Study Desk

The rest of the equipment for the sacred tent must be made of bronze, including the pegs for the tent and for the curtain surrounding the courtyard.

in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place, where the sacred chest is kept. Aaron and his sons are responsible for keeping the lamp burning every night in the sacred tent. The Israelites must always obey this command.

The Lord said to Moses: Send for your brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. They are the ones I have chosen from Israel to serve as my priests.

Here are the items that need to be made: a breastpiece, a priestly vest, a robe, an embroidered shirt, a turban, and a sash. These sacred clothes are to be made for your brother Aaron and his sons who will be my priests.

Only gold and fine linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool, are to be used for making these clothes.

The Lord said: From the same costly material make a breastpiece for the high priest to use in learning what I want my people to do.

with an opening in the center for his head. Be sure to bind the material around the collar to keep it from raveling.

so he can wear it on his forehead. This will show that he will take on himself the guilt for any sins the people of Israel commit in offering their gifts to me, and I will forgive them.

Since Aaron's sons are priests, they should also look dignified. So make robes, sashes, and special caps for them.

Make linen shorts for them that reach from the waist down to the thigh, so they won't expose themselves.

But the meat, the skin, and the food still in the bull's stomach must be burned outside the camp as an offering to ask forgiveness for the sins of the priests.

Kill the ram and place some of its blood on Aaron's right ear lobe, his right thumb, and the big toe of his right foot. Do the same for each of his sons and splatter the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar.

Then take some of the blood from the altar, mix it with the oil used for ordination, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and also on his sons and their clothes. This will show that they and their clothes have been dedicated to me.

In the future, when anyone from Israel offers the ribs and a hind leg of a ram either to ordain a priest or to ask for my blessing, the meat belongs to me, but it may be eaten by the priests. This law will never change.

At their ordination, a ceremony of forgiveness was performed for them with this sacred food, and only they have the right to eat it.

Repeat this ordination ceremony for Aaron and his sons seven days in a row, just as I have instructed you.

Each day you must offer a bull as a sacrifice for sin and as a way of purifying the altar. In addition, you must smear the altar with olive oil to make it completely holy.

Do this for seven days, and the altar will become so holy that anyone who touches it will become holy.

Then below the edging on opposite sides attach two gold rings through which you can put the poles for carrying the altar.

Burn only the proper incense on the altar and never use it for grain sacrifices or animal sacrifices or drink offerings.