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¹ AND Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire therein and laid incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, not at its appointed time, and not as he had commanded them.² And there went out fire from before the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the LORD has spoken, saying, I will be sanctified by those that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.⁴ And Moses called Manshael and Elizphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.⁵ So they drew near and carried them in their vestments out of the camp; as Moses had said.⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons who were left to him, Do not shave your heads, neither rend your clothes, lest you die, and lest wrath come upon all the people; but let all your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail over the victims, whom the LORD burned.⁷ And you shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die; for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸ And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying,⁹ Do not drink wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations;¹⁰ That you may make a distinction between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean;¹¹ 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 to Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy:¹³ And you shall eat it in the holy place because it is your due and your sons due from the offerings of the LORD made by fire; for so was I commanded.¹⁴ And the wave breast and shoulder offering you shall eat in a clean place; you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons due which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel.¹⁵ The shoulder offering and the wave breast they shall bring with the offerings of the fat, made by fire, to wave it as a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be yours and your sons with you by a statute for ever; as the LORD has commanded, that Aaron and his sons shall eat it.¹⁶ And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burned; and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, and he said to them.¹⁷ Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and I have given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?¹⁸ Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the sanctuary; you should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I was commanded, that Aaron and his sons shall eat it.¹⁹ And Aaron said to Moses, Behold, this day they have offered their sin offerings and their burnt offerings before the LORD; and such things have befallen me; and if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been better accepted in the presence of the LORD?²⁰ And when Moses heard that, he was content.