Read the Bible

Appointing the Priests

¹ "This is what you must do to appoint Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two male sheep that have nothing wrong with them. ² Use fine wheat flour without yeast to make bread, cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers brushed with olive oil. ³ Put these in one basket, and bring them along with the bull and two male sheep. ⁴ Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent and wash them with water. ⁵ Take the clothes and dress Aaron in the inner robe and the outer robe of the holy vest. Then put on him the holy vest and the chest covering, and tie the holy vest on him with its skillfully woven belt. ⁶ Put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Take the special olive oil and pour it on his head to make him a priest.

⁸ "Then bring his sons and put the inner robes on them. ⁹ Put the headbands on their heads, and tie cloth belts around their waists. Aaron and his descendants will be priests in Israel, according to a rule that will continue from now on. This is how you will appoint Aaron and his sons as priests.

¹⁰ "Bring the bull to the front of the Meeting Tent, and Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull's head. ¹¹ Then kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹² Use your finger to put some of the bull's blood on the corners of the altar, and then pour the blood that is left at the bottom of the altar. ¹³ Take all the fat that covers the inner organs, as well as the best part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ Take the bull's meat, skin, and intestines, and burn them outside the camp. This is an offering to take away sin.

¹⁵ "Take one of the male sheep, and have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ¹⁶ Kill it, and take its blood and sprinkle it on all four sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Then cut it into pieces and wash its inner organs and its legs, putting them with its head and its other pieces. ¹⁸ Burn the whole sheep on the altar; it is a burnt offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁹ "Take the other male sheep, and have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. ²⁰ Kill it and take some of its blood. Put the blood on the bottom of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then sprinkle the rest of the blood against all four sides of the altar. ²¹ Take some of the blood from the altar, and mix it with the special oil used in appointing priests. Sprinkle this on Aaron and his clothes and on his sons and their clothes. This will show that Aaron and his sons and their clothes are given to my service.

²² "Then take the fat from the male sheep, the fat tail, and the fat that covers the inner organs. In addition, take the best part of the liver, both kidneys, and the fat around them, and the right thigh. (This is the male sheep to be used in appointing priests.)

²³ "Then take the basket of bread that you made without yeast, which you put before the Lord. From it take a loaf of bread, a cake made with olive oil, and a wafer. ²⁴ Put all of these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and tell them to present them as an offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar with the whole burnt offering. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord; its smell is pleasing to the Lord. ²⁶ Then take the breast of the male sheep used to appoint Aaron as priest, and present it before the Lord as an offering. This part of the animal will be your share. ²⁷ Set aside the breast and the thigh of the sheep that were used to appoint Aaron and his sons as priests. These parts belong to them. ²⁸ They are to be the regular share which the Israelites will always give to Aaron and his sons. It is the gift the Israelites must give to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.

²⁹ "The holy clothes made for Aaron will belong to his descendants so that they can wear these clothes when they are appointed as priests. ³⁰ Aaron's son, who will become high priest after Aaron, will come to the Meeting Tent to serve in the Holy Place. He is to wear these clothes for seven days.

³¹ "Take the male sheep used to appoint priests and boil its meat in a place that is holy. ³² Then at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, Aaron and his sons must eat the meat of the sheep and the bread that is in the basket. ³³ They should eat these offerings that were used to remove their sins and to make them holy when they were made priests. But no one else is to eat them, because they are holy things. ³⁴ If any of the meat from that sheep or any of the bread is left the next morning, it must be burned. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ "Do all these things that I commanded you to do to Aaron and his sons, and spend seven days appointing them. ³⁶ Each day you are to offer a bull to remove the sins of Aaron and his sons so they will be given for service to the Lord. Make the altar ready for service to the Lord, and pour oil on it to make it holy. ³⁷ Spend seven days making the altar ready for service to God and making it holy. Then the altar will become very holy, and anything that touches it must be holy.

The Daily Sacrifices

³⁸ "Every day from now on, offer on the altar two lambs that are one year old. ³⁹ Offer one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening before dark. ⁴⁰ In the morning, when you offer the first lamb, offer also two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of oil from pressed olives. Pour out a quart of wine as a drink offering. ⁴¹ Offer the second lamb in the evening with the same grain offering and drink offering as you did in the morning. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord, and its smell is pleasing to him.

⁴² "You must burn these things as an offering to the Lord every day, from now on, at the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord. When you make the offering, I, the Lord, will meet you there and speak to you. ⁴³ I will meet with the people of Israel there, and that place will be holy because of my glory.

⁴⁴ "So I will make the Meeting Tent and the altar holy; I will also make Aaron and his sons holy so they may serve me as priests. ⁴⁵ I will live with the people of Israel and be their God. ⁴⁶ And they will know that I am the Lord their God who led them out of Egypt so that I could live with them. I am the Lord their God.