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Leviticus 8

1Yahweh spoke to Moses: 2“Take Aaron and his sons with him, the garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the purification offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. 3Assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” 4Moses did as Yahweh commanded him, and the congregation assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 5Moses said to the congregation, “This is what Yahweh commanded to be done.”

6Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 7He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He tied the ephod's woven band around him, fastening the ephod to him with it. 8He put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece. 9He put the turban on his head and placed the gold plate, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

10Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the dwelling and everything in it, consecrating them. 11He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13Moses brought Aaron's sons forward, clothed them with tunics, tied sashes around them, and bound caps on them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

14He brought forward the bull for the purification offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the purification offering. 15The bull was slaughtered. Moses took the blood and with his finger put it on the altar's horns all around, purifying the altar. He poured the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement on it. 16He took all the fat on the inner parts, the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them as an offering on the altar. 17He burned the bull, its hide, its flesh, and its dung in the fire outside the camp, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

18He brought forward the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram's head. 19The ram was slaughtered, and Moses splashed its blood against all sides of the altar. 20The ram was cut into its pieces, and Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fat as an offering. 21The inner parts and legs were washed with water, and Moses burned the whole ram as an offering on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

22He brought forward the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram's head. 23The ram was slaughtered. Moses took some of its blood and put it on Aaron's right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24He brought Aaron's sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Moses splashed the blood against all sides of the altar. 25He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat on the inner parts, the appendage of the liver, the two kidneys with their fat, and the right thigh. 26From the basket of unleavened bread before Yahweh he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread made with oil, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat portions and the right thigh. 27He put all these on Aaron's palms and on his sons' palms and waved them as a wave offering before Yahweh. 28Moses took them from their palms and burned them as an offering on the altar, on the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. 29Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before Yahweh. It was Moses' portion from the ram of ordination, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

30Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and their garments with him. He consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and their garments with him. 31Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and eat it there with the bread in the basket of ordination, as I commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons must eat it.’ 32Burn whatever remains of the meat and bread in the fire. 33Do not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are complete, because your ordination will take seven days. 34Yahweh has commanded that what was done today be done to make atonement for you. 35Remain at the entrance of the tent of meeting day and night for seven days, keeping Yahweh's charge, so that you do not die, for this is what I was commanded.” 36Aaron and his sons did everything Yahweh commanded through Moses.

Translation notes 7

8:7–9 — Priest's garments. The ephod and breastpiece are distinct priestly articles, described more fully in Exodus 28. Urim and Thummim name objects associated with seeking a divine decision; this passage does not explain how they worked. The gold plate is called a holy diadem. Aaron's sons receive simpler garments in verse 13.

8:10–15 — Consecrate; purify. Consecrating places a person or object in the sacred sphere. Purifying the altar is not a claim that the altar has committed a moral offense. The text distinguishes the oil, the blood, and their respective applications rather than treating consecration as one undifferentiated action.

8:13 — Sashes. Hebrew has a singular “sash” in a clause about clothing several sons; the draft uses a distributive English plural. This does not assert a different Hebrew base or say that all the sons wore one shared sash.

8:15–23 — Unnamed subjects. Several singular Hebrew verbs do not name their subject: slaughtering the animals, cutting the ram, and washing its parts. Aaron is a substantial possibility as the offerer, while Moses explicitly performs the altar actions. The draft uses passive wording for those unnamed acts rather than presenting either man's identity as stated in every clause.

8:23–24 — Right ear, hand, and foot. The same Hebrew word names the thumb and the big toe. Right side, earlobe, and each appendage are explicit. The text describes applying blood; it does not itself explain the symbolism of each location.

8:27 — Waved them. Hebrew says “he waved,” without repeating a name. Moses and Aaron are competing identifications; the preceding placement on the priests' palms makes the precise participation in the gesture uncertain. The draft retains the singular wording without supplying a new name or a description of the movement.

8:31, 33–35 — Command and ordination. Verse 31 says “as I commanded”; some ancient versions instead have “as I was commanded,” like the wording in verse 35. The draft retains the Hebrew base. “Ordain” in verse 33 represents the idiom “fill your hands.” The seven-day duration and the charge to remain at the tent entrance are explicit.