ויקרא 21

1 ויאמר יהוה אל משה אמר אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אלהם לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו

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

2 כי אם לשארו הקרב אליו לאמו ולאביו ולבנו ולבתו ולאחיו

‘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 ולאחתו הבתולה הקרובה אליו אשר לא היתה לאיש--לה יטמא

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 לא יטמא בעל בעמיו--להחלו

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 לא יקרחה (יקרחו) קרחה בראשם ופאת זקנם לא יגלחו ובבשרם--לא ישרטו שרטת

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 קדשים יהיו לאלהיהם ולא יחללו שם אלהיהם כי את אשי יהוה לחם אלהיהם הם מקריבם--והיו קדש

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 אשה זנה וחללה לא יקחו ואשה גרושה מאישה לא יקחו כי קדש הוא לאלהיו

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 וקדשתו--כי את לחם אלהיך הוא מקריב קדש יהיה לך--כי קדוש אני יהוה מקדשכם

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 ובת איש כהן כי תחל לזנות--את אביה היא מחללת באש תשרף

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 והכהן הגדול מאחיו אשר יוצק על ראשו שמן המשחה ומלא את ידו ללבש את הבגדים--את ראשו לא יפרע ובגדיו לא יפרם

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 ועל כל נפשת מת לא יבא לאביו ולאמו לא יטמא

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 ומן המקדש לא יצא ולא יחלל את מקדש אלהיו כי נזר שמן משחת אלהיו עליו--אני יהוה

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 והוא אשה בבתוליה יקח

Women whom you priests marry must be virgins.

14 אלמנה וגרושה וחללה זנה את אלה לא יקח כי אם בתולה מעמיו יקח אשה

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 ולא יחלל זרעו בעמיו כי אני יהוה מקדשו

16 וידבר יהוה אל משה לאמר

Yahweh also said to Moses/me,

17 דבר אל אהרן לאמר איש מזרעך לדרתם אשר יהיה בו מום--לא יקרב להקריב לחם אלהיו

“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 כי כל איש אשר בו מום לא יקרב איש עור או פסח או חרם או שרוע

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

19 או איש אשר יהיה בו שבר רגל או שבר יד

no man with a crippled foot or a crippled hand,

20 או גבן או דק או תבלל בעינו או גרב או ילפת או מרוח אשך

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 כל איש אשר בו מום מזרע אהרן הכהן--לא יגש להקריב את אשי יהוה מום בו--את לחם אלהיו לא יגש להקריב

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 לחם אלהיו מקדשי הקדשים ומן הקדשים יאכל

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

23 אך אל הפרכת לא יבא ואל המזבח לא יגש--כי מום בו ולא יחלל את מקדשי כי אני יהוה מקדשם

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 וידבר משה אל אהרן ואל בניו ואל כל בני ישראל

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