Leviticus 8-10

New Catholic Bible

Consecration of the Priesthood^[a]

Chapter 8^[b]

Priestly Consecration. ¹ The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ² “Bring Aaron and his sons together with their garments,^[c] the oil of anointing, a young bull for a sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread ³ and gather the whole assembly together at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” ⁴ Moses did as the Lord had commanded and the community was gathered together at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁵ Moses said to the community, “This is what the Lord has commanded.”

⁶ Moses had Aaron and his sons draw near and he washed them with water. ⁷ Then he put his coat on him and bound him with his sash. He put the ephod on him and bound him in the skillfully woven band of the ephod, wrapping it around him. ⁸ He put his breastplate on him, and in the breastplate he placed the Urim and the Thummim. ⁹ Then he placed the turban on his head, and on the front of the turban he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁰ Then Moses then took the oil of anointing, and he anointed and consecrated the tabernacle and everything that was in it. ¹¹ He sprinkled some of it upon the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all of its accessories, as well as the basin and its base, to consecrate them. ¹² He poured the oil of anointing on the head of Aaron and anointed Aaron, consecrating him. ¹³ Then Moses had the sons of Aaron draw near and he clothed them in their tunics. He bound them with their sashes and put their caps on their heads, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁴ The Sin Offering. He then had the young bull of the sin offering brought to him, and he had Aaron and his sons place their hands on the head of the young bull of the sin offering. ¹⁵ Moses slew it, took some of its blood, and with his finger put some of it on the horns around the altar to purify it. He poured the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, making atonement for it.

¹⁶ He took all of the fat that was around the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned all of them upon the altar. ¹⁷ But the young bull, its skin, its meat, and its manure were burned in a fire outside of the camp, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁸ The Burnt Offering. He brought the ram for the burnt offering and he had Aaron and his sons place their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹ Moses slew it and sprinkled its blood around the altar. ²⁰ He cut the ram into pieces and he burned the head, its pieces, and the fat. ²¹ After he had washed its entrails and its legs with water, he burned the entire ram upon the altar, a burnt offering making a pleasant fragrance, a sacrifice by fire in honor of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²² The Ram of Consecration. Then he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Aaron and his sons placed their hands on the head of the ram. ²³ Moses slew it and took its blood and placed it on the right ear lobe of Aaron and the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot.^{[d] 24} Moses had the sons of Aaron approach him and he put some of the blood on their right ear lobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. He poured the rest of the blood around the altar. ²⁵ He took the fat, the tail, the fat around its entrails, the lobe of the liver, the kidneys with their fat, and the right thigh. ²⁶ He took an unleavened bread, a cake of bread with oil, and a wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord. He placed them on the fat and the right thigh. ²⁷ He placed all of these things in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and they waved this wave offering before the Lord. ²⁸ Moses took them out of their hands and burned them on the altar upon the burnt offerings. This is the sacrifice of consecration, a pleasant fragrance, a sacrifice consumed by fire in honor of the Lord. ²⁹ Then Moses took the breast of the ram and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁰ Moses took the oil of anointing and some of the blood that was on the altar and he sprinkled them upon Aaron and his clothes, and upon his sons and their clothes. Thus he consecrated Aaron and his clothes and his sons and their clothes. ³¹ Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the meeting tent and eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded saying, ‘Aaron and his sons will eat it.’ ³² Whatever is left over from the meat and the bread is to be burned in a fire. ^33 [e]You are not to go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are complete, for it will take seven days to consecrate you. ³⁴ What was done today was what the Lord commanded so that an atonement might be made for you. ³⁵ You shall remain for seven days at the entrance to the tent of meeting, day and night, observing the commandment of the Lord, lest you die, for thus I was commanded.” ³⁶ Aaron and his sons did what the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Chapter 9^[f]

The Priests’ Offering. ¹ The eighth day^[g] Moses summoned Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel ² and said to Aaron, “Take a young male calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. Both are to be without defect. Offer them to the Lord. ³ Say to the children of Israel, ‘Bring a kid goat as a sin offering, a calf and a lamb, both one-year-old, without defect, for a burnt offering, ⁴ a bull and a ram for a peace offering, to burn them before the Lord, and a cereal offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord shall appear to you.’ ”

⁵ They brought them to the meeting tent as Moses had commanded. The whole community approached and stood before the Lord. ^6 [h]Moses said, “Behold, this is what the Lord has commanded. Do it, and the glory of the Lord shall appear.”

