The Sin of Nadab and Abihu
And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, each took his firepan and put fire in it, and set incense on it; and they brought near before the LORD strange fire, which he had not commanded them.
And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them — and they died before the LORD.
And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke: ‘Through those who are near me I will be shown holy, and before the face of all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron was silent.
And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the holy place, to outside the camp.”
And they came near and carried them, in their tunics, to outside the camp — as Moses had spoken.
And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your garments, so that you do not die, and so that wrath does not come on all the congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may weep for the burning that the LORD has kindled.
And you shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, or you will die — for the anointing oil of the LORD is on you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
Restrictions for Priests
And the LORD spoke to Aaron:
“Do not drink wine or strong drink — you or your sons with you — when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you do not die. A statute forever throughout your generations:
to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
and to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”
And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: “Take the grain offering that remains from the fire offerings of the LORD, and eat it as unleavened bread beside the altar — for it is a holy of holies.
And you shall eat it in a holy place, for it is your portion and your sons’ portion from the fire offerings of the LORD — for so I have been commanded.
But the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution you shall eat in a clean place — you, and your sons and your daughters with you — for they have been given as your portion and your sons’ portion from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel.
The thigh of the contribution and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring, with the fire offerings of the fat portions, to wave as a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be yours, and your sons’ with you, as a portion forever — as the LORD has commanded.”
And Moses searched diligently for the goat of the sin offering — and look, it had been burned. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left:
“Why did you not eat the sin offering in the place of the holy? For it is a holy of holies, and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD.
Look — its blood was not brought inside the holy place. You should surely have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded.”
And Aaron spoke to Moses: “Look — today they brought near their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been good in the eyes of the LORD?”
And Moses heard — and it was good in his eyes.