1Herren sagde endvidere til Moses: „Sig til præsterne, at de ikke må gøre sig selv urene ved at røre et lig,2-3medmindre det drejer sig om en nær slægtning: en mor, en far, en søn, en datter, en bror eller en ugift søster, som han har ansvaret for, siden hun ikke har nogen mand.4Som leder blandt sit folk skal han passe på ikke at gøre sig selv uren.[1]5Præsterne må ikke klippe sig skaldede noget sted på hovedet eller barbere deres kindskæg af. De må heller ikke lave ridser i huden eller tatoveringer.6I Guds øjne skal de være hellige, og de må ikke krænke ham eller bringe skam over hans navn. Det er jo dem, der er udvalgt til at bringe ildofre til Herren, og de ofre skal kunne accepteres af deres Gud.7En præst må ikke gifte sig med en prostitueret eller med en kvinde, som ikke er jomfru. Han må heller ikke gifte sig med en fraskilt, for han er en indviet Guds tjener,8som er udvalgt til at bringe jeres ofre frem for Gud. Han skal være hellig, for jeg, Herren, som gør jer hellige, er selv hellig.9Hvis en præstedatter bliver prostitueret, har hun krænket sin fars hellighed, og hun skal brændes.10Ypperstepræsten, der er salvet og indviet til en særlig tjeneste, og som har fået lov at bære den ypperstepræstelige dragt, må ikke tage sin hovedbeklædning af og lade håret hænge løst eller rive flænger i sin dragt.[2]11Han må heller ikke røre en død person, ikke engang sin egen mor eller far.12Han må ikke krænke helligdommen ved at forlade den for at deltage i en begravelse, for han er salvet og indviet til at tjene Gud. Jeg er Herren.13Den kvinde, han gifter sig med, skal være jomfru.14-15Han må ikke gifte sig med en enke, og heller ikke med en fraskilt eller en prostitueret. Hans tilkommende skal være en jomfru fra hans egen præsteslægt, ellers ville hans sønner ikke være værdige til at overtage hans embede. Jeg er Herren, som gør ham hellig.”16Og Herren sagde til Moses:17„Sig til Aron, at hvis nogen af hans efterkommere har en legemsfejl, må vedkommende ikke bringe ofre til Gud.18Ingen, der er blind eller lam, har et misdannet ansigt, en legemsdel, der er for lang,19eller en forkrøblet fod eller hånd,20er pukkelrygget eller dværg, eller har en fejl ved øjnene eller har udslæt, bylder eller deforme testikler,21må bringe ofre ved Herrens alter, selv om han er en efterkommer af Aron.22Men han må gerne spise af den mad, som tilkommer præsterne i forbindelse med ofringerne.23På grund af sin fysiske defekt må han aldrig komme i nærheden af forhænget i helligdommen eller komme nær alteret, for derved ville han krænke helligdommen, og det er mig, Herren, som har gjort den hellig.”24Moses gav så alle reglerne videre til Aron og hans sønner og alle israelitterne.
1And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, (Ez 44,25)2except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,3or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean).4He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself.5They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. (3.Mos 19,27; 5.Mos 14,1; Ez 44,20)6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. (3.Mos 3,11; 3.Mos 18,21)7They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. (3.Mos 21,13; 5.Mos 24,1; Ez 44,22)8You 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. (3.Mos 11,44; 3.Mos 22,9; 3.Mos 22,16)9And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire. (1.Mos 38,24)10“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. (2.Mos 29,29; 3.Mos 8,12; 3.Mos 10,6; 3.Mos 16,32; 4.Mos 35,25)11He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. (3.Mos 21,1; 4.Mos 19,14)12He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. (3.Mos 8,9; 3.Mos 8,12; 3.Mos 8,30; 3.Mos 10,7; 3.Mos 21,23)13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.[1]14A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin[2] of his own people, (3.Mos 21,7; Ez 44,22)15that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.” (3.Mos 21,8)16And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,17“Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. (3.Mos 10,3; 4.Mos 16,5; Salm 65,4)18For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, (3.Mos 22,22; 3.Mos 22,23)19or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand,20or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. (3.Mos 21,18; 5.Mos 23,1)21No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. (3.Mos 21,6)22He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, (3.Mos 2,3; 3.Mos 2,10; 3.Mos 6,17; 3.Mos 6,25; 3.Mos 7,1; 3.Mos 10,12; 3.Mos 10,17; 3.Mos 14,13; 3.Mos 22,10; 3.Mos 22,12; 3.Mos 24,9; 4.Mos 18,9)23but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries,[3] for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” (3.Mos 21,12; 3.Mos 22,9; 3.Mos 22,16)24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.