Leviticus 10

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

1Now 1Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective 2firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 23And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who 4come near Me I 56will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will 7be honored.’” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

4Moses called also to 8Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your 9relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.” 5So they came forward and carried them still in their 10tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said. 6Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “11Do not 12uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not 13become wrathful against all the congregation. But your 14kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the Lord has 15brought about. 7You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for 16the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.

8The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9“17Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- 10and 18so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11and 19so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”

12Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, 20Eleazar and Ithamar, “21Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13You shall eat it, moreover, in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due out of the Lord’s offerings by fire; for thus I have been commanded. 1422The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your due and your sons’ due out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. 1523The thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving they shall bring along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”

16But Moses searched carefully for the 24goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17“Why 25did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and 26He gave it to you to bear away 27the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. 18Behold, 28since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have 29eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.” 19But Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, this very day they 30presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?” 20When Moses heard that, it seemed good in his sight.