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 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 But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his 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 And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.

And for a maiden sister, who hath had no 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 for the prince of his people shall he do any thing that may make him unclean.

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, nor their beard, nor 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 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 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 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 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 offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify 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 be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with 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 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 may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his 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 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 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 And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man.

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

19 Or a man with broken feet or hands,

If his foot, or if his hand be 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 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 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.

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

He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves, that 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.

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

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