Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, took their fire pans with live coal and added incense on it and presented them to the Lord which He had not commanded them because the fire wasn’t holy. The Lord brought the fire; it burned up to death in the Lord’s presence. Moses told Aaron, “This is what the Lord had said: ‘All who serve Me respect My holiness; I will reveal My glory to My people.’” Aaron didn’t say anything. Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, Uzziel’s sons and Aaron’s uncle, saying, “Come near here and carry your cousins’ bodies away and put them outside near the camp.” They came and did it. Moses said to Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair not combed or clothes torn down for mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. All other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death. Don’t leave the Tent’s entrance or you will both die, because you’ve been consecrated by the oil of the Lord.” So they did as Moses had said.
The Lord told Aaron, “You and your sons are not to enter the Tent after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law that must be kept by your descendants; you must distinguish between what belongs to God and for general use, ritually clean or unclean. And you shall teach all Israel all the laws that I have spoken to you through Moses.” Moses said to Aaron along with his two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Bring the grain offering that is left from the food offering made by the Lord, make unleavened bread with it and eat it near the altar; it is most holy. Eat it in a holy place; it’s the part that belongs to you and your sons. That is what the Lord had told me. But you and your families shall eat the breast and hind leg that were contributed as a special gift before the Lord for the priests. You may eat them in any clean place for its ritual. These offerings have been given out to you and your children as the part that belongs to you from Israel’s people’s fellowship offerings. They shall carry the hind leg and breast at the time that the fat is presented itself as a food offering before the Lord, and these parts now belong to you and your children forever.”
Moses questioned the goat for the sin offering, and learned that it had been all burned up. Moses was angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, and demanded, “Why didn’t you eat this sin offering in a sacred place? It is most holy; the Lord has taken it to you in order to take away the community’s sin. Since its blood wasn’t carefully brought into the sacred Tent, you would’ve eaten the sacrifice there, just as I had said.” Aaron said, “Look, the people brought and presented the sin offering to the Lord today, and such things have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it still be accepted by the Lord?” When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.