They shall be worn by Aaron and his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not bring guilt on themselves and die. This shall be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants after him.
The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come just at any time into the sanctuary inside the curtain before the cover that is upon the ark, or he will die, for I appear in the cloud upon the cover.
You shall incur no guilt by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the Israelites, on pain of death.”