Leviticus 21
1 Yahweh also said to Moses/me, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them,
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 ‘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.
But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his brother;
3 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].
And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.
4 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.
But let him, being a chief among his people, not make himself unclean in such a way as to put shame on himself.
5 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].
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 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.
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 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).
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 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.
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 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.
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 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].
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 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.
He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother;
12 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].
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 Women whom you priests marry must be virgins.
And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man.
14 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.’”
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.
And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.
16 Yahweh also said to Moses/me,
And the Lord said to Moses,
17 “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:
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 No one who is blind or lame or deformed, or whose [face is] disfigured,
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 no man with a crippled foot or a crippled hand,
Or a man with broken feet or hands,
20 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.
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 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.
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 Priests who have defects are permitted to eat the various kinds of holy food offered to me.
He may take of the bread of God, the holy and the most holy;
23 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.'”
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/I told this to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israeli people.
These are the words which Moses said to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel.
