Aaron and His Sons Set Apart

29 “This is what you will do to set them apart to serve as religious leaders for Me. Take one young bull and two rams that are perfect. ² Have bread without yeast, and bread mixed with oil, and hard bread made without yeast and spread with oil. Make them of fine grain flour. ³ Put them in one basket. Then bring them in the basket with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the meeting tent, and wash them with water. ⁵ Take the clothing and dress Aaron in the long coat, the clothing over the linen vest, the linen vest, and the breast-piece. Put on him the well-made belt of the linen vest. ⁶ Put the covering on his head, and the holy crown on the head covering. ⁷ Then take the oil for holy use and pour it on his head to set him apart for My work. ⁸ Bring his sons and dress them with long coats. ⁹ Put belts on Aaron and his sons. Tie head coverings on them. And they will be religious leaders by law for all time. So you will set apart Aaron and his sons for My work.

¹⁰ “Then bring the bull in front of the meeting tent. Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ Then kill the bull before the Lord at the door of the meeting tent. ¹² Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger. Then pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ Take all the fat that covers the inside parts, and the part that is on the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the flesh of the bull, its skin, and its waste you will burn away from the tents. It is a sin gift.

¹⁵ “Then take one of the rams and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁶ Kill the ram and take its blood and put it around the altar. ¹⁷ Cut the ram into pieces. Wash its inside parts and its legs. And put them with its pieces and its head. ¹⁸ Burn the whole ram on the altar for a burnt gift in worship to the Lord. It is a pleasing smell, a gift by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then take the other ram and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the ram’s head. ²⁰ Kill the ram and put some of its blood on the bottom of Aaron’s right ear, on the bottom of his sons’ right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Put the rest of the blood around the altar. ²¹ Take some of the blood from the altar and some of the special oil. Put some on Aaron and his sons and their clothing. So Aaron and his clothing and his sons and their clothing will be set apart and made holy. ²² Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the inside parts, the part that is on the liver, the two kidneys with their fat, and the fat that is on the right thigh. For it is a ram used to set apart those who work for Me. ²³ And take one loaf of bread, and one loaf of bread mixed with oil, and one piece of hard bread from the basket of bread without yeast that is set before the Lord. ²⁴ Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons. They will wave them for a wave gift before the Lord. ²⁵ Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt gift in worship. It is a pleasing smell before the Lord. It is a gift by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ “Take the breast of Aaron’s ram used to set him apart. Wave it as a wave gift before the Lord. And it will be your share. ²⁷ Then set apart the breast of the wave gift and the thigh that was waved and given from the ram used to set apart those who work for Me. One was for Aaron and one for his sons. ²⁸ It will be for Aaron and his sons as their share forever from the people of Israel. For it is the religious leaders’ share to be given by the people of Israel from their peace gifts. It is their gift to the Lord.

²⁹ “The holy clothing of Aaron will be for his sons after him. They will wear them when the oil for holy use is poured on them and they are set apart for My work. ³⁰ The son who takes his place as religious leader will wear them seven days as he goes into the meeting tent to serve in the holy place.

³¹ “Take the ram used to set apart those who work for Me and boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons will eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the meeting tent. ³³ They will eat those things that were used in worship when they were forgiven of their sin and when they were set apart for My work. But one who is not a religious leader may not eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ If any of the meat or bread used to set apart those who work for Me is left until morning, it must be burned. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ “Do to Aaron and his sons all I have told you. For seven days you will set them apart for My work. ³⁶ Give a bull each day for a sin gift, to take away sin. Make the altar clean by taking sin away from it and pour special oil on it to set it apart for Me. ³⁷ For seven days give gifts upon the altar to take away sin and set it apart for Me. Then the altar will be most holy. And whatever touches the altar will be holy.

