Aaron and His Sons Appointed

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Bring Aaron and his sons and their clothes, the special olive oil used in appointing people and things to the service of the Lord, the bull of the sin offering and the two male sheep, and the basket of bread made without yeast. ³ Then gather the people together at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.” ⁴ Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the people met together at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

⁵ Then Moses spoke to the people and said, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” ⁶ Bringing Aaron and his sons forward, Moses washed them with water. ⁷ He put the inner robe on Aaron and tied the cloth belt around him. Then Moses put the outer robe on him and placed the holy vest on him. He tied the skillfully woven belt around him so that the holy vest was tied to Aaron. ⁸ Then Moses put the chest covering on him and put the Urim and the Thummim in the chest covering. ⁹ He also put the turban on Aaron’s head. He put the strip of gold, the holy crown, on the front of the turban, as the Lord commanded him to do.

¹⁰ Then Moses put the special oil on the Holy Tent and everything in it, making them holy for the Lord. ¹¹ He sprinkled some oil on the altar seven times, sprinkling the altar and all its tools and the large bowl and its base. In this way he made them holy for the Lord. ¹² He poured some of the special oil on Aaron’s head to make Aaron holy for the Lord. ¹³ Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons forward. He put the inner robes on them, tied cloth belts around them, and put headbands on them, as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁴ Then Moses brought the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁵ Moses killed the bull, took the blood, and with his finger put some of it on all the corners of the altar, to make it pure. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. In this way he made it holy and ready for service to God. ¹⁶ Moses took all the fat from the inner organs of the bull, the best part of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat that is on them, and he burned them on the altar. ¹⁷ But he took the bull’s skin, its meat, and its intestines and burned them in a fire outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁸ Next Moses brought the male sheep of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁹ Then Moses killed it and sprinkled the blood on all sides of the altar. ²⁰ He cut the male sheep into pieces and burned the head, the pieces, and the fat. ²¹ He washed the inner organs and legs with water and burned the whole sheep on the altar as a burnt offering made by fire to the Lord; its smell was pleasing to the Lord. Moses did these things as the Lord had commanded him.

²² Then Moses brought the other male sheep, the one used in appointing Aaron and his sons as priests, and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ²³ Then Moses killed the sheep and put some of its blood on the bottom of Aaron’s right ear, some on the thumb of Aaron’s right hand, and some on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons close to the altar. He put some of the blood on the bottom of their right ears, some on the thumbs of their right hands, and some on the big toes of their right feet. Then he sprinkled blood on all sides of the altar. ²⁵ He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat on the inner organs, the best part of the liver, both kidneys with their fat, and the right thigh. ²⁶ From the basket of bread made without yeast that is put before the Lord each day, Moses took a loaf of bread, a loaf made with oil, and a wafer. He put these pieces of bread on the fat and right thigh of the male sheep. ²⁷ All these things he put in the hands of Aaron and his sons and presented them as an offering before the Lord. ²⁸ Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering. So this was the offering for appointing Aaron and his sons as priests. It was an offering made by fire to the Lord, and its smell was pleasing to him. ²⁹ Moses also took the breast and presented it as an offering before the Lord. It was Moses’ share of the male sheep used in appointing the priests, as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁰ Moses took some of the special oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and he sprinkled them on Aaron and Aaron’s clothes and on Aaron’s sons and their clothes. In this way Moses made Aaron, his clothes, his sons, and their clothes holy for the Lord.

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “I gave you a command, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons will eat these things.’ So take the meat and basket of bread from the offering for appointing priests. Boil the meat at the door of the Meeting Tent, and eat it there with the bread. ³² If any of the meat or bread is left, burn it. ³³ The time of appointing will last seven days; you must not go outside the entrance of the Meeting Tent until that time is up. Stay there until the time of your appointing is finished. ³⁴ The Lord commanded the things that were done today to remove your sins so you will belong to him. ³⁵ You must stay at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days. If you don’t obey the Lord’s commands, you will die. The Lord has given me these commands.”

³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.