Leviticus 21

1 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, Let no man make himself unclean for the dead 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 But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his 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 And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.

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

4 But let him, being a chief among his people, not make himself unclean in such a way as to put shame on himself.

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

5 They are not to have their hair cut off for the dead, or the hair on their chins cut short, or make cuts in their flesh.

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

6 Let them be holy to their God and not make the name of their God common; for the fire offerings of the Lord and the bread of their God are offered by them, and they are to 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 They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away 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 And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy.

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

9 And if the daughter of a priest makes herself common and by her loose behaviour puts shame on her father, let her be burned with 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 And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow.

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 may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his 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 may not go out of the holy place or make the holy place of his God common; for the crown of the holy 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 And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man.

He shall take a virgin as his wife.

14 A widow, or one whose husband has put her away, or a common woman of loose behaviour, may not be the wife of a priest; but let him take a virgin from among his 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 And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.

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 And the Lord said to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17 Say to Aaron, If a man of your family, in any generation, is damaged in body, let him not come near to make the offering of the bread 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 For any man whose body is damaged may not come near: one who is blind, or has not the use of his legs, or one who has a broken nose or any unnatural growth,

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 Or a man with broken feet or hands,

if his foot or hand is broken,

20 Or one whose back is bent, or one who is unnaturally small, or one who has a damaged eye, or whose skin is diseased, or whose sex parts are damaged;

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 man of the offspring of Aaron whose body is damaged in any way may come near to give the fire offerings of the Lord: he is damaged, he may not come near to make the offerings.

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 take of the bread of God, the holy and the most holy;

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

23 But he may not go inside the veil or come near the altar, because he is damaged; and he may not make my holy places common; for I the Lord have made them holy.

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 These are the words which Moses said to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel.

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