Leviticus 21

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,

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,

2 except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,

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,

3 or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.

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

4 He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.

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

5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.

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

6 They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.

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.

7 A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

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,

8 You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.

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

9 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

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.

10 The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.

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.

11 He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.

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

12 He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.

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.

13 The woman he marries must be a virgin.

He shall take a virgin as his wife.

14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,

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.

15 so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

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

16 Then the LORD said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17 “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.

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

18 No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;

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,

19 no man who has a broken foot or hand,

if his foot or hand is broken,

20 or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

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.

21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.

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.

22 He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,

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

23 but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

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.

24 Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

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