Leviticus 21

1 And the LORD said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:

Yahweh also said to Moses/me, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them,

2 But for his kin, that is near to him, [that is], for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,

‘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.

3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh to him, who hath had no husband: for her he may be defiled.

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].

4 [But] he shall not defile himself, [being] a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

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.

5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

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].

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

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.

7 They shall not take a wife [that is] a lewd woman, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he [is] holy to his God.

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).

8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore, for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy to thee: for I the LORD, who sanctify you, [am] holy.

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.

9 And the daughter of any priest, if she shall profane herself by lewdness, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

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.

10 And [he that is] the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;

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].

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

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.

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 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].

13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

Women whom you priests marry must be virgins.

14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, [or] a harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people for a wife.

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.’”

15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.

16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

17 Speak to Aaron, saying, whoever [he may be] of thy seed in their generations that hath [any] blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God:

“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:

18 For whatever man [he may be] that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

No one who is blind or lame or deformed, or whose [face is] disfigured,

19 Or a man that is broken-footed, or broken-handed,

no man with a crippled foot or a crippled hand,

20 Or crooked-backed, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his peculiar members broken:

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.

21 No man of the seed of Aaron the priest, that hath a blemish, shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire; he hath a blemish, he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

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.

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

Priests who have defects are permitted to eat the various kinds of holy food offered to me.

23 Only he shall not go in to the vail, nor come nigh to the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he may not profane my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

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.'”

24 And Moses told [it] to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

So Moses/I told this to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israeli people.