 They will eat those offerings through which they made peace with the Lord at their ordination and installation. No one else may eat them because the offerings are holy.

34 If any meat or bread from the ordination is left over until morning, burn it up. It must not be eaten because it is holy.
35 “Do this with Aaron and his sons exactly as I have commanded you. Take seven days to ordain them.36 Each day sacrifice a young bull as an offering to make peace with the Lord. Sacrifice this offering for sin on the altar in order to pay for its sins. Then anoint it with olive oil in order to dedicate it.

37 For seven days at the altar make peace with the Lord and set the altar apart for its holy purpose. Then the altar will be most holy. Anything that touches the altar will become holy.
38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly every day: two one-year-old lambs.39 Offer one in the morning and the other at dusk.40 With the first lamb make an offering of eight cups of flour mixed with one quart of virgin olive oil. Make a wine offering of one quart of wine.

41 Offer the other lamb at dusk, and with it make the same grain offering and wine offering as in the morning. This is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
42 “For generations to come this will be the daily burnt offering made in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. There I will meet with you to speak to you.43 I will also meet with the Israelites there, and my glory will make this place holy.

44 I will dedicate the tent of meeting and the altar for their holy purposes. I will set Aaron and his sons apart for their holy duties of serving me as priests.
45 “Then I will live among the Israelites and be their God.

46 They will know that I am the Lord their God. I brought them out of Egypt so that I might live among them. I am the Lord their God.”

Exodus 29

Instructions for ordaining priests

(Leviticus 8.1-36)

The Lord said to Moses:

1 When you ordain one of Aaron's sons as my priest, choose a young bull and two rams that have nothing wrong with them. 2 Then from your finest flour make three batches of dough without yeast. Shape some of it into larger loaves, some into smaller loaves mixed with olive oil, and the rest into thin wafers brushed with oil.

3 Put all this bread in a basket and bring it when you come to sacrifice the three animals to me.
4 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the sacred tent and make them wash themselves. 5 Dress Aaron in the priestly shirt, the robe that goes under the sacred apron, the apron itself, the breastpiece, and the sash. 6 Put on his turban with its narrow strip of engraved gold

7 and then ordain him by pouring olive oil on his head.
8 Next, dress Aaron's sons in their special shirts

9 and caps and their sashes,t then ordain them, because they and their descendants will always be priests.
10 Lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head. 11 Kill the bull near my altar in front of the tent. 12 Use a finger to smear some of its blood on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest of the blood on the ground next to the altar. 13 Then take the fat from the animal's insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and send them up in smoke on the altar.

14 But the meat, the skin, and the food still in the bull's stomach must be burnt outside the camp as an offering to ask forgiveness for the sins of the priests.t
15 Bring one of the rams to Aaron and his sons and make them lay their hands on its head. 16 Kill the ram and splatter its blood against all four sides of the altar. 17 Cut up the ram, wash its insides and legs, and lay all its parts on the altar, including the head.

18 Then make sure that the whole animal goes up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.t
19 Bring the other ram to Aaron and his sons and make them lay their hands on its head. 20 Kill the ram and place some of its blood on Aaron's right ear lobe, his right thumb, and the big toe of his right foot. Do the same for each of his sons and splatter the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar.

21 Then take some of the blood from the altar, mix it with the oil used for ordination, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and also on his sons and their clothes. This will show that they and their clothes have been dedicated to me.
22 This ram is part of the ordination service. So remove its right hind leg,t its fat tail, the fat on its insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. 23 Take one loaf of each kind of breadt from the basket, 24 and put this bread, together with the meat, into the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then they will lift it all upt to show that it is dedicated to me.

25 After this, the meat and bread are to be placed on the altar and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

26 You may eat the choice ribs from this second ram, but you must first lift them upt to show that this meat is dedicated to me.

27-28 In the future, when anyone from Israel offers the ribs and a hind leg of a ram either to ordain a priest or to ask for my blessing, the meat belongs to me, but it may be eaten by the priests. This law will never change.

29-30 After Aaron's death, his priestly clothes are to be handed down to each descendant who succeeds him as high priest, and these clothes must be worn during the seven-day ceremony of ordination.
31 Boil the meat of the ordination ram in a sacred place, 32 then Aaron and his sons are to eat it together with the three kinds of breadt at the entrance to the sacred tent. 33 At their ordination, a ceremony of forgiveness was performed for them with this sacred food, and only they have the right to eat it.

34 If any of the sacred food is left until morning, it must be burnt up.
35 Repeat this ordination ceremony for Aaron and his sons seven days in a row, just as I have instructed you. 36 Each day you must offer a bull as a sacrifice for sin and as a way of purifying the altar. In addition, you must smear the altar with olive oil to make it completely holy.

37 Do this for seven days, and the altar will become so holy that anyone who touches it will become holy.

Daily sacrifices

(Leviticus 6.8-13; Numbers 28.1-8)

The Lord said:

42-43 You and your descendants must always offer this sacrifice on the altar at the entrance to the sacred tent.
People of Israel, I will meet and speak with you there, and my shining glory will make the place holy. 44 Because of who I am, the tent will become sacred, and Aaron and his sons will become worthy to serve as my priests. 45 I will live among you as your God, 46 and you will know that I am the Lord your God, the one who rescued you from Egypt, so that I could live among you.