Exodus 29:1-37

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

29:1 “Now this is what you are to do for them to consecrate them so that they may minister as my priests. Take a young bull and two rams without blemish; 29:2 and bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread with oil – you are to make them using fine wheat flour. 29:3 You are to put them in one basket and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.

29:4 “You are to present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash them with water 29:5 and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband. 29:6 You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban. 29:7 You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 29:8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics 29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate Aaron and his sons.

29:10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put their hands on the head of the bull. 29:11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting 29:12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; all the rest of the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar. 29:13 You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up outside the camp. It is the purification offering.

29:15 “You are to take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head, 29:16 and you are to kill the ram and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. 29:17 Then you are to cut the ram into pieces and wash the entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head 29:18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

29:19 “You are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head, 29:20 and you are to kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, 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 then splash the blood all around on the altar. 29:21 You are to take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, so that he may be holy, he and his garments along with his sons and his sons’ garments.

29:22 “You are to take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh – for it is the ram for consecration – 29:23 and one round flat cake of bread, one perforated cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of bread made without yeast that is before the Lord. 29:24 You are to put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 29:25 Then you are to take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord. 29:26 You are to take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration; you are to wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it is to be your share. 29:27 You are to sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution, which were waved and lifted up as a contribution from the ram of consecration, from what belongs to Aaron and to his sons. 29:28 It is to belong to Aaron and to his sons from the Israelites, by a perpetual ordinance, for it is a contribution. It is to be a contribution from the Israelites from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

29:29 “The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and consecrated in them. 29:30 The priest who succeeds him from his sons, when he first comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for seven days.

29:31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook its meat in a holy place. 29:32 Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that was in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 29:33 They are to eat those things by which atonement was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy. 29:34 If any of the meat from the consecration offerings or any of the bread is left over until morning, then you are to burn up what is left over. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.

29:35 “Thus you are to do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you are to consecrate them for seven days. 29:36 Every day you are to prepare a bull for a purification offering for atonement. You are to purge the altar by making atonement for it, and you are to anoint it to set it apart as holy. 29:37 For seven days you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. Anything that touches the altar will be holy.

Leviticus 8:1--9:24

Ordination of the Priests

8:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 8:2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, the sin offering bull, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, 8:3 and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.” 8:4 So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation assembled at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 8:5 Then Moses said to the congregation: “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.”

Clothing Aaron

8:6 So Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 8:7 Then he put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, and clothed him with the robe. Next he put the ephod on him and placed on him the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened the ephod closely to him with the band. 8:8 He then set the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim into the breastpiece. 8:9 Finally, he set the turban on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, to the front of the turban just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Anointing the Tabernacle and Aaron, and Clothing Aaron’s Sons

8:10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. 8:11 Next he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and so anointed the altar, all its vessels, and the wash basin and its stand to consecrate them. 8:12 He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate him. 8:13 Moses also brought forward Aaron’s sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, and wrapped headbands on them just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Consecration Offerings

8:14 Then he brought near the sin offering bull and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin offering bull, 8:15 and he slaughtered it. Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it. 8:16 Then he took all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar, 8:17 but the rest of the bull – its hide, its flesh, and its dung – he completely burned up outside the camp just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

8:18 Then he presented the burnt offering ram and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 8:19 and he slaughtered it. Moses then splashed the blood against the altar’s sides. 8:20 Then he cut the ram into parts, and Moses offered the head, the parts, and the suet up in smoke, 8:21 but the entrails and the legs he washed with water, and Moses offered the whole ram up in smoke on the altar – it was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, a gift to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram 8:23 and he slaughtered it. Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 8:24 Next he brought Aaron’s sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar’s sides.

8:25 Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat) and the right thigh, 8:26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. 8:27 He then put all of them on the palms of Aaron and his sons, who waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. 8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord. 8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord from the ram of ordination. It was Moses’ share just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Anointing Aaron, his Sons, and their Garments

8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 8:31 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and there you are to eat it and the bread which is in the ordination offering basket, just as I have commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it,’ 8:32 but the remainder of the meat and the bread you must burn with fire. 8:33 And you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent for seven days, until the day when your days of ordination are completed, because you must be ordained over a seven-day period. 8:34 What has been done on this day the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. 8:35 You must reside at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.” 8:36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Inauguration of Tabernacle Worship

9:1 On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 9:2 and said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both flawless, and present them before the Lord. 9:3 Then tell the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering and a calf and lamb, both a year old and flawless, for a burnt offering, 9:4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with olive oil, for today the Lord is going to appear to you.’” 9:5 So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Meeting Tent and the whole congregation presented them and stood before the Lord. 9:6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” 9:7 Moses then said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and make your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement on behalf of yourself and on behalf of the people; and also make the people’s offering and make atonement on behalf of them just as the Lord has commanded.”

The Sin Offering for the Priests

9:8 So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the sin offering calf which was for himself. 9:9 Then Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 9:10 The fat and the kidneys and the protruding lobe of the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar just as the Lord had commanded Moses, 9:11 but the flesh and the hide he completely burned up outside the camp.

The Burnt Offering for the Priests

9:12 He then slaughtered the burnt offering, and his sons handed the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides. 9:13 The burnt offering itself they handed to him by its parts, including the head, and he offered them up in smoke on the altar, 9:14 and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

The Offerings for the People

9:15 Then he presented the people’s offering. He took the sin offering male goat which was for the people, slaughtered it, and performed a decontamination rite with it like the first one. 9:16 He then presented the burnt offering, and did it according to the standard regulation. 9:17 Next he presented the grain offering, filled his hand with some of it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering. 9:18 Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram – the peace offering sacrifices which were for the people – and Aaron’s sons handed the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides. 9:19 As for the fat parts from the ox and from the ram (the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver), 9:20 they set those on the breasts and he offered the fat parts up in smoke on the altar. 9:21 Finally Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord just as Moses had commanded.

9:22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. 9:23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the Meeting Tent. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 9:24 Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground.

Hebrews 7:28

7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.