Leviticus 21

1 Yahweh 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,

The Lord also said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them: Do not allow a priest to be contaminated by the death of his citizens,

2 except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,

except only by his blood-relatives and near-relatives, that is, by a father or mother, or by a son or daughter, or also a brother,

3 and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

or a virgin sister, who is not married to a husband.

4 He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

But not even by the leader of his people shall he be contaminated.

5 “‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.

Neither shall they shave their head or their beard, and they shall not make incisions in their flesh.

6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy.

They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not pollute his name. For they offer the incense of the Lord and the bread of their God, and because of this they shall be holy.

7 “‘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.

They shall not take as a wife a promiscuous woman, or a prostitute, or her who has been repudiated by her husband. For they are consecrated to their God,

8 Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.

and they offer the bread of the presence. Therefore, let them be holy, for I also am holy: the Lord, who sanctifies them.

9 “‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.

If the daughter of a priest will have been taken into prostitution, and will have violated the name of her father, she shall be consumed by fire.

10 “‘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.

The high priest, that is, the priest who is the greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the oil of anointing has been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who has been vested with the holy vestments: he shall not expose his head; he shall not rend his vestments.

11 He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother.

And he shall not enter to any dead body whatsoever; likewise, not even by his father or mother shall he be contaminated.

12 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 Yahweh.

Neither shall he exit from the holy places, lest he pollute the Sanctuary of the Lord. For the oil of the holy anointing of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

13 “‘He shall take a wife in her virginity.

He shall take a virgin as his wife.

14 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.

But a widow, or one who has been repudiated or defiled, or also a mistress, he shall not accept, but only a maiden from among his own people.

15 He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.’”

He shall not mingle the stock of his family with the common people of his nation. For I am the Lord, who sanctifies him.

16 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17 “Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God.

Say to Aaron: A man from your offspring, throughout their families, who has a blemish, shall not offer the bread to his God.

18 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,

Neither shall he approach to minister to him: if he is blind, if he is lame, if he is small, or large, or has a crooked nose,

19 or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand,

if his foot or hand is broken,

20 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.

if he has a bulging back or bleary eyes, or if he has a white spot in his eye, or a chronic scab, or a skin disease on his body, or a hernia.

21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

Anyone from the offspring of Aaron, the priest, who has a blemish, shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor the bread to his God.

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

Nevertheless, he shall eat from the loaves which are offered in the Sanctuary.

23 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 Yahweh who sanctifies them.’”

But even so, he may not enter within the veil, nor approach to the altar. For he has a blemish, and he must not contaminate my Sanctuary. I am the Lord, who sanctifies them.

24 So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

Therefore, Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all of Israel, everything that had been commanded to him.