Leviticus 21

1 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:

Yahweh also said to Moses/me, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them,

2 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,

‘You priests must not cause yourselves to become unfit to do my work by [touching] corpses. Priests are permitted to touch only the corpses of close relatives, such as the priest’s mother or father or his son or daughter or his brother.

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

Priests are also permitted to touch the corpse of a sister if she is not married, because she has no husband [to bury her body].

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

Priests must not cause themselves to become unfit to do my work [DOU] by [touching corpses of] people who were married to one of their close relatives.

5 Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make incisions in their flesh.

You priests must not shave your heads or shave the edges of your beards or cut your bodies [to show that you are mourning for someone who has died].

6 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.

You must act in ways that I, your God, consider to be holy, and not disgrace my name/reputation. You are the ones who present to me the offerings that are burned. [It is as though] those offerings are food for me, your God; so you must act in ways that are holy.

7 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,

You priests must not marry women who have been prostitutes or who have been divorced from their husbands, because you priests are (set apart for me/holy).

8 And offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them.

You must consider that you are holy, because you offer food to me, your God. Consider yourselves to be holy because I, Yahweh, [the one who caused you to be priests and] the one who enables you to be holy, am holy.

9 If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire.

If a priest’s daughter disgraces herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; and she must be killed by being burned in a fire.

10 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:

The Supreme Priest is the one among his relatives who has been [appointed for that work] by having his head anointed with olive oil. He is also the one who has been appointed to wear the special garments that priests wear. He must not allow the hair on his [head] to remain uncombed, and he must not tear his clothes [when he is mourning for someone].

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

He must not enter some place where there is a corpse. He must not do that and cause himself to become unfit for his work, even if it is his father or his mother who has died.

12 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.

He must not leave the Sacred Tent [to join those who are mourning], because he would cause himself to become unfit for his work and would also defile/desecrate the Sacred Tent. He must not leave the Sacred Tent [at that time], because by being anointed with olive oil he has been (appointed/set apart) to serve his God [in the Sacred Tent]. I, Yahweh, [am the one who am commanding this].

13 He shall take a virgin unto his wife:

Women whom you priests marry must be virgins.

14 But a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of his own people:

You priests must not marry widows or prostitutes or divorced women, because if you did that, [if you later have] sons, they would not be acceptable to be priests among your people. You must marry only virgins from among your own people. I am Yahweh, who sets priests apart to be holy.’”

15 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 spoke to Moses, saying:

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

17 Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.

“Say this to Aaron: 'For all future time, none of your descendants who has any defects [on his body] will be allowed to come near [the altar] to offer [sacrifices to me which will be like] [MET] my food:

18 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,

No one who is blind or lame or deformed, or whose [face is] disfigured,

19 If his foot, or if his hand be broken,

no man with a crippled foot or a crippled hand,

20 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:

no man who is a hunchback or a dwarf, no man whose eyes are defective, no man who has a skin disease [DOU] or whose testicles have been damaged is allowed to brings sacrifices.

21 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.

No descendant of Aaron, the [first Supreme] Priest, who has any defect is allowed to come to the altar to offer to me, his God, sacrifices that will be burned.

22 He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves, that are offered in the sanctuary,

Priests who have defects are permitted to eat the various kinds of holy food offered to me.

23 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.

But because of their defects, they must not go near the curtain [in the Sacred Tent] or near the altar, because if they did that, they would desecrate my Sacred Tent. I am Yahweh, the one who sets those places apart as being holy.'”

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

So Moses/I told this to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israeli people.