Leviticus 21
21
Holiness and the Priests
1And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, #Ezek. 44:25No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 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. 5#Ezek. 44:20; [ch. 19:27, 28; Deut. 14:1]They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6They shall be holy to their God and #See ch. 18:21 not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, #See ch. 3:11the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7#ver. 13, 14; Ezek. 44:22 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman #See Deut. 24:1-4divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for #ch. 22:9, 16 I, the Lord, who sanctify you, #See ch. 11:44am holy. 9And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; #[Gen. 38:24]she shall be burned with fire.
10 # ch. 8:12; 16:32; Ex. 29:29, 30; Num. 35:25 “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, #ch. 10:6shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11He shall not #Num. 19:14; [ver. 1, 2]go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12#ch. 10:7 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he #ver. 23 profane the sanctuary of his God, for the #[ch. 8:9, 12, 30]consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.#21:13 Or a young wife 14A widow, #ver. 7; Ezek. 44:22or 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#21:14 Hebrew young woman of his own people, 15that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for #[See ver. 8 above]I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”
16And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may #ch. 10:3; [Num. 16:5; Ps. 65:4]approach to offer the bread of his God. 18For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man #ch. 22:22 blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face #[ch. 22:23]or a limb too long, 19or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a #[See ver. 18 above] defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or #[Deut. 23:1]crushed testicles. 21No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to #ver. 6offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22He may eat the bread of his God, both of #ch. 2:3, 10; 6:17, 25; 7:1; 10:12, 17; 14:13; 24:9; Num. 18:9 the most holy and of the #ch. 22:10, 12holy things, 23but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not #ver. 12 profane my sanctuaries,#21:23 Or my holy precincts #ch. 22:9, 16for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.
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Vayikra (Lev) 21
21
Parashah 31: Emor (Speