Leviticus 21

1 The Lord also said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them: Do not allow a priest to be contaminated by the death of his citizens,

Yahweh said to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'No one among you shall make himself unclean for those who die among his people,

2 except only by his blood-relatives and near-relatives, that is, by a father or mother, or by a son or daughter, or also a brother,

except for his closest relatives—his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,

3 or a virgin sister, who is not married to a husband.

or his virgin sister who is dependent on him, since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.

4 But not even by the leader of his people shall he be contaminated.

But he must not make himself unclean for other relatives and so defile himself.

5 Neither shall they shave their head or their beard, and they shall not make incisions in their flesh.

Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards, nor cut their bodies.

6 They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not pollute his name. For they offer the incense of the Lord and the bread of their God, and because of this they shall be holy.

They must be holy to their God and not disgrace the name of their God, because the priests offer Yahweh's food offerings, the bread of their God. Therefore the priests must be holy.

7 They shall not take as a wife a promiscuous woman, or a prostitute, or her who has been repudiated by her husband. For they are consecrated to their God,

They must not marry any woman who is a prostitute and who is defiled, and they must not marry a woman divorced from her husband, for they are separate for their God.

8 and they offer the bread of the presence. Therefore, let them be holy, for I also am holy: the Lord, who sanctifies them.

You will set him apart, for he is the one who offers bread to your God. He must be holy to you, because I, Yahweh who makes you holy, am holy.

9 If the daughter of a priest will have been taken into prostitution, and will have violated the name of her father, she shall be consumed by fire.

Any daughter of any priest who defiles herself by becoming a prostitute disgraces her father. She must be burned.

10 The high priest, that is, the priest who is the greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the oil of anointing has been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who has been vested with the holy vestments: he shall not expose his head; he shall not rend his vestments.

The one who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the special garments of the high priest, must not wear his hair loose or tear his clothes.

11 And he shall not enter to any dead body whatsoever; likewise, not even by his father or mother shall he be contaminated.

He must not go anywhere that a dead body is present and defile himself, even for his father or his mother.

12 Neither shall he exit from the holy places, lest he pollute the Sanctuary of the Lord. For the oil of the holy anointing of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

The high priest must not leave the sanctuary area of the tabernacle or profane the sanctuary of his God, because he has been consecrated as high priest by the anointing oil of his God. I am Yahweh.

13 He shall take a virgin as his wife.

The high priest must marry a virgin as his wife.

14 But a widow, or one who has been repudiated or defiled, or also a mistress, he shall not accept, but only a maiden from among his own people.

He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman who is a prostitute. He will not marry these kinds of women. He may only marry a virgin from his own people,

15 He shall not mingle the stock of his family with the common people of his nation. For I am the Lord, who sanctifies him.

so he will not defile his children among his people, for I am Yahweh, who makes him holy.'”

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

17 Say to Aaron: A man from your offspring, throughout their families, who has a blemish, shall not offer the bread to his God.

“Speak to Aaron and tell him, 'Whoever of your descendants throughout their generations has a bodily defect, he must not approach to offer the food to his God.

18 Neither shall he approach to minister to him: if he is blind, if he is lame, if he is small, or large, or has a crooked nose,

Any man who has a bodily defect must not approach Yahweh, such as a blind man or a man who is unable to walk, one who is disfigured or deformed,

19 if his foot or hand is broken,

a man with a crippled hand or foot,

20 if he has a bulging back or bleary eyes, or if he has a white spot in his eye, or a chronic scab, or a skin disease on his body, or a hernia.

a man who has a hump in his back or is abnormally thin or short, or a man with a defect in his eyes, or with a disease, sore, scabs, or whose testicles have been crushed.

21 Anyone from the offspring of Aaron, the priest, who has a blemish, shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor the bread to his God.

No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest with a bodily defect may come near to perform the offerings made by fire for Yahweh. Such a man has a bodily defect; he must not come near to offer the bread of his God.

22 Nevertheless, he shall eat from the loaves which are offered in the Sanctuary.

He may eat the food of his God, whether some of the most holy or some of the holy.

23 But even so, he may not enter within the veil, nor approach to the altar. For he has a blemish, and he must not contaminate my Sanctuary. I am the Lord, who sanctifies them.

However, he must not enter inside the curtain or come near the altar, because he has a bodily defect, so that he does not defile my holy place, for I am Yahweh, who makes them holy.'”

24 Therefore, Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all of Israel, everything that had been commanded to him.

So Moses spoke these words to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the people of Israel.