9:1] On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel. 2] He said to Aaron: “Take a calf of the herd for a purgation offering and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and bring them before the Eternal. 3] And speak to the Israelites, saying: Take a he-goat for a purgation offering; a calf and a lamb, yearlings without blemish, for a burnt offering; 4] and an ox and a ram for an offering of well-being to sacrifice before the Eternal; and a meal offering with oil mixed in. For today the Eternal will appear to you.”
5] They brought to the front of the Tent of Meeting the things that Moses had commanded, and the community leadership came forward and stood before the Eternal. 6] Moses said: “This is what the Eternal has commanded that you do, that the Presence of the Eternal may appear to you.” 7] Then Moses said to Aaron: “Come forward to the altar and sacrifice your purgation offering and your burnt offering, making expiation for yourself and for the people; and sacrifice the people’s offering and make expiation for them, as the Eternal has commanded.”
8] Aaron came forward to the altar and slaughtered his calf of purgation offering. 9] Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him; he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 10] The fat, the kidneys, and the protuberance of the liver from the purgation offering he turned into smoke on the altar—as the Eternal had commanded Moses; 11] and the flesh and the skin were consumed in fire outside the camp. 12] Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. Aaron’s sons passed the blood to him, and he dashed it against all sides of the altar. 13] They passed the burnt offering to him in sections, as well as the head, and he turned it into smoke on the altar. 14] He washed the entrails and the legs, and turned them into smoke on the altar with the burnt offering.
15] Next he brought forward the people’s offering. He took the goat for the people’s purgation offering, and slaughtered it, and presented it as a purgation offering like the previous one. 16] He brought forward the burnt offering and sacrificed it according to regulation. 17] He then brought forward the meal offering and, taking a handful of it, he turned it into smoke on the altar—in addition to the burnt offering of the morning. 18] He slaughtered the ox and the ram, the people’s sacrifice of well-being. Aaron’s sons passed the blood to him—which he dashed against every side of the altar— 19] and the fat parts of the ox and the ram: the broad tail, the covering [fat], the kidneys, and the protuberances of the livers. 20] They laid these fat parts over the breasts; and Aaron turned the fat parts into smoke on the altar, 21] and elevated the breasts and the right thighs as an elevation offering before the Eternal—as Moses had commanded.
22] Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them; and he stepped down after offering the purgation offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being. 23] Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the Presence of the Eternal appeared to all the people. 24] Fire came forth from before the Eternal and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces.
10:1] Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Eternal alien fire, which had not been enjoined upon them. 2] And fire came forth from the Eternal and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Eternal. 3] Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Eternal meant by saying:
Through those near to Me I show Myself holy,
And gain glory before all the people.”
And Aaron was silent.
4] Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come forward and carry your kinsmen away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” 5] They came forward and carried them out of the camp by their tunics, as Moses had ordered. 6] And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not bare your heads and do not rend your clothes, lest you die and anger strike the whole community. But your kin, all the house of Israel, shall bewail the burning that the Eternal has wrought. 7] And so do not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die, for the Eternal’s anointing oil is upon you.” And they did as Moses had bidden.
8] And the Eternal One spoke to Aaron, saying: 9] Drink no wine or other intoxicant, you or your sons, when you enter the Tent of Meeting, that you may not die. This is a law for all time throughout the ages, 10] for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure; 11] and you must teach the Israelites all the laws which the Eternal has imparted to them through Moses.
Translation from The Torah: A Modern Commentary, copyright (c) 2016 by CCAR Press. All rights reserved. Translation of Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy from NJPS © 1962, 1985, 1999; CJPS © 2006. Used and adapted by CCAR Press with permission from The Jewish Publication Society and the University of Nebraska Press. No part of this translation may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or be transmitted without express written permission from the Central Conference of American Rabbis. For permission, please contact CCAR Press.