Exodus 29:1-37
Contemporary English Version
Instructions for Ordaining Priests
(Leviticus 8.1-36)
The Lord said to Moses:
29 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,[a] 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.[b]
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 (A) 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,[c] 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 bread[d] 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 up[e] 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 up[f] 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 bread[g] 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 29.9 sashes: One ancient translation; Hebrew “the sashes of Aaron and his sons.”
- 29.14 for the sins of the priests: When a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins was made for someone other than priests, the part that was not burned on the altar could be eaten by the priests (see Leviticus 5.13; 6.26).
- 29.22 right hind leg: This was usually given to the officiating priest (see Leviticus 7.33).
- 29.23 each kind of bread: See verses 2,3.
- 29.24 lift it all up: Or “wave it all.”
- 29.26 lift it all up: Or “wave it all.”
- 29.32 three kinds of bread: See verses 2,3.
Exodus 29:1-37
New King James Version
Aaron and His Sons Consecrated(A)
29 “And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: (B)Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and (C)unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour). 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.
4 “And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, (D)and you shall wash them with water. 5 (E)Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with (F)the intricately woven band of the ephod. 6 (G)You shall put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 And you shall take the anointing (H)oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8 Then (I)you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. (J)The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall (K)consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10 “You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and (L)Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on (M)the horns of the altar with your finger, and (N)pour all the blood beside the base of the altar. 13 And (O)you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But (P)the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.
15 (Q)“You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall (R)put their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and (S)sprinkle it all around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. 18 And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a (T)burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
19 (U)“You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. 21 And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of (V)the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and (W)he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22 “Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 (X)one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall (Y)wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 (Z)You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
26 “Then you shall take (AA)the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate (AB)the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28 It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons (AC)by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; (AD)it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord.
29 “And the (AE)holy garments of Aaron (AF)shall be his sons’ after him, (AG)to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them. 30 (AH)That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for (AI)seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to minister in the [a]holy place.
31 “And you shall take the ram of the consecration and (AJ)boil its flesh in the holy place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the (AK)bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 33 (AL)They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; (AM)but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then (AN)you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. (AO)Seven days you shall consecrate them. 36 And you (AP)shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. (AQ)You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. (AR)Whatever touches the altar must be holy.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 29:30 sanctuary
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