The Gifts Given Each Day

³⁸ “Now this is what you will give on the altar: Two lambs one year old, given every day. ³⁹ Give one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb in the evening. ⁴⁰ With the first lamb give a jar of fine flour mixed with a half jar of beaten oil, and a half jar of wine to be poured out. ⁴¹ Give the other lamb in the evening. Do it with a grain gift and a gift to pour out as in the morning. It has a pleasing smell, a gift by fire to the Lord. ⁴² For all time to come this burnt gift is to be given at the door of the meeting tent before the Lord. There I will meet with you and speak to you. ⁴³ I will meet there with the people of Israel. It will be set apart by My shining-greatness. ⁴⁴ I will set apart the meeting tent and the altar. And I will set apart Aaron and his sons to work as religious leaders for Me. ⁴⁵ I will live among the people of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I am the Lord their God, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt to live among them. I am the Lord their God.

The Altar for Special Perfume

30 “Make an altar for burning special perfume. Make it of acacia wood. ² It will be as long and as wide as a man’s arm and as high as a man’s waist. Its horns will be of one piece with it. ³ Cover its top, all its sides and its horns with pure gold. And make a piece of gold to go around it. ⁴ Then make two gold rings for the altar to put under this piece. Put one on each side of the altar so it can hold the long pieces of wood used for carrying it. ⁵ Make the long pieces of acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶ Put this altar in front of the curtain that is by the box of the Law, in front of the mercy-seat that is over the box of the Law. There I will meet with you. ⁷ Aaron will burn special perfume on it every morning when he takes care of the lamps. ⁸ And when Aaron takes care of the lamps in the evening, he will burn special perfume. There will be a burning of special perfume before the Lord for all your people for all time. ⁹ Do not give upon this altar any perfume, burnt gift or grain gift that is not holy. And do not pour out a drink gift on it. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron will give a gift for sin on its horns to take away sin. He will give the blood of the sin gift to make it holy once a year for all your people for all time. It is most holy to the Lord.”

Tax for the Meeting Tent

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “When you number the people of Israel, each one of them will pay a price for his life to the Lord. Then no trouble will come upon them when you number them. ¹³ Every one who is numbered will give one piece of silver, by the weight decided upon for the holy place. One piece of silver will be a gift to the Lord. ¹⁴ Every one who is numbered, twenty years old and older, will give the gift to the Lord. ¹⁵ The rich will not pay more and the poor will not pay less than one piece of silver. It will be a gift to the Lord so you will be forgiven of sin. ¹⁶ Receive this money from the people of Israel and use it for the work of the meeting tent. Then it will be remembered before the Lord that the people of Israel gave a gift to take away their sin of being numbered.”

The Pot of Brass for Washing

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Make a pot of brass for washing. Make its base of brass also. Put it between the meeting tent and the altar, and put water in it. ¹⁹ Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet with water from it. ²⁰ When they go into the meeting tent, they will wash with water, so they will not die. And they will wash when they go near the altar to give a gift made by fire to the Lord. ²¹ They will wash their hands and their feet, so they will not die. It will always be a law for Aaron and his children forever.”

The Holy Oil for Pouring

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Take the best spices: a heavy weight of flowing myrrh, half that weight of sweet-smelling cinnamon and of sweet-smelling cane, ²⁴ and a heavy weight of cassia, the weight decided upon by the holy place, and a large jar of olive oil. ²⁵ Mix these to make a holy oil for holy use, mixed like perfume made by an able workman. It will be a holy oil for holy use. ²⁶ Pour it on the meeting tent and the box of the Law, ²⁷ the table and all its objects, the lamp-stand and all its objects, the altar of special perfume, ²⁸ the altar of burnt gifts and all its objects, and the washing pot and its base. ²⁹ Set them apart so they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will be holy. ³⁰ Pour oil on Aaron and his sons. Set them apart so they may serve as religious leaders for Me. ³¹ Say to the people of Israel, ‘This will be a holy oil to Me for all your people for all time. ³² It will not be poured on the flesh of man. And you will not mix any like it. It is holy. It will be holy to you. ³³ Whoever mixes any like it, or puts any of it on a man who is not a religious leader, will be cut off from his people.’”

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense. Take the same amount of each. ³⁵ Mix them to make a special perfume, salted, pure and holy, the work of an able workman. ³⁶ Beat some of it very fine. And put some of it in front of the special box of the agreement in the meeting tent, where I will meet with you. It will be most holy to you. ³⁷ Do not mix this special perfume in the same way for yourselves. It will be holy for you to the Lord. ³⁸ Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume will be cut off from his people.”