Exodus 29

1 “Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,

“This is what you must do to dedicate Aaron and his sons to serve me [by being] priests: Select one young bull and two rams that do not have any defects.

2 along with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour,

Bake three [kinds of bread] using finely-ground wheat flour, but without yeast: Bake some loaves that do not have any olive oil in them, bake some loaves that have olive oil in the dough, and bake some thin wafers that will be smeared with olive oil [after they are baked].

3 put them in a basket, and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.

Put them in a basket and offer them [to me] when you sacrifice the young bull and the two rams.

4 Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.

Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Sacred Tent, and wash them [ritually].

5 Take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastplate. Fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband.

Then put the special clothes on Aaron—the long-sleeved tunic/gown, the robe that will be worn underneath the sacred apron, the sacred apron, the sacred pouch, and the sash/waistband.

6 Put the turban on his head and attach the holy diadem to the turban.

Place the turban on his head, and fasten to the turban the ornament that has the words ‘Dedicated to Yahweh’ engraved on it.

7 Then take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.

Then take the oil and pour some on his head to (dedicate him/set him apart).

8 Present his sons as well and clothe them with tunics.

Then bring his sons and put the long-sleeved tunics/gowns on them.

9 Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.

Put the sashes/waistbands around their waists and the caps on their heads. That is the ritual by which you are to (dedicate them/set them apart) to be priests. Aaron and his male descendants must serve me [by being] priests forever.

10 You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

“Then bring the young bull to the entrance of the Sacred Tent. Tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the head of the young bull.

11 And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then, while they do that, kill the young bull [by slitting its throat], and catch/drain the blood in a bowl.

12 Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

Take some of that blood with your finger and smear it on the projections of the altar. Throw/Splash the rest of the blood against the base of the altar.

13 Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

Take all the fat that covers the inner organs of the young bull, the best part of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn all these on the altar [as an offering to me].

14 But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

But the meat of the young bull and its hide and intestines must be burned outside the camp. That will be an offering to forgive the guilt of your sins.

15 Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

“Then select one of the rams, and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the head of the ram.

16 You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar.

Then kill the ram [by slitting its throat]. Catch/Drain some of the blood and splash it against all four sides of the altar.

17 Cut the ram into pieces, wash the entrails and legs, and place them with its head and other pieces.

Then cut the ram into pieces. Wash its inner organs and its rear legs and put those with the head

18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

and burn those pieces [completely] on the altar with the rest of the ram. That will be an offering to me, Yahweh, and the smell will please me.

19 Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

“Take the other ram [that was selected for these rituals], and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the ram’s head.

20 Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Sprinkle the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.

Then kill the ram by slitting its throat, and drain the blood [into a bowl]. Smear some of the blood on the lobe 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. Throw/Splash the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar.

21 And take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. Then he and his garments will be consecrated, as well as his sons and their garments.

Wipe up some of the blood that is on the altar, mix it with some of the oil for anointing, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and on his sons and their clothes. By doing that, you will dedicate them and their clothes [to me].

22 Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination),

“Also, cut off the ram’s fat and its fat tail and the fat that covers the inner organs, the best part of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh.

23 along with one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.

Take also one of each of the kinds of bread [that was baked]—one made with no oil, one with oil, and one thin wafer.

24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

Put all these things in the hands of Aaron and his sons. [Then tell them to] lift them up [high] to dedicate them to me.

25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar, on top of the other things [that were placed there]. That [also] will be an offering to me, and its smell will please me.

26 Take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your portion.

Then take the meat of the ribs of the second ram that was killed, and lift it up [high] as an offering to me. But then this part of the animal will be for you [to eat].

27 Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the heave offering that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.

Then take the meat of the ribs, the other thigh of the first ram that was sacrificed to (dedicate/set apart) the priests, and the ram whose other parts were lifted high to show that they were an offering to me; and set the meat of the ribs and thigh apart for Aaron and his sons, for them to eat.

28 This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is the heave offering the Israelites will make to the LORD from their peace offerings.

In the future, whenever the Israeli people present to me, Yahweh, offerings to maintain fellowship with me, the ribs and the thigh [of animals that they sacrifice] will be for Aaron and his male descendants [to eat].

29 The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them.

“After Aaron [dies], the special clothes that he wore will belong to his sons. They are to wear those clothes when they are (set apart/dedicated) [to become priests].

30 The son who succeeds him as priest and enters the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place must wear them for seven days.

Aaron’s son who becomes The Supreme Priest and enters the Sacred Tent and performs rituals in the Holy Place must [stay in the Sacred Tent], wearing these special clothes, for seven days.

31 You are to take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place.

“Take the meat of the other ram that was sacrificed to (set apart/dedicate) Aaron and his sons, and boil it in the courtyard.

32 At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket.

After it is cooked, Aaron and his sons must eat it, along with the bread that is left in the basket, at the entrance of the Sacred Tent.

33 They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred.

They must eat the meat of the ram that was sacrificed to forgive them for [their sins] when they were dedicated to do this work. They are the only ones who are permitted to eat this meat. [Those who are not priests are not allowed to eat it], because it is dedicated to me.

34 And if any of the meat of ordination or any bread is left until the morning, you are to burn up the remainder. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

If any of this meat or some of the bread is not eaten that night, no one is permitted to eat any of it the next day. It must be completely burned, because it is sacred/dedicated to me.

35 This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all that I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.

“Those are the rituals that you(sg) must perform during those seven days when you dedicate Aaron and his sons for this work. You must do everything that I have commanded you.

36 Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

Each of those seven days you must also sacrifice a young bull as an offering to me, in order that I may forgive sins. Also, you must make another offering (to make the altar pure in my sight/in order that I will consider the altar to be pure). You must also anoint the altar with olive oil, to (set it apart/dedicate it).

37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will become most holy; whatever touches the altar will be holy.

Perform these rituals every day for seven days, to (set apart/dedicate) the altar and make it pure. If you do not do that, anyone or anything that touches the altar will become taboo.

38 This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar, each day: two lambs that are a year old.

“You must also sacrifice lambs and burn them on the altar. Each of those [seven] days you must sacrifice two lambs.

39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight.

One lamb must be sacrificed in the morning, and one must be sacrificed in the evening.

40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.

With the first lamb, also offer (2 pounds/1 kilogram) of finely-ground wheat flour mixed with one quart/liter of the best kind of olive oil, and one quart/liter of wine as an offering.

41 And offer the second lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

In the evening, when you sacrifice the other lamb, offer the same amounts of flour, olive oil, and wine as you did in the morning. This will be an offering to me, Yahweh, that will be burned, and its smell will please me.

42 For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.

You [and your descendants] must continue making these offerings to me, Yahweh, throughout all future generations. You must offer them at the entrance of the Sacred Tent. That is where I will meet with you and speak to you.

43 I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by My glory.

That is where I will meet with the Israeli people, and the brilliant light of my presence will cause that place to be holy/sacred.

44 So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.

I will dedicate the Sacred Tent and the altar. I will also dedicate Aaron and his sons to serve me [by being] priests.

45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

I will live among the Israeli people, and I will be their God.

46 And they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

They will know that I, Yahweh their God, am the one who brought them out of Egypt in order that I might live among them.”