Leviticus 21
21
The Holiness of the Priests
1The LORD commanded Moses to say to the Aaronite priests, “No priest is to make himself ritually unclean by taking part in the funeral ceremonies when a relative dies, 2unless it is his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, 3or unmarried sister living in his house. 4He shall not make himself unclean at the death of those related to him by marriage.#21.4 Verse 4 in Hebrew is unclear.
5 #
Lev 19.27–28; Deut 14.1 “No priest shall shave any part of his head or trim his beard or cut gashes on his body to show that he is in mourning. 6He must be holy and must not disgrace my name. He offers food offerings to me, and he must be holy. 7A priest shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or a woman who is not a virgin or who is divorced; he is holy. 8The people must consider the priest holy, because he presents the food offerings to me. I am the LORD; I am holy and I make my people holy. 9If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she shall be burnt to death.
10“The High Priest has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been consecrated to wear the priestly garments, so he must not leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothes to show that he is in mourning. 11-12He has been dedicated to me and is not to make himself ritually unclean nor is he to defile my sacred Tent by leaving it and entering a house where there is a dead person, even if it is his own father or mother. 13He shall marry a virgin, 14not a widow or a divorced woman or a woman who has been a prostitute. He shall marry only a virgin from his own clan. 15Otherwise, his children, who ought to be holy, will be ritually unclean. I am the LORD and I have set him apart as the High Priest.”
16The LORD commanded Moses 17to say to Aaron, “None of your descendants who has any physical defect may present the food offering to me. This applies for all time to come. 18No man with any physical defect may make the offering: no one who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 19no one with a crippled hand or foot; 20no one who is a hunchback or a dwarf; no one with any eye or skin disease; and no eunuch. 21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any physical defect may present the food offering to me. 22Such a man may eat the food offered to me, both the holy food offering and the very holy food offering, 23but because he has a physical defect, he shall not come near the sacred curtain or approach the altar. He must not profane these holy things, because I am the LORD and I make them holy.”
24This, then, is what Moses said to Aaron, the sons of Aaron, and to all the people of Israel.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Leviticus 21
21
Rules for Priests
1The Lord said to Moses, “Tell these things to Aaron’s sons, the priests: A priest must not make himself unclean by touching a dead person. 2But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, he can touch the dead body. The priest can make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother or 3his unmarried#21:3 unmarried Literally, “virgin,” a girl who was never married and never had sexual relations. sister. (This sister is close to him because she has no husband. So the priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies.) 4But a priest must not make himself unclean if the dead person was only one of his slaves.#21:4 Or “A master must not become unclean for his people.”
5“Priests must not shave their heads bald. They must not shave off the edges of their beards. They must not make any cuts in their bodies. 6Priests must be holy for their God. They must show respect for God’s name. They offer the bread and special gifts to the Lord, so they must be holy.
7“A priest serves God in a special way, so he must not marry a woman who has had sexual relations with any other man. He must not marry a prostitute or a divorced woman. 8A priest serves God in a special way. So you must treat him in a special way, because he carries holy things. He brings the holy bread to me, and I am holy. I am the Lord, and I make you holy.
9“If a priest’s daughter becomes a prostitute, she ruins her reputation and brings shame to her father. She must be burned to death in the fire!
10“The high priest was chosen from among his brothers. The anointing oil was poured on his head. In this way he was chosen for the special job of being high priest. He was chosen to wear the special clothes, so he must not do things to show his sadness in public. He must not let his hair grow wild. He must not tear his clothes. 11He must not make himself unclean by touching a dead body. He must not go near a dead body, even if it is his own father or mother. 12The high priest must not leave God’s holy place, because he might become unclean and then make God’s holy place unclean. The anointing oil was poured on the high priest’s head. This separated him from the rest of the people. I am the Lord.
13“The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin. 14He must not marry a woman who has had sexual relations with any man. He must not marry a prostitute, a divorced woman, or a widow. The high priest must marry a virgin from his own people. 15In this way people will show respect for his children.#21:15 people … children Or “his children will not become unclean from the people.” I, the Lord, have separated the high priest for his special work.”
16The Lord said to Moses, 17“Tell Aaron: If any of your descendants have anything wrong with them, they must not carry the special bread to God. 18Any man who has something wrong with him must not serve as priest and bring sacrifices to me. These men cannot serve as priests: blind men, crippled men, men with bad scars on their faces, men with arms or legs that are too long, 19men with broken feet or hands, 20men with bent backs, men who are dwarfs,#21:20 dwarfs A small person whose body stopped growing properly. men who are cross-eyed, men with rashes or bad skin diseases, and men with crushed testicles.
21“If one of Aaron’s descendants has something wrong with him, he cannot approach the altar to bring gifts to the Lord. And he cannot carry the special bread to God. 22He is from the family of priests, so he can eat the holy bread. He can also eat the very holy bread. 23But he cannot go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place and he cannot go near the altar. This is because he has something wrong with him. He must not make my holy places unholy. I am the Lord, and I make these places holy.”
24So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and all the Israelites.
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