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 said also to Moses: Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say to them: Let not a priest incur an uncleanness at the death of his citizens:

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

But only for his kin, such as are near in blood, that is to say, for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his daughter, for his brother also,

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

And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband:

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

But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing that may make him unclean.

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, nor their beard, nor 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 shall not profane his name: for they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their God, and therefore 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 to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one that has been put away from her husband: because 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 offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify 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 be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with 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 to say, the priest, is the greatest among his brethren. upon whose head the oil of unction hath been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who hath been vested with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, he shall not rend his garments:

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

Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his father, or his mother, shall he be defiled:

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 go out of the holy places, lest he defile the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy unction of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

13 The woman he marries must be a virgin.

He shall take a virgin unto 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 that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of 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 kindred with the common people of his nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify 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: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer 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 be blind, if he be lame, if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose,

19 no man who has a broken foot or hand,

If his foot, or if his hand be 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 be crookbacked, or blear eyed, or have a pearl in his eye, or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture:

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.

Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish, he shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to his God.

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

He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves, that 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.’”

Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the altar, because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary. I am the Lord who sanctify them.

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

Moses therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.