Leviticus 21
21
The Holiness of the Priests
1The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives, # 21:1 Nm 5:2–3; 6:6; 19:11–13; 31:19; Ezk 44:25 2except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother. 3He may make himself unclean for his unmarried virgin sister in his immediate family. 4He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage # 21:4 Lit unclean a husband among his people and so defile himself.
5“Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies. # 21:5 Lv 19:27–28 6They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. # 21:6 Ex 20:7; Lv 20:3; Jn 10:25 For they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, and they must be holy. 7They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution. # 21:7 Or a prostitute, or a defiled woman,# 21:7 Gn 34:31 They are not to marry one divorced # 21:7 Dt 22:19,29; 24:1,3; Mal 2:16; Mt 1:19; 5:31–32; 19:3–9 by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy. 9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by promiscuity, # 21:9 Or prostitution,# 21:9 Dt 22:21 she defiles her father; she must be burned to death. # 21:9 Gn 38:24; Lv 20:14; Jdg 15:6; Rv 17:16
10“The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained # 21:10 Lit and one has filled his hand to wear the clothes, must not dishevel his hair # 21:10 Or not uncover his head or tear his clothes. # 21:10 Lv 10:6; Ezk 44:20; Mk 14:63 11He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother. # 21:11 Ezk 44:25 12He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; # 21:12 Lv 10:7 I am the Lord.
13“He is to marry a woman who is a virgin. 14He is not to marry a widow, # 21:14 Ex 22:22 a divorced woman, # 21:14 Lv 21:7; 22:13; Nm 30:10; Ezk 44:22 or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15so that he does not corrupt his bloodline # 21:15 Lit not profane his seed among his people, for I am the Lord who sets him apart.”
Physical Defects and Priests
16The Lord spoke to Moses: 17“Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect # 21:17 Nm 19:2 is to come near to present the food # 21:17 Lv 3:11 of his God. 18No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed; 19no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, # 21:20 Or or emaciated,# 21:20 Gn 41:3–4,6–7,23–24; Ex 16:14; Lv 13:30; 16:12; 1Kg 19:12; Is 29:5; 40:15,22 or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, # 21:20 Lv 22:22 or a crushed testicle. # 21:18–20 Lv 22:24; Dt 23:1 21No descendant of the priest Aaron who has a defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God. 22He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy. 23But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain # 21:23 Mk 15:38; Heb 6:19 or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate my holy places, for I am the Lord who sets them apart.” # 21:23 Ex 31:13; Lv 20:8; 21:8,15; 22:9,16,32; Ezk 20:12 24Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
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Leviticus 21: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Leviticus 21
21
Rules for priests to follow
1The LORD gave Moses these instructions for Aaron's sons, the priests:
Touching a dead body will make you unclean. So don't go near a dead relative, 2except your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, 3or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her. 4Don't make yourself unclean by attending the funeral of someone related to you by marriage.#21.4 marriage: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4. 5Don't shave any part of your head or trim your beard or cut yourself to show that you are mourning.#Lv 19.27,28; Dt 14.1. 6I am the LORD your God, and I have chosen you alone to offer sacrifices of food to me on the altar. That's why you must keep yourselves holy. 7Don't marry a divorced woman or a woman who has served as a temple prostitute. You are holy, 8because I am holy. And so, you must be treated with proper respect, since you offer food sacrifices to me, the God of holiness.
9If any of you priests has a daughter who disgraces you by serving as a temple prostitute, she must be burnt to death.
10If you are the high priest, you must not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes in order to mourn for the dead. 11Don't make yourself unclean by going near a dead body, not even that of your own father or mother. 12If you leave the sacred place to attend a funeral, both you and the sacred place become unclean, because you are the high priest.
13If you are the high priest, you must marry only a virgin 14from your own tribe. Don't marry a divorced woman or any other woman who has already had sex, including a temple prostitute. 15In this way, your descendants will be qualified to serve me. Remember—I am the LORD, and I have chosen you.
16The LORD told Moses 17-18to say to Aaron:
No descendant of yours can ever serve as my priest if he is blind or lame, if his face is disfigured, if one leg is shorter than the other, 19if either a foot or a hand is crippled, 20if he is a hunchback or a dwarf, if an eye or his skin is diseased, or if his testicles have been damaged. 21These men may not serve as my priests and burn sacrifices to me. 22They may eat the food offerings presented to me, 23but they may not enter the sacred place or serve me at the altar. Remember—I am the LORD, the one who makes a priest holy.
24Moses told all this to Aaron, his sons, and the people of Israel.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012