Leviticus 21

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the cohanim, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'A cohen shall not defile himself for the dead among his people;

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;

2 except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,

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

3 and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.

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

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

5 "'They shall not shave their heads, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

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.

6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.

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.

7 "'They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband: for he is holy to his God.

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.

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

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.

9 "'The daughter of any cohen, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father: she shall be burned with fire.

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.

10 "'He who is the cohen hagadol among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, nor tear his clothes;

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.

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

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

12 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 upon him. I am the LORD.

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.

13 "'He shall take a wife in her virginity.

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

14 A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife.

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.

15 He shall not profane his offspring among his people: for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"

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

16 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses,

17 "Say to Aaron, 'None of your descendants throughout their generations who has a blemish, may approach to offer the bread of his God.

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.

18 For whatever man he is that has a blemish, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,

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,

19 or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand,

Or a man with broken feet or hands,

20 or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles;

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;

21 no man of the descendants of Aaron the cohen, who has a blemish, shall come near to present offerings to your God made by fire. Since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

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.

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

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

23 He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a blemish; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"

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.

24 So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

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