Leviticus 21
1 And Yahweh said unto Moses, Say unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, —yea thou shalt say unto them, For a dead person, shall no one make himself unclean among his people:
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
2 Saving for his kin, that are near unto him, for his mother or for his father, or for his son or for his daughter, or for his brother;
except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,
3 or for his sister, a virgin who is near unto him, who belongeth not unto a husband, —for her, he may make himself unclean:
or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.
4 He shall not make himself unclean being a chief among his people, —by profaning himself:
He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.
5 They shall not make a baldness behind in their head, And the border of their beard, shall they not cut off, —And, in their flesh, shall they not make incisions.
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
6 Holy persons, shall they be unto their God, and not profane the name of their God, —for, the altar-flames of Yahweh, the food of their God, do they bring near—Therefore shall they be holy.
They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.
7 A woman that is unchaste or dishonoured, shall they not take, And a woman divorced from her husband, shall they not take, —For holy, he is unto his God.
A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
8 Therefore shalt thou hold him as holy, for the food of thy God, doth he bring near, —Holy, shall he be to thee, For, holy, am I—Yahweh, who am making you holy.
You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.
9 And, the daughter of any priest, when she profaneth herself by unchastity, Her father, she, doth profane, with fire, shall she be consumed.
If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.
10 And, as for the high priest from among his brethren upon whose head is poured the anointing oil, and who is installed, by putting on the garments, His head, shall he not bare, And, his garments, shall he not rend;
The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.
11 And, unto no persons of the dead, shall he go in, —For his father or for his mother, shall he not make himself unclean;
He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
12 And, out of the sanctuary, shall he not go forth, so shall he not profane the sanctuary of his God, —for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him—I, am Yahweh.
He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.
13 But, he, shall take a woman in her virginity:
The woman he marries must be a virgin.
14 A widow or a divorced woman or one dishonoured—an unchaste woman, these, shall he not take, But, a virgin from among his own kinsfolk, shall he take to wife;
He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,
15 So shall he not profane his seed, among his kinsfolk, —For I—Yahweh, do hallow him.
so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”
16 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:
Then the LORD said to Moses,
17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, —No man of thy seed, unto their generations in whom shall be any blemish, shall come near, to present the food of his God.
“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.
18 Surely, no man in whom is any blemish, shall come near, —No man who is blind or lame, or hath a flat nose, or is lanky;
No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;
19 nor any man who hath a broken foot, —or a broken hand;
no man who has a broken foot or hand,
20 or is hump-backed or a dwarf, or hath defective vision, —or hath scurvy or scab, or is crushed in the stones:
or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.
21 No, man in whom is a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest, shall approach, to bring near the altar-flames of Yahweh, —a blemish, is in him, the food of his God, shall he not approach to bring near:
No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.
22 Of the food of his God, both of the most holy, —and the holy, may he eat:
He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,
23 Only, unto the veil, shall he not come in and unto the altar, shall he not approach—because, a blemish, is in him, so shall he not profane my sanctuaries, For, I—Yahweh, am hallowing them.
but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”
24 And Moses spake [these things] unto Aaron, and unto his sons, —and unto all the sons of Israel.
Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
