About this song
About this song
This song belongs to the Leviticus collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.
- Collection
- Leviticus
[Intro]
Eight days of waiting.
One day of fire.
[Verse 1]
On the eighth day we stood at the tent,
every tribe and every clan.
Aaron lifted up his hands on us
the way a father can.
He went in with Moses and came back out
and they blessed us where we stood,
and the glory of the LORD showed itself to all of us
like fire through dry wood.
Then fire came out from before the LORD
and ate the altar clean.
We shouted, and we hit the ground.
It was the brightest thing I've seen.
[Pre-Chorus]
And while our faces were in the dust,
two of his sons stood up.
Nadab and Abihu filled their pans
with coals He never called for
and heaped the incense on top.
[Chorus]
Strange fire, strange fire,
fire He never asked them for.
The flame that fell on the altar
came out again through the door.
Strange fire, strange fire,
and two sons of Aaron are no more.
[Verse 2]
I saw it leave the tent again,
the same fire, just as bright.
It never singed their linen coats.
It put out both their lights.
Moses said, This is what the LORD meant:
The ones who come near Me will treat Me as holy,
and all the people will see Me honored here.
And Aaron did not say a word.
Not one that I could hear.
[Chorus]
Strange fire, strange fire,
fire He never asked them for.
The flame that fell on the altar
came out again through the door.
Strange fire, strange fire,
and two sons of Aaron are no more.
[Bridge]
Two cousins came and took them out
by the coats they wore that day,
out past the edge of the camp,
and carried them away.
Do not tear your clothes, said Moses.
Do not let your hair hang down.
Let the whole house of Israel mourn the burning.
Stay at the door. The oil is on your crown.
[Final Chorus]
Strange fire, strange fire,
fire He never asked them for.
The flame that fell on the altar
came out again through the door.
Strange fire, strange fire,
and two sons of Aaron are no more.
Aaron held his peace.
Aaron held his peace.
[Outro]
Eight days of waiting.
One day of fire.
Named in this songAaronMoses
About the passage
Leviticus 9: The first ministry, and fire before the people
The eighth day finally puts Aaron into public ministry, but his first act is not to deal with everyone else. He must offer for himself before offering for the congregation. His sons assist in an ordered way, carrying blood and prepared portions while Aaron works at the altar. Then the people’s sin, burnt, grain, and peace offerings arrive in sequence, each retaining its own handling. The chapter is crowded with ordinary priestly work before anything spectacular happens. Only after slaughter, washing, blood application, burning, and presentation do Moses and Aaron bless the people, the LORD’s glory appears, and fire consumes the altar offering. The people shout and fall on their faces. Acceptance is public, but it comes after commanded service rather than replacing it.
Study Leviticus 9 in depth →Leviticus 10: Two deaths, Aaron’s silence, and a difficult meal
Leviticus 10 shatters the triumph of the previous chapter. Nadab and Abihu use familiar sacred materials in an unauthorized act, and fire from before the LORD consumes them. The text does not explain every possible defect in their offering or supply hidden motives, so the stated issue remains enough: they brought what had not been commanded. Their deaths do not suspend the priesthood. Bodies are removed, Aaron and his remaining sons stay at their post, and new instruction links sober service with the ability to distinguish holy from common and clean from unclean. The chapter ends with a different kind of difficulty. Aaron explains why the sin-offering goat was burned rather than eaten, and Moses accepts his reasoning. Unauthorized improvisation and reasoned judgment are not treated as the same thing.
Study Leviticus 10 in depth →
