Leviticus 9

The priests begin their work

1 On the eighth day, Moses told Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel to come. 2 He said to Aaron, ‘Bring a young bull for a sin offering. And bring a male sheep for a burnt offering. They must be perfect animals. Bring them as an offering to the Lord. 3 Then tell Israel's people, “Bring a male goat for a sin offering. Bring a calf and a lamb for a burnt offering. The calf and the lamb must be one year old and they must be perfect. 4 Also bring a bull and a male sheep for a friendship offering that you will offer as a sacrifice to the Lord. And bring a grain offering of flour that is mixed with olive oil. Do this because the Lord will appear to you today.” ’

5 The people brought all the animals and the grain to the front of the Tent of Meeting as Moses had commanded. All the Israelite people stood together there to worship the Lord. 6 Moses said to the people, ‘The Lord has commanded you to do this so that his bright glory will appear to you.’

7 Moses said to Aaron, ‘Go to the altar to offer your sin offering and your burnt offering to the Lord. Do that to make yourself clean from your sins and to make the people clean from their sins. Also offer the people's offerings to make them clean from their sins. The Lord has commanded you to do this.’

8 So Aaron went to the altar. He killed the young bull that was a sin offering for himself. 9 Aaron's sons brought the blood to him. He put his finger in the blood and he put it on the four horns of the altar. He poured the blood that remained onto the ground in front of the altar. 10 Aaron took the bull's fat, its kidneys and the bottom part of its liver. He burnt these parts on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 11 But Moses took the meat and the skin of the bull outside the camp. There he completely burned it.

12 Then Aaron killed the male sheep for the burnt offering. His sons brought the blood to him. He splashed it onto the sides of the altar. 13 His sons brought the pieces of the sheep to him, including its head. Aaron burned them on the altar. 14 He washed the sheep's inside parts and its legs. He burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

15 Then Aaron brought to the altar the male goat which was the sin offering for the people. He killed it as a sacrifice to make the people clean, like the first offering.

16 Then Aaron brought the animal for the burnt offering. He offered it as a sacrifice in the proper way. 17 He also brought the grain offering. He took some of it in his hand. He burned it on the altar together with the burnt offering of that morning.

18 Aaron killed the bull and the male sheep which were friendship offerings for the people. His sons brought the blood to him. He splashed it onto the sides of the altar. 19 His sons also took the fat pieces from the bull and from the male sheep. They took the fat part of the tail, the fat around the inside parts, the kidneys and the bottom part of the liver. 20 They put those pieces on the meat of the animal's ribs. Aaron burned the fat pieces of the animals on the altar as an offering. 21 Then Aaron lifted up the meat of the ribs and the top part of the right leg of each animal as a special offering to the Lord. He did this as Moses had commanded him to do.

22 Aaron had now finished making the sin offering, the burnt offering and the friendship offering. He lifted up his hands towards the people and he asked God to bless them. Then he came down from the altar.

23 Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they asked God to bless the people. The bright glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 Then the Lord sent a fire to completely burn the burnt offering and the fat pieces that were on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted loudly. They fell down with their faces towards the ground.