Leviticus 9-11

New King James Version

The Priestly Ministry Begins

9 It came to pass on the ^(A)eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ² And he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young ^(B)bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. ³ And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, ^(C)‘Take a kid of the goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering, ⁴ also a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and ^(D)a grain offering mixed with oil; for ^(E)today the Lord will appear to you.’ ”

⁵ So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting. And all the congregation drew near and stood ^[a]before the Lord. ⁶ Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you.” ⁷ And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, ^(F)offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. ^(G)Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”

⁸ Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ⁹ Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar. ^10 (H)But the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^11 (I)The flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.

¹² And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, ^(J)which he sprinkled all around on the altar. ^13 (K)Then they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar. ^14 (L)And he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

^15 (M)Then he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one. ¹⁶ And he brought the burnt offering and offered it ^(N)according to the ^[b]prescribed manner. ¹⁷ Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, ^(O)besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.

¹⁸ He also killed the bull and the ram as ^(P)sacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar, ¹⁹ and the fat from the bull and the ram—the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver; ²⁰ and they put the fat on the breasts. ^(Q)Then he burned the fat on the altar; ²¹ but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved ^(R)as a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, ^(S)blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. ²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, ²⁴ and ^(T)fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they ^(U)shouted and fell on their ^(V)faces.

The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu

10 Then ^(W)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^(X)each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered ^(Y)profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ² So ^(Z)fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. ³ And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:

So Aaron held his peace.

⁴ Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, ^(AB)carry your brethren from ^[c]before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵ So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not ^[d]uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and ^(AC)wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, ^[e]bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. ^7 (AD)You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, ^(AE)for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

Conduct Prescribed for Priests

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: ^9 (AF)“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, ¹⁰ that you may ^(AG)distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, ^11 (AH)and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”

¹² And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: ^(AI)“Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; ^(AJ)for it is most holy. ¹³ You shall eat it in a ^(AK)holy place, because it is your ^[f]due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord; for ^(AL)so I have been commanded. ^14 (AM)The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your ^(AN)daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ ^(AO)due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. ^15 (AP)The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ Then Moses made careful inquiry about ^(AQ)the goat of the sin offering, and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ^17 (AR)“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear ^(AS)the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? ¹⁸ See! ^(AT)Its blood was not brought inside ^[g]the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, ^(AU)as I commanded.”

¹⁹ And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, ^(AV)this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, ^(AW)would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰ So when Moses heard that, he was content.

Foods Permitted and Forbidden^(AX)

11 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ^(AY)‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: ³ Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat. ⁴ Nevertheless these you shall ^(AZ)not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is ^[h]unclean to you; ⁵ the ^[i]rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is ^[j]unclean to you; ⁶ the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; ⁷ and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, ^(BA)is unclean to you. ⁸ Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. ^(BB)They are unclean to you.

^9 (BC)‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat. ¹⁰ But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are ^[k]an ^(BD)abomination to you. ¹¹ They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. ¹² Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you.

^13 (BE)‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹⁴ the kite, and the falcon after its kind; ¹⁵ every raven after its kind, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; ¹⁷ the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; ¹⁸ the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; ¹⁹ the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. ²¹ Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. ²² These you may eat: ^(BF)the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. ²³ But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.

Unclean Animals

²⁴ ‘By these you shall become ^[l]unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening; ²⁵ whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them ^(BG)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: ²⁶ The carcass of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. ²⁷ And whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening. ²⁸ Whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, ^(BH)the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind; ³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹ These are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever ^(BI)touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. ³² Anything on which any of them falls, when they are dead shall be ^[m]unclean, whether it is any item of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item it is, in which any work is done, ^(BJ)it must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean. ³³ Any ^(BK)earthen vessel into which any of them falls ^(BL)you shall break; and whatever is in it shall be unclean: ³⁴ in such a vessel, any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean. ³⁵ And everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; for they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, in which there is plenty of water, shall be clean, but whatever touches any such carcass becomes unclean. ³⁷ And if a part of any such carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sown, it remains clean. ³⁸ But if water is put on the seed, and if a part of any such carcass falls on it, it becomes ^[n]unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be ^(BM)unclean until evening. ^40 (BN)He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

⁴¹ ‘And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be ^[o]an abomination. It shall not be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth—these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination. ^43 (BO)You shall not make ^[p]yourselves ^[q]abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your ^(BP)God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and ^(BQ)you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. ^45 (BR)For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. ^(BS)You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶ ‘This is the law ^[r]of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, ^47 (BT)to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.’ ”