Exodus 29

 
The Consecration of the Priests
Exodus 29
 
 

Consecration of the Priests (29:1-28)

Washed with Water: Sanctification (vv.1-4)

CHAPTER 29
And this is the thing which thou shalt do to them to hallow them, that they may serve me as priests: take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil — of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. 3 And thou shalt put them into one basket, and present them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. 4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring near the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shalt bathe them with water.

Anointed with Oil: Sealing of the Spirit (vv.5-7)

5 And thou shalt take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the vest, and the cloak of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and shalt gird him with the girdle of the ephod. 6 And thou shalt put the turban upon his head, and fasten the holy diadem to the turban, 7 and shalt take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.

The Ram for a Burnt Offering: Propitiation (vv.8-18)

8 And thou shalt bring his sons near, and clothe them with the vests. 9 And thou shalt gird them with the girdle — Aaron and his sons, and bind the high caps on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs for an everlasting statute; and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. 10 And thou shalt present the bullock before the tent of meeting; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock; 11 and thou shalt slaughter the bullock before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting; 12 and thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it on the horns of the altar with thy finger, and shalt pour all the blood at the bottom of the altar. 13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. 14 And the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin-offering. 15 And thou shalt take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; 16 and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and shalt take its blood, and sprinkle it on the altar round about. 17 And thou shalt cut up the ram into its pieces, and wash its inwards, and its legs, and put them upon its pieces, and upon its head; 18 and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering to Jehovah — a sweet odour; it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. 

The Ram of Consecration (vv.19-21)

19 And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram; 20 and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and take of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and thou shalt sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 

The Wave Offering (vv.22-28)

22 Also of the ram shalt thou take the fat, and the fat-tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder — for it is a ram of consecration — 23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before Jehovah; 24 and thou shalt put all this in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons, and shalt wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. 25 And thou shalt receive them of their hand and burn them upon the altar over the burnt-offering, for a sweet odour before Jehovah: it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. 26 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of consecration which is for Aaron, and wave it as a wave-offering before Jehovah; and it shall be thy part. 27 And thou shalt hallow the breast of the wave-offering, and the shoulder of the heave-offering, that hath been waved and heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons. 28 And they shall be for Aaron and his sons, as an everlasting statute, on the part of the children of Israel; for it is a heave-offering; and it shall be a heave-offering on the part of the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, as their heave-offering to Jehovah. 

Details of the Consecration Ceremony (vv.29-35)

29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. 30 The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tent of meeting to serve in the sanctuary. 31 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat the things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to hallow them; but a stranger shall not eat of them, for they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh of the consecration, and of the bread, remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, for it is holy. 35 And thus shalt thou do to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. 

The Continual Burnt-Offering (29:36-46)

36 And thou shalt offer every day a bullock as a sin-offering for atonement; and the altar shalt thou cleanse from sin, by making atonement for it, and shalt anoint it, to hallow it. 37 Seven days shalt thou make atonement for the altar and hallow it; and the altar shall be most holy: whatever toucheth the altar shall be holy. 38 And this is what thou shalt offer upon the altar — two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer between the two evenings. 40 And with the one lamb a tenth part of wheaten flour mingled with beaten oil, a fourth part of a hin; and a drink-offering, a fourth part of a hin of wine. 41 And the second lamb shalt thou offer between the two evenings; as the oblation in the morning, and as its drink-offering shalt thou offer with this, for a sweet odour, an offering by fire to Jehovah. 42 It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet with you, to speak there with thee. 43 And there will I meet with the children of Israel; and it shall be hallowed by my glory. 44 And I will hallow the tent of meeting, and the altar; and I will hallow Aaron and his sons, that they may serve me as priests. 45 And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, who have brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, to dwell in their midst: I am Jehovah their God.