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.
Leviticus 21
English Standard Version
Holiness and the Priests
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.