Exodus 29

1 “But you shall also do this, so that they may be consecrated to me in the priesthood: Take a calf from the herd, and two immaculate rams,

“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 and unleavened bread, and a crust without leaven that has been sprinkled with oil, likewise, unleavened cakes smeared with oil. You shall make them all from the same 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 And, having placed them in baskets, you shall offer them, along with the calf 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 And you shall bring forward Aaron and his sons, to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. And when you will have washed the father with his sons in water,

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

5 you shall clothe Aaron in his vestments, that is, with the linen, and the tunic, and the ephod, and the breastplate, which you shall draw together with the wide belt.

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 And you shall place the headdress on his head and the holy plate upon the headdress.

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

7 And you shall pour the oil of unction over his head. And so, by this rite, he shall be consecrated.

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

8 Likewise, you shall bring forward his sons, and you shall clothe them in the linen tunics, and wrap them with the wide belt:

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

9 Aaron, certainly, as well as his sons. And you shall impose headdresses upon them. And they shall be priests to me by a perpetual ordinance. After you have initiated their hands,

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 shall bring forward also the calf, in the presence of the tabernacle of the testimony. And Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon 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 sacrifice it in the sight of the Lord, beside the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

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

12 And taking some of the blood of the calf, you shall place it upon the horns of the altar with your finger, but the remainder of the blood you shall pour next to its base.

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 And you shall take all the fat which covers its intestines, and the mesh of the liver, as well as the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and you shall offer them as a burnt offering upon 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 Yet truly, the flesh of the calf, and the hide and the dung, you shall burn outside, beyond the camp, because it is for sin.

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 Likewise, you shall take one ram, and upon its head Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands.

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

16 And when you will have sacrificed it, you shall take from its blood and pour it around 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 Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and, having washed its intestines and feet, you shall place these upon the cut-up flesh and upon its head.

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

18 And you shall offer the entire ram as a burnt offering upon the altar. It is an oblation to the Lord, a most sweet odor of the victim of 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 Likewise, you shall take the other ram, upon whose head Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands.

“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 And when you will have immolated it, you shall take of its blood, and place it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and his sons, and on the thumbs and big toes of their right hand and right foot, and you shall pour the blood upon the altar, all around.

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 when you have taken from the blood that is on the altar, and from the oil of unction, you shall sprinkle Aaron and his vestment, his sons and their vestments. And after they and their vestments have been consecrated,

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 you shall take the fat of the ram, and the rump, and the lard that covers the internal organs, and the mesh of the liver, and the two kidneys along with the fat that is on them, and the right shoulder, because it is the ram of consecration,

“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 and one turn of bread, a crust sprinkled with oil, and a cake from the basket of unleavened bread, which was placed in the sight of 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 And you shall place all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them, lifting them up in the sight of the Lord.

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 And you shall take all these things from their hands and burn them upon the altar as a holocaust, as a most sweet odor in the sight of the Lord, because it is his oblation.

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 Likewise, you shall take the chest of the ram, with which Aaron was initiated, and you shall sanctify it, lifting it up in the sight of the Lord, and it will fall to your share.

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 And you shall sanctify both the consecrated chest and the shoulder that you separated from the ram,

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 with which Aaron was initiated with his sons, and these will fall to the share of Aaron and his sons, as a perpetual oath by the sons of Israel. For these are the greatest and the first of their victims of peace, which they offer to the Lord.

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 But the holy vestment, which Aaron shall use, his sons shall possess after him, so that they may be anointed in it and their hands may be consecrated.

“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 For seven days, he who is high priest in his place and who enters the tabernacle of the testimony to minister in the Sanctuary shall use it.

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 But you shall take the ram of consecration and cook its flesh in the 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 And Aaron and his sons shall feed on it. Likewise, the loaves which are in the basket, they shall consume in the vestibule of the tabernacle of the testimony,

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 so that it may be an appeasing sacrifice, and so that the hands of those who offer may be sanctified. A stranger shall not eat from these, for they are holy.

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 what may remain until morning, of the consecrated flesh or of the bread, you shall burn these remnants with fire. These shall not be eaten, because they have been sanctified.

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 All that I have instructed you concerning Aaron and his sons, you shall do. For seven days shall you consecrate their hands,

“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 and you shall offer a calf for sin on each day, as an atonement. And you shall cleanse the altar when you will have immolated the victim of expiation, and you shall anoint it for sanctification.

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 expiate and sanctify the altar, and it shall be the Holy of holies. All those who will touch it must be sanctified.

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 shall acquire for the altar: Two one-year-old lambs, each day continually,

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

39 one lamb in the morning, and the other in the evening;

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

40 for the one lamb, a tenth part of fine flour sprinkled with crushed oil, which shall have the measure of the fourth part of a hin, and wine for a libation, of the same measure;

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 truly, the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, according to the ritual of the morning oblation, and according to what we have said, as an odor of sweetness.

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 It is a sacrifice to the Lord, by a perpetual oblation among your generations, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the Lord, where I resolve to speak to 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 And there I will instruct the sons of Israel, and the altar shall be sanctified 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 I will also sanctify the tabernacle of the testimony with the altar, and Aaron with his sons, to exercise the priesthood for me.

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

45 And I will live in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will be their God.

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

46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who led them away from 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.”