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:
Yahweh said to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'No one among you shall make himself unclean for those who die 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 closest relatives—his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his 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 virgin sister who is dependent on him, since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.
4 He shall not make himself unclean being a chief among his people, —by profaning himself:
But he must not make himself unclean for other relatives and so defile 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 shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards, nor cut 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 disgrace the name of their God, because the priests offer Yahweh's food offerings, the bread of their God. Therefore the priests 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.
They must not marry any woman who is a prostitute and who is defiled, and they must not marry a woman divorced from her husband, for they are separate for their 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 will set him apart, for he is the one who offers bread to your God. He must be holy to you, because I, Yahweh who makes you holy, am holy.
9 And, the daughter of any priest, when she profaneth herself by unchastity, Her father, she, doth profane, with fire, shall she be consumed.
Any daughter of any priest who defiles herself by becoming a prostitute disgraces her father. She must be burned.
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 one who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the special garments of the high priest, must not wear his hair loose or tear his clothes.
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 anywhere that a dead body is present and defile himself, even for his father or his 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.
The high priest must not leave the sanctuary area of the tabernacle or profane the sanctuary of his God, because he has been consecrated as high priest by the anointing oil of his God. I am Yahweh.
13 But, he, shall take a woman in her virginity:
The high priest must marry a virgin as his wife.
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 must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman who is a prostitute. He will not marry these kinds of women. He may only 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 he will not defile his children among his people, for I am Yahweh, who makes him holy.'”
16 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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.
“Speak to Aaron and tell him, 'Whoever of your descendants throughout their generations has a bodily defect, he must not approach to offer the food to 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;
Any man who has a bodily defect must not approach Yahweh, such as a blind man or a man who is unable to walk, one who is disfigured or deformed,
19 nor any man who hath a broken foot, —or a broken hand;
a man with a crippled hand or foot,
20 or is hump-backed or a dwarf, or hath defective vision, —or hath scurvy or scab, or is crushed in the stones:
a man who has a hump in his back or is abnormally thin or short, or a man with a defect in his eyes, or with a disease, sore, scabs, or whose testicles have been crushed.
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 man among the descendants of Aaron the priest with a bodily defect may come near to perform the offerings made by fire for Yahweh. Such a man has a bodily defect; he must not come near to offer the bread 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 food of his God, whether some of the most holy or some of the holy.
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.
However, he must not enter inside the curtain or come near the altar, because he has a bodily defect, so that he does not defile my holy place, for I am Yahweh, who makes them holy.'”
24 And Moses spake [these things] unto Aaron, and unto his sons, —and unto all the sons of Israel.
So Moses spoke these words to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the people of Israel.
