Leviticus 10 - Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective [ceremonial] censers, put fire in them, placed incense on it and offered [a]strange (unauthorized, unacceptable) fire before the Lord, [an act] which He had not commanded them to do. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord said:

‘I will be treated as holy by those who approach Me,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”

So Aaron, therefore, said nothing.

4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel who was Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come here, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary and take them outside the camp.” 5 So they came forward and carried them, still in their undertunics, outside the camp, as Moses had said. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his [younger] sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not [b]uncover your heads nor let your hair hang loose nor tear your clothes [as expressions of mourning], so that you will not die [also] and so that He will not express His wrath and anger toward all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning which the Lord has brought about. 7 You shall not even go out of the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, or you will die; for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did [everything] according to the word of Moses.

8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 [c]Do not drink wine or intoxicating 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 permanent statute throughout your generations— 10 and to make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy (sacred) and the common (profane), and between the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean;(A) 11 and you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them [d]through Moses.”

12 Then Moses said to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the offerings by fire to the Lord, 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 portion and your sons’ portion, from the offerings by fire to the Lord; for so I have been commanded. 14 But the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you; for the breast and the thigh are your portion and your sons’ portion, given out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the Israelites. 15 They shall bring the thigh presented by lifting up and the breast presented by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the fat, to present as a wave offering before the Lord. This shall be yours and your sons’ with you, as your perpetual portion, just as the Lord has commanded.”

16 But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17 “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; and God gave it to you to remove the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the Holy Place; you certainly should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.” 19 Then Aaron said to Moses, “This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord?”(B) 20 When Moses heard that, he was satisfied.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 10:1 What made the fire “strange” cannot be determined. They may have taken the fire from an unauthorized source, or used incense that did not meet the divine specifications. In any case, God’s laws and requirements are not subject to modification by man.
  2. Leviticus 10:6 Lit unbind.
  3. Leviticus 10:9 This prohibition may imply that intoxication precipitated the irreverent behavior that resulted in the death of Aaron’s two older sons.
  4. Leviticus 10:11 Lit by the hand of.

Cross references

  1. Leviticus 10:10 : Ezek 44:23
  2. Leviticus 10:19 : Hos 9:4

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Leviticus 10 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

10 And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, take each his censer, and put in them fire, and put on it perfume, and bring near before Jehovah strange fire, which He hath not commanded them; 2 and fire goeth out from before Jehovah, and consumeth them, and they die before Jehovah. 3 And Moses saith unt...
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Leviticus 10 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

10 And when Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, had taken censers, and putted fire (therein), and incense [there]above, and offered before the Lord alien fire, which thing was not commanded to them. (But then Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, took their censers, and put fire in them, and some incense o...
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Leviticus 10 - World English Bible (WEB)

10 Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them. 2 Fire came out from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and they died before Yahweh. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is ...
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Leviticus 10 - The Voice (VOICE)

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Leviticus 10 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Holy Fire Consumes Unauthorized Fire10 Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own censer, put fire in it, laid incense over it, and offered unauthorized fire before Adonai—which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire came out from the presence of Adonai and consumed them. So they died before ...
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Leviticus 10 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Nadab and Abihu10 Now Nadab and Abi′hu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered unholy fire before the Lord, such as he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lo...
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Leviticus 10 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Nadab and Abihu10 Now Nadab and Abi′hu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered unholy fire before the Lord, such as he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lo...
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Leviticus 10 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Nadab and Abihu10 Now Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his censer, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered unholy fire before the Lord, such as he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 ...
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Leviticus 10 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Nadab and Abihu10 Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and they offered unholy fire before the Lord, such as he had not commanded them.(A)2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.(B)3 ...
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Leviticus 10 - New Living Translation (NLT)

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. 2 So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence an...
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Leviticus 10 - New Life Version (NLV)

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu10 Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and put special perfume on it. They gave a fire that was not holy to the Lord because the Lord had not told them to do this. 2 So the Lord sent out fire that burned them up and they died before the L...
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Leviticus 10 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu10 Then (A)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, (B)each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered (C)profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 2 So (D)fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before ...
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Leviticus 10 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

The death of Nadab and Abihu10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorised fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Mose...
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Leviticus 10 - New International Version (NIV)

The Death of Nadab and Abihu10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu(A) took their censers,(B) put fire in them(C) and added incense;(D) and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord,(E) contrary to his command.(F) 2 So fire came out(G) from the presence of the Lord and consumed them,(H) and they died b...
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Leviticus 10 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

The Lord Kills Nadab and Abihu10 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 ...
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Leviticus 10 - New English Translation (NET)

Nadab and Abihu10 Then[a] Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire[b] before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. 2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord[c] and consumed them so that they died before...
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