1   Now Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, took their firepans, put fire in them, threw incense on the fire and presented before the Lord illicit fire which he had not commanded. 2   Fire came out from before the Lord and destroyed them; and so they died in the presence of the Lord. 3   Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord meant when he said: Among those who approach me, I must be treated as holy; in the presence of all the people I must be given honour.’ Aaron was dumbfounded. 4   Moses sent for Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, ‘Come and carry your cousins

The hallowing and installation of the priests outside the camp away from the holy place.’ 5   They came and carried them away in their tunics outside the camp, as Moses had told them. 6   Moses then said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘You shall not leave your hair dishevelled or tear your clothes in mourning, lest you die and the Lord be angry with the whole community. Your kinsmen, all the house of Israel, shall weep for the destruction by fire which the Lord has kindled. 7   You shall not leave the entrance to the Tent of the Presence lest you die, because the Lord's anointing oil is on you.’ They did as Moses had said.

8    9   The Lord spoke to Aaron and said: You and your sons with you shall not drink wine or strong drink when you are to enter the Tent of the Presence, lest you die. This is a rule binding on your descendants for all time, 10   to make a distinction between sacred and profane, between clean and unclean, 11   and to teach the Israelites all the decrees which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.

12   Moses said to Aaron and his surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘Take what is left over of the grain-offering out of the food-offerings of the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; it is most sacred. 13   You shall eat it in a sacred place; it is your due and that of your sons out of the Lord's food-offerings, for so I was commanded. 14   You shall eat the breast of the special gift and the leg of the contribution in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters; for they have been given to you and your children as your due out of the shared-offerings of the Israelites. 15   The leg of the contribution and the breast of the special gift shall be brought, along with the food-offerings of fat, to be presented as a special gift before the Lord, and it shall belong to you and your children together, a due for all time; for so the Lord has commanded.’

16   Moses made searching inquiry about the goat of the sin-offering and found that it had been burnt. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's surviving sons, 17   and said, ‘Why did you not eat the sin-offering in the sacred place? It is most sacred. It was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making expiation for them before the Lord. 18   If the blood is not brought within the sacred precincts, you shall eat the sin-offering there as I was commanded.’ 19   But Aaron replied to Moses, ‘See, they have today presented their sin-offering and their whole-offering before the Lord, and this is what has befallen me; if I eat a sin-offering today, will it be right in the eyes of the Lord?’ 20   When Moses heard this, he deemed it right.

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