(Numbers 3:1–4)
1
And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, picking up their censers, placed fire in them and incense upon them, offering in the sight of the Lord a strange fire, such as was not instructed of them.
2
And fire coming out from the Lord destroyed them, and they died in the sight of the Lord.
3
And Moses said to Aaron: “This is what the Lord has spoken: ‘I will be sanctified in those who approach me, and I will be glorified in the sight of all the people.’ ” And upon hearing this, Aaron was silent.
4
Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the paternal uncle of Aaron, and he said to them, “Go and take your brothers from the sight of the Sanctuary, and carry them beyond the camp.”
5
And moving quickly, they took them as they lay, vested with linen tunics, and cast them outside, just as had been commanded them.
6
And Moses said to Aaron, and to his sons, Eleazar and Ithamar: “Do not uncover your heads, and do not rend your garments, lest perhaps you may die, and indignation may rise up over the entire assembly. Let your brothers, and all the house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled.
7
But you shall not depart from the door of the tabernacle; otherwise, you shall perish. For certainly the oil of holy anointing is upon you.” And they did all things according to the precept of Moses.
Restrictions for Priests
8
The Lord also said to Aaron:
9
“You shall not drink wine, nor anything that is able to inebriate you or your sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die. For it is an everlasting precept in your generations.
10
And so may you have the knowledge to discern between holy and profane, between polluted and clean.
11
And so may you teach the sons of Israel all my ordinances, which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”
12
And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, who were remaining: “Take the sacrifice which remains from the oblation of the Lord, and eat it without leaven next to the altar, because it is the Holy of holies.
13
For you shall eat it in a holy place, which is given to you and to your sons, from the oblations of the Lord, just as has been instructed me.
14
Likewise, the breast which is offered, and the shoulder which is separated, you shall eat in a most clean place, you and your sons, and your daughters with you. For these have been set aside for you and your children from the victims which benefit the sons of Israel.
15
Since they have lifted up in the sight of the Lord, the shoulder, and the breast, and the fat that is burned on the altar, these also belong to you and to your sons as a perpetual law, just as the Lord has instructed.”
16
Meanwhile, when Moses was searching for the he-goat, which had been offered for sin, he discovered it burned up. And being angry against Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were remaining, he said:
17
“Why did you not eat the sacrifice for sin in the holy place, which is the Holy of holies, and which was given to you, so that you might carry the iniquity of the people, and might pray for them in the sight of the Lord,
18
especially since none of its blood has been brought into the holy places, and since you should have eaten it in the Sanctuary, as was instructed me?”
19
Aaron responded: “This day, the victim for sin has been offered, and the holocaust in the sight of the Lord. But you see what has happened to me. How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies, having a sorrowful mind?”
20
But when Moses had heard this, he was satisfied.