But the sons of Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, took each man his censer, and put fire therein, and laid sweet incense upon it, and offered before the Lord strange fire taken from (under) the hearth-pots, which had not been commanded them.
And a flame of fire came out from before the Lord (as) with anger, and divided itself into four streams, (or lines,) and penetrated their nostrils, and burned their lives (souls) without destroying their bodies; and they died before the Lord.
And Mosheh said, This is that which the Lord spake with me in Sinai, saying: In them who come near before Me I will have the tabernacle to be sacred, that, if they be not heedful in the service of the oblations, I will burn them with flaming fire from before Me, that in the sight of all the people I may be glorified. And Aharon heard, and was silent; and he received a good reward for his silence.
And Mosheh called unto Mishael and to Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the Levite, the relative of Aharon, and said to them, Take your brethren from the sanctuary, and carry them, without the camp.
And they came nigh, and carried them with hooks of iron in their garments, and buried them without the camp, as Mosheh had directed.
And Mosheh said to Aharon, and to Elasar and to Ithamar, his sons, Unbare not your heads, neither rend your garments, lest you die by the burning fire, and there be wrath upon all the congregation; but be silent and justify the judgment upon you, and let all your brethren of the house of Israel bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.
And from the door of the tabernacle of ordinance go not forth lest you die; for the oil of the Lord's consecration is upon you. And they did according to the word of Mosheh.
And the Lord spake with Aharon, saying,
Drink neither wine nor anything that maketh drunk, neither thou nor thy sons with thee at the time when ye are to enter into the tabernacle of ordinance, as thy sons did who have died by the burning of fire. It is an everlasting statute for your generations;
and for the distinguishing between the sacred and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
and for teaching the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Mosheh.
And Mosheh spake with Aharon, and Elasar and Ithamar, his sons, who were left from the burning: Take the mincha that remaineth of the Lord's oblations, and eat it unleavened at the side of the altar, because it is most sacred:
and you may eat it in the holy place; for it is thy portion and the portion of thy souls of the oblations of the Lord: for so have I been commanded.
But the breast of the uplifting and the shoulder of the separation you may eat in (any) clean place, thou and thy sons with thee, because it is thy portion and the portion of thy sons which hath been given from the hallowed sacrifices of the children of Israel.
The shoulder of the separation and the elevated breast with the fats of the oblations they shall bring to be uplifted an elevation before the Lord, and they shall then be thine and thy sons' with thee, by an everlasting statute, as the Lord commanded.
And on this day three goats shall be offered; the goat for the beginning of the month, (or, new moon,) the goat of the people's sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering which Nachson bar Aminadab hath brought for the dedication of the altar. And Aharon and his sons went and burned those three. (But) Mosheh came and inquired for the goat of the people's sin offering; he sought it, but, behold, it had been burned, and he was angry with Elasar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon who were left, and said,
Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place? forasmuch as it is most sacred, and hath been given to you for absolving the sin of the congregation, to make atonement for you before the Lord;
and, behold, none of its blood hath been carried in within the sanctuary. You should have indeed eaten it in the holy place, as I have been instructed.
And Aharon said to Mosheh, Behold, this day the sons of Israel have brought the oblation of their sin offering and their burnt sacrifice before the Lord; but a stroke hath befallen me, in those my two sons. Of the second tythe is it not commanded, Thou shalt not eat of it while mourning? How much more, then of the sin offering? If I had eaten of the sin offering this day with my two sons who are left, would it not have been all error, so that they too might have been burned by a judgment, for doing that which was not pleasing before the Lord?
And Mosheh heard, and it was approvable before him, and he sent out a crier through the camp, saying, I am he from whom the rite hath been hidden, and Aharon my brother hath brought its remembrance to me.