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;

And the LORD said to Moses, Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and say to them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:

2 But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his brother;

But for his kin, that is near to him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother.

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 his sister a virgin, that is near to him, which has had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

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 he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

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.

They shall not make baldness on their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings 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 not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: 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 a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy to his 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.

You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.

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.

And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profanes 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.

And he that is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;

11 He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother;

Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;

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 sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD.

13 And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man.

And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

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.

A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.

15 And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.

Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do 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.

Speak to Aaron, saying, Whoever he be of your seed in their generations that has any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of 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,

For whatever man he be that has a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that has a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

19 Or a man with broken feet or hands,

Or a man that is broken footed, or broken handed,

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;

Or hunch back, or a dwarf, or that has a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or has his stones broken;

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.

No man that has a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

22 He may take of the bread of God, the holy and the most holy;

He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.

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.

Only he shall not go in to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

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

And Moses told it to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.