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, (Eze 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. (Le 19:27; De 14:1; Eze 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. (Le 3:11; Le 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. (Le 21:13; De 24:1; Eze 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. (Le 11:44; Le 22:9; Le 22:16)9And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire. (Ge 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. (Ex 29:29; Le 8:12; Le 10:6; Le 16:32; Nu 35:25)11He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. (Le 21:1; Nu 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. (Le 8:9; Le 8:12; Le 8:30; Le 10:7; Le 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, (Le 21:7; Eze 44:22)15that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.” (Le 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. (Le 10:3; Nu 16:5; Ps 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, (Le 22:22; Le 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. (Le 21:18; De 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. (Le 21:6)22He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, (Le 2:3; Le 2:10; Le 6:17; Le 6:25; Le 7:1; Le 10:12; Le 10:17; Le 14:13; Le 22:10; Le 22:12; Le 24:9; Nu 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.” (Le 21:12; Le 22:9; Le 22:16)24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.
Leviticus 21
New International Version
Rules for priests
1The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: “A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,2except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,3or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband – for her he may make himself unclean.4He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,[1] and so defile himself.5‘ “Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.6They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy.7‘ “They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.8Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy – I who make you holy.9‘ “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.10‘ “The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt[2] or tear his clothes.11He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,12nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.13‘ “The woman he marries must be a virgin.14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,15so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.” ’16The Lord said to Moses,17‘Say to Aaron: “For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God.18No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed;19no man with a crippled foot or hand,20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.22He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food;23yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.” ’24So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Leviticus 21
King James Version
1And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:2But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is , for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,3And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.4But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.5They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.6They shall be holy unto 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.7They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.8Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.9And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.10And 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;11Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;12Neither 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.13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.14A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.15Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.16And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,17Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.18For whatsoever man he 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,19Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,20Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;21No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest 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.22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.23Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.24And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.
Leviticus 21
New International Reader’s Version
Rules for priests
1The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, “A priest must not make himself ‘unclean’ by going near the dead body of any of his people.2But he can go near the body of a close relative. It could be his mother, father, son, daughter or brother.3He can also go near a sister who is not married. She would have depended on him because she did not have a husband. The priest can make himself ‘unclean’ by going near her body.4But he must not make himself ‘unclean’ by going near the bodies of people only related to him by marriage. Going near them would make him ‘unclean’.5‘ “Priests must not shave any part of their heads. They must not shave off the edges of their beards. They must not make cuts on their bodies when someone dies.6Priests must be holy. They must be set apart for me. I am their God. They must not treat my name as if it were not holy. They must be holy because they bring food offerings to me. That is my food.7‘ “They must not get married to women who are ‘unclean’ because they are prostitutes. They must not marry women who are divorced from their husbands. That is because priests are holy. They are set apart for me. I am their God.8Consider them as holy, because they offer up food to me. Consider them as holy, because I am holy. I am the LORD. I make you holy.9‘ “Suppose a priest’s daughter makes herself ‘unclean’ by becoming a prostitute. Then she brings shame on her father. She must be burned to death.10‘ “The high priest is the one among his brothers whose head has been anointed with olive oil. He has been appointed to wear the priest’s clothes. When someone dies, the high priest must not let his own hair hang loose. He must not tear his clothes to show how sad he is.11He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself ‘unclean’, even if his father or mother dies.12He must not leave the sacred tent of the LORD to take part in burying a body. That would bring shame on the tent. The anointing oil has set the high priest apart. I am the LORD.13‘ “The woman the high priest gets married to must be a virgin.14He must not marry a widow or a woman who is divorced. He must not marry a woman who is ‘unclean’ because she is a prostitute. He must only marry a virgin. She must come from his own people.15If he doesn’t marry a virgin, he makes the children he has by her ‘unclean’. I am the LORD. I make him holy.” ’16The LORD said to Moses,17‘Speak to Aaron. Tell him, “No man in your family line with any flaws may come near to offer food to the LORD. This is true for all time to come.18No man who has any flaws can come near. No man who is blind or disabled can come. No man whose body is scarred or twisted can come.19No man whose foot or hand is disabled can come.20No man whose back is bent can come. No man who is too short can come. No man who has anything wrong with his eyes can come. No man who has boils or running sores can come. No man whose sex glands are crushed can come.21No man with any flaws who is in the family line of Aaron the priest may come near me. He can’t come to bring the food offerings to the LORD. If he has any flaws, he must not come near to offer food to the LORD.22He can eat the holy food. He can also eat my very holy food.23But because he has a flaw, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar. If he does, he will make my sacred tent ‘unclean’. I am the LORD. I make everything holy.” ’24So Moses told all these things to Aaron and his sons. He also told them to all the Israelites.