Leviticus 8

EasyEnglish Bible

Moses anoints Aaron and his sons

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Fetch Aaron and his sons.^[a] Bring their special clothes. Bring the oil. Bring the basket of bread that they made without yeast. Also bring the bull for the sin offering and the two male sheep. ³ Cause all the people to come to the door of the Tent of Meeting.’

⁴ Moses did what the Lord said. Moses and the priests and all the people came to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁵ Moses said to the people, ‘The Lord said that I must do this.’ ⁶ Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water. ⁷ Moses put a shirt on Aaron and he tied a belt round Aaron. He put a robe and an ephod on him. He tied the ephod with its special belt. ⁸ Moses put the breastpiece on Aaron, and he put the Urim and Thummim in its pocket.^{[b] 9} Moses tied a piece of linen as a hat round Aaron's head. On the front of this linen he put a plate of gold with valuable stones on it. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

¹⁰ Moses put some of the special olive oil on the tabernacle and on everything in it. He did this to make those things holy. ¹¹ Moses shook oil on the altar seven times. He put oil on the altar table and on all the tools to use with it. He put oil on the washing dish and on the table on which it stood. ¹² Moses anointed Aaron's head with oil to make him holy. ¹³ He put a robe on each of Aaron's sons. He tied cloth belts around them and cloth hats on their heads. The Lord had commanded Moses to do this.

¹⁴ Moses brought the bull as a gift to God. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the bull's head. ¹⁵ Moses killed the bull. He put his finger in the blood. He put the blood on the horns of the altar. That made it holy. Moses poured out the blood that he had not used. He poured it onto the floor in front of the altar. This is how he made the altar ready to make sacrifices. ¹⁶ He burnt the fat and the kidneys and the best piece of the liver on the altar. ¹⁷ Moses burnt the meat with the inside parts and the skin of the bull outside the camp. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

¹⁸ Moses brought a male sheep to burn as a gift to God. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the sheep's head. ¹⁹ Moses killed the sheep. He threw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ²⁰ Moses cut the sheep into small pieces. He burnt the fat and the head and the pieces on the altar. ²¹ He washed the legs and the inside parts. He burnt them on the altar as an offering to the Lord. The smell of them while they were burning gave the Lord pleasure. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

²² Moses brought the other male sheep. It was a gift. It showed that God had chosen Aaron's family to become his priests. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the sheep's head. ²³ Moses killed the sheep. He put some of its blood on Aaron's right ear. He also put blood on the thumb of Aaron's right hand. And he put some on the big toe of his right foot.^{[c] 24} Moses did the same to Aaron's sons. Then he threw blood on all the sides of the altar. ²⁵ Moses took the fat tail and the fat and the kidneys from inside the animal. He took the best piece of the liver from inside the animal. He took the top part of the right back leg. ²⁶ Moses took two flat loaves of bread that they had made without yeast and a biscuit. He took them from the basket that was in front of the Lord. One of the loaves had oil in it. He put them on top of the fat and the leg. ²⁷ Moses gave them to Aaron and to his sons. They lifted them up as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸ Moses took the special gift from them and he burnt it on the altar. The smell of it while it was burning gave the Lord pleasure. ²⁹ Moses took his part of the animal, the meat of the ribs, and he lifted it up to the Lord. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

³⁰ Moses took some of the oil and some of the blood from the altar. He shook them on Aaron and his sons. He also shook some of the blood and some of the oil on their clothes. He did that to make them holy.

³¹ Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, ‘Cook the meat at the door of the Tent of Meeting. Eat the meat with the bread in the basket by the door of the Tent of Meeting. ³² Burn the meat and bread that you do not eat. ³³ You must stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting for seven days. This will make you holy. You must stay for seven days to become holy. ³⁴ The Lord said that you must do this to atone for your sin. ³⁵ Remember that you must stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting. You must stay there for seven days and seven nights. The Lord told me that you must do this. If you do not obey him, you will die.’ ³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had told Moses.