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:
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead 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 relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for 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:
and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
4 He shall not make himself unclean being a chief among his people, —by profaning himself:
He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to 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.
“‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.
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 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.
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 shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he 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.
Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, 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.
“‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with 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;
“‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang 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 in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for 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.
He shall not 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.
13 But, he, shall take a woman in her virginity:
“‘He shall take a wife in her virginity.
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 shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife.
15 So shall he not profane his seed, among his kinsfolk, —For I—Yahweh, do hallow him.
He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.’”
16 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:
The LORD 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.
“Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread 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;
For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,
19 nor any man who hath a broken foot, —or a broken hand;
or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured 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 hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.
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 of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall 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 shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and 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.
He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane 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.
So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
