3.Mose 10 | New International Reader’s Version

The Lord kills Nadab and Abihu

1 Nadab and Abihu were two of Aaron’s sons. They got their shallow cups for burning incense. They put fire in them. They added incense to it. They made an offering to the LORD by using fire that wasn’t allowed. They did it against his command. 2 So the LORD sent fire on them. It burned them up. They died in front of the LORD. 3 Then Moses spoke to Aaron. He said, ‘That’s what the LORD was talking about when he said, ‘ “Among those who approach me I will show that I am holy. In the sight of all the people I will be honoured.” ’ So Aaron remained silent. 4 Moses sent for Mishael and Elzaphan. They were sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel. Moses said to them, ‘Come here. Carry the bodies of your cousins outside the camp. Take them away from in front of the Holy Room.’ 5 So they came and carried them outside the camp. It was just as Moses had ordered. The bodies of Nadab and Abihu still had their inner robes on them. 6 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar. They were Aaron’s sons. Moses said, ‘Don’t let your hair hang loose. Don’t tear your clothes. If you do, you will die. And the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But all the Israelites are allowed to show they are sad. They are your relatives. They may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed with fire. 7 Don’t leave the entrance to the tent of meeting. If you do, you will die. That’s because the LORD’s anointing oil has made you holy.’ So they did what Moses told them to do. 8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron. He said, 9 ‘You and your sons will go into the tent of meeting. When you do, you must not drink any kind of wine. If you do, you will die. This is a law that will last for all time to come. 10 This is so that you can tell the difference between what is holy and what is not. You must be able to tell the difference between what is “clean” and what is not. 11 Then you will be able to teach the Israelites all the rules I have given them through Moses.’ 12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar. They were Aaron’s two remaining sons. Moses said, ‘Take the grain offering left over from the food offerings presented to the LORD. It is very holy. Make bread without yeast from it. Eat it beside the altar. 13 Eat it in the holy area. It’s your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the LORD. These rules are in keeping with the command the LORD gave me. 14 But you and your sons and your daughters can eat the breast that was waved. You can also eat the thigh that was offered. Eat them in a “clean” place. They have been given to you and your children. They are your share of the friendship offerings the Israelites bring. 15 The thigh that was offered must be brought together with the fat parts of the food offerings. The breast that was waved must be brought in the same way. All of it must be lifted up and waved in front of the LORD as a wave offering. It will be the share for you and your children for all time to come. That’s what the LORD has commanded.’ 16 Moses asked about the goat that was brought as the sin offering. He found out that it had been burned up. So he became angry with Eleazar and Ithamar. They were Aaron’s two remaining sons. Moses asked them, 17 ‘Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in a place near the Holy Room? The offering is very holy. It was given to you to take the people’s guilt away. It paid for their sin in the sight of the LORD. 18 The blood of the offering wasn’t taken into the Holy Room. So you should have eaten the goat in a place near the Holy Room. That’s what I commanded.’ 19 Aaron replied to Moses, ‘Today the people sacrificed their sin offering to the LORD. They also sacrificed their burnt offerings to him. But a terrible thing has happened to me. Two of my sons have died. Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?’ 20 When Moses heard that, he was satisfied.

English Standard Version

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized* fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. 4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 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 clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. 7 And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses. 8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.” 12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the Lord’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the Lord’s food offerings, for so I am commanded. 14 But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15 The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.” 16 Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.

3.Mose 10 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The Lord kills Nadab and Abihu

The Death of Nadab and Abihu