Exodus 29

Chapter 29

Dedication of the Priests

1 “This is the ceremony you must follow when you consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams with no defects.2 Then, using choice wheat flour and no yeast, make loaves of bread, thin cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers spread with oil.

3 Place them all in a single basket, and present them at the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams.
4 “Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle,t and wash them with water.5 Dress Aaron in his priestly garments—the tunic, the robe worn with the ephod, the ephod itself, and the chestpiece. Then wrap the decorative sash of the ephod around him.6 Place the turban on his head, and fasten the sacred medallion to the turban.7 Then anoint him by pouring the anointing oil over his head.8 Next present his sons, and dress them in their tunics.

9 Wrap the sashes around the waists of Aaron and his sons, and put their special head coverings on them. Then the right to the priesthood will be theirs by law forever. In this way, you will ordain Aaron and his sons.
10 “Bring the young bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head.11 Then slaughter the bull in the LORD’s presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle.12 Put some of its blood on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar.13 Take all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, and burn it all on the altar.

14 Then take the rest of the bull, including its hide, meat, and dung, and burn it outside the camp as a sin offering.
15 “Next Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the head of one of the rams.16 Then slaughter the ram, and splatter its blood against all sides of the altar.17 Cut the ram into pieces, and wash off the internal organs and the legs. Set them alongside the head and the other pieces of the body,

18 then burn the entire animal on the altar. This is a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the LORD.
19 “Now take the other ram, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head.20 Then slaughter it, and apply some of its blood to the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar.

21 Then take some of the blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and on their garments. In this way, they and their garments will be set apart as holy.
22 “Since this is the ram for the ordination of Aaron and his sons, take the fat of the ram, 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.23 Then take one round loaf of bread, one thin cake mixed with olive oil, and one wafer from the basket of bread without yeast that was placed in the LORD’s presence.24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons to be lifted up as a special offering to the LORD.25 Afterward take the various breads from their hands, and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering. It is a pleasing aroma to the LORD, a special gift for him.

26 Then take the breast of Aaron’s ordination ram, and lift it up in the LORD’s presence as a special offering to him. Then keep it as your own portion.
27 “Set aside the portions of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons. This includes the breast and the thigh that were lifted up before the LORD as a special offering.

28 In the future, whenever the people of Israel lift up a peace offering, a portion of it must be set aside for Aaron and his descendants. This is their permanent right, and it is a sacred offering from the Israelites to the LORD.
29 “Aaron’s sacred garments must be preserved for his descendants who succeed him, and they will wear them when they are anointed and ordained.

30 The descendant who succeeds him as high priest will wear these clothes for seven days as he ministers in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place.
31 “Take the ram used in the ordination ceremony, and boil its meat in a sacred place.32 Then Aaron and his sons will eat this meat, along with the bread in the basket, at the Tabernacle entrance.33 They alone may eat the meat and bread used for their purificationt in the ordination ceremony. No one else may eat them, for these things are set apart and holy.

34 If any of the ordination meat or bread remains until the morning, it must be burned. It may not be eaten, for it is holy.
35 “This is how you will ordain Aaron and his sons to their offices, just as I have commanded you. The ordination ceremony will go on for seven days.36 Each day you must sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering to purify them, making them right with the LORD.t Afterward, cleanse the altar by purifying itt; make it holy by anointing it with oil.

37 Purify the altar, and consecrate it every day for seven days. After that, the altar will be absolutely holy, and whatever touches it will become holy.
38 “These are the sacrifices you are to offer regularly on the altar. Each day, offer two lambs that are a year old,39 one in the morning and the other in the evening.40 With one of them, offer two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quart of pure oil of pressed olives; also, offer one quart of winet as a liquid offering.

41 Offer the other lamb in the evening, along with the same offerings of flour and wine as in the morning. It will be a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the LORD.
42 “These burnt offerings are to be made each day from generation to generation. Offer them in the LORD’s presence at the Tabernacle entrance; there I will meet with you and speak with you.43 I will meet the people of Israel there, in the place made holy by my glorious presence.44 Yes, I will consecrate the Tabernacle and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.45 Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God,

46 and they will know that I am the LORD their God. I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could 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 Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests, 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 of 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 tell them to wash themselves. 5 Dress Aaron in the priestly shirt, the robe that goes under the sacred vest, the vest 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 caps, and 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 as an offering to me in the smoke from the altar.

14 But the meat, the skin, and the food still in the bull's stomach must be burned 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 tell them to 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 of its parts on the altar, including the head.

18 t Then make sure that the whole animal goes up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.
19 Bring the other ram to Aaron and his sons and tell them to 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, put the meat and bread on the altar and send them 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 completely burned.
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.