Before that time the first born of every family, the fathers, the kings, the princes, were priests, born in their city and in their own homes. Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham and Job, Abimelech and Laban, Isaac and Jacob, offered themselves their own sacrifices. In the solemnity of the covenant that the Lord made with his people at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses performed the office of meditator, and young men were chosen from among the children of Israel to perform the office of priests. But after that the Lord had chosen the tribe of Levi to serve him in his tabernacle, and that the priesthood was annexed to the family of Aaron, then the right of offering sacrifices to God was reserved to the priests alone of this family. Duties of the priests: The priests were required to prove their descent from Aaron, to be free from all bodily defect or blemish; must not be observed mourning except for near relatives; must not marry a woman that had been a harlot; or divorced, or profane. The priest's daughter who committed whoredom was to be burned, as profaning her father. The priests were to have the charge of the sanctuary and the altar, which being once kindled the priest was always to keep it burning. In later times, and upon extraordinary occasions, at least, they flayed the burnt-offerings and killed the Passover. They were to receive the blood of the burnt-offerings in basins and sprinkle it around about the altar, arrange the wood and the fire, and to burn the parts of the sacrifices. If the burnt sacrifices were of doves, the priest was to nip off the head with the finger nail, squeeze out the blood on the edge of the altar, pluck off the feathers, and throw them with the crop into the ash-pit, divide down the wings, and then completely burn it. He was to offer a lamb every morning and evening, and a double number on the Sabbath, the burnt-offerings ordered at the beginning of months, and the same on the feast of Unleavened Bread, and on the day of the First Fruits; to receive the meat-offering of the offerer, bring it to the altar, take of it a memorial, and burn it upon the altar; to sprinkle the blood of the peace-offerings upon the altar around about, and then to offer of it a burnt-offering; to offer the sin-offering for the sins of a ruler or any of the common people; to eat the sin-offering at the holy place; and the same way to offer offerings for all the kinds of sin and the priest should eat these offerings at the holy place; to offer for the purification of women after child-birth; to judge of the leprosy in the human body or garments (it is remarkable that the Jewish race from the beginning, has been all through the ages a heavy victim of leprosy). The priest was to make the ointment of spices; to prepare the water of separation; to act as assessor in judicial proceedings; to encourage the army when going to battle, and probably to have charge of the law.