⁷ Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar. Offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for your people. Present the people’s offering and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”

⁸ Aaron therefore drew near the altar and slew the calf of the sin offering, the offering for himself. ⁹ His sons brought the blood to him and he dipped his finger in it and put it on the horns of the altar, pouring the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar. ¹⁰ They burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver of the sin offering on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹¹ They burned the meat and the skin on a fire outside of the camp. ¹² They then slew the burnt offering. The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him and he sprinkled it around the altar. ¹³ They also brought the burnt offering to him. It was cut into pieces. He burned the pieces and the head upon the altar. ¹⁴ He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them upon the burnt offering on top of the altar.

¹⁵ The People’s Offering. They then presented the offering of the people. They brought the goat of the sin offering for the people. They slew it and offered it as a sin offering, as they had done with the first one. ¹⁶ After this they offered the second burnt offering according to custom.

¹⁷ They then presented the cereal offering. They took a handful and burned it upon the altar beside the morning burnt offering. ¹⁸ They slew the bull and the ram of the peace offering of the people. The sons of Aaron brought the blood and they poured it around the altar. ¹⁹ They brought the fat parts of the bull and the ram: the tail, the fat around the entrails, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver. ²⁰ They placed the fat upon the breasts. He burned them upon the altar. ²¹ Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord, in the manner that Moses had commanded.

^22 [i]Aaron, raising his hands toward the people, blessed them, and, after he had sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, descended from the altar. ²³ Moses and Aaron entered the meeting tent. They then went out and blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ²⁴ A fire came out from the presence of the Lord and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar. All the people saw this. They cried out and fell upon their faces.

Chapter 10

The Death of Nadab and Abihu.^{[j] 1} Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer. They put fire and incense into them and offered unholy fire before the Lord, not as he had prescribed for them. ² But a fire came out from the presence of the Lord and it devoured them and they died before the Lord. ³ Moses therefore said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘I will show myself to be holy to those who draw near to me and I will be glorified before all of the people.’ ” Aaron therefore remained silent. ⁴ Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and told them, “Come here and carry away your relatives from the sanctuary. Take them outside of the camp.” ⁵ They drew near and carried them and their tunics away outside of the camp, as Moses had told them.

⁶ To Aaron, to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, Moses said, “Do not uncover the hair of your heads nor rend your garments, lest you die and lest the wrath of the Lord come upon the entire community. But let your brothers, the whole household of Israel, mourn the burning that the Lord kindled.^{[k] 7} Do not go out from the entrance of the meeting tent lest you die, for the oil of anointing of the Lord is upon you.” They did what Moses told them.

Prohibition against Wine. ⁸ The Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “Do not drink wine or strong drink when you are to enter the tent of meeting, neither you nor your sons, lest you die. This will be a statute forever throughout all of your generations. ^10 [l]This is so that you can distinguish between what is holy and unholy, and between what is unclean and clean, ¹¹ so that you can teach the children of Israel all of the statutes that the Lord gave through Moses.”

¹² Consuming Holy Things. Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, “Take what is left over from the cereal offering after part has been offered by fire to the Lord, and eat it unleavened near the altar, for it is most holy. ¹³ You must eat it in a holy place, for it is the part assigned to you and to your sons from the sacrifices offered by fire in honor of the Lord, for thus I have been commanded. ¹⁴ The breast of the wave offering and the thigh that has been offered will also be eaten by you, your sons, and your daughters, in a clean place, for they have been assigned to you as your portion and your sons’ portion from the peace offerings of the children of Israel.

¹⁵ “They will take the thigh that is offered and the breast that is a wave offering together with the fat parts that are to be burned, and they will wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. This will be your portion and your sons’ portion as your right forever, just as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering and found out that it had been burned. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron. He said, ¹⁷ “Why have you not eaten the sacrifice of the sin offering in a holy place, for it a most holy thing? It was given to you to bear the iniquity of the community, to make atonement before the Lord. ¹⁸ Behold, the blood of the offering was not brought inside of the sanctuary. You should have eaten it in the sanctuary as I ordered you.” ¹⁹ Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. After these things have happened to me, should I have eaten the sacrifice of the sin offering? Would this have been pleasing to the Lord?” ²⁰ When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.