Leviticus
Chapter 8

1

¹ The LORD said to Moses,

2

² "Take Aaron and his sons, together with the vestments, the anointing oil, the bullock for a sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened food.

3

Then assemble the whole community at the entrance of the meeting tent."

4

And Moses did as the LORD had commanded. When the community had assembled at the entrance of the meeting tent,

5

Moses told them what the LORD had ordered to be done.

6

Bringing forward Aaron and his sons, he first washed them with water.

7

Then he put the tunic on Aaron, girded him with the sash, clothed him with the robe, placed the ephod on him, and girded him with the embroidered belt of the ephod, fastening it around him.

8

³ He then set the breastpiece on him, with the Urim and Thummim in it,

9

and put the miter on his head, attaching the gold plate, the sacred diadem, over the front of the miter, at his forehead, as the LORD had commanded him to do.

10

Taking the anointing oil, Moses anointed and consecrated the Dwelling, with all that was in it.

11

Then he sprinkled some of this oil seven times on the altar, and anointed the altar, with all its appurtenances, and the laver, with its base, thus consecrating them.

12

He also poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, thus consecrating him.

13

Moses likewise brought forward Aaron's sons, clothed them with tunics, girded them with sashes, and put turbans on them, as the LORD had commanded him to do.

14

When he had brought forward the bullock for a sin offering, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

15

Then Moses slaughtered it, and taking some of its blood, with his finger he put it on the horns around the altar, thus purifying the altar. He also made atonement for the altar by pouring out the blood at its base when he consecrated it.

16

Taking all the fat that was over the inner organs, as well as the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, Moses burned them on the altar.

17

The bullock, however, with its hide and flesh and offal he burned in the fire outside the camp, as the LORD had commanded him to do.

18

He next brought forward the holocaust ram, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

19

When he had slaughtered it, Moses splashed its blood on all sides of the altar.

20

After cutting up the ram into pieces, he burned the head, the cut-up pieces and the suet;

21

then, having washed the inner organs and the shanks with water, he also burned these remaining parts of the ram on the altar as a holocaust, a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him to do.

22

Then he brought forward the second ram, the ordination ram, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

23

When he had slaughtered it, Moses took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

24

Moses had the sons of Aaron also come forward, and he put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. The rest of the blood he splashed on the sides of the altar.

25

He then took the fat: the fatty tail and all the fat over the inner organs, the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and likewise the right leg;

26

from the basket of unleavened food that was set before the LORD he took one unleavened cake, one loaf of bread made with oil, and one wafer; these he placed on top of the portions of fat and the right leg.

27

He then put all these things into the hands of Aaron and his sons, whom he had wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.

28

When he had received them back, Moses burned them with the holocaust on the altar as the ordination offering, a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.

29

He then took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the LORD; this was Moses' own portion of the ordination ram. All this was in keeping with the LORD'S command to Moses.

30

Taking some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar, Moses sprinkled with it Aaron and his vestments, as well as his sons and their vestments, thus consecrating both Aaron and his vestments and his sons and their vestments.

31

Finally, Moses said to Aaron and his sons, "Boil the flesh at the entrance of the meeting tent, and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of the ordination offering, in keeping with the command I have received: 'Aaron and his sons shall eat of it.'

32

What is left over of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up in the fire.

33

Moreover, you are not to depart from the entrance of the meeting tent for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed; for your ordination is to last for seven days.

34

⁴ The LORD has commanded that what has been done today be done to make atonement for you.

35

Hence you must remain at the entrance of the meeting tent day and night for seven days, carrying out the prescriptions of the LORD; otherwise, you shall die; for this is the command I have received."

36

So Aaron and his sons did all that the LORD had commanded through Moses.

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Footnotes

¹ [1-9, 21] Though presented in the form of a narrative, this description of Aaron's ordination was intended to serve as a guide for all future ordinations.

² [2] The vestments, etc.: already described in Exodus 28-29.

³ [8] The Urim and Thummim: see note on Exodus 28:30.

⁴ [34] The sense is not quite clear. Either the verse gives merely the reason why God ordered this ceremony, or it contains God's command that the same ceremony be used in all future ordinations, or it decrees a repetition of the entire ceremony on each of the seven days. At least a sin offering for atonement was made on each of these days. Cf Exodus 29:29-36.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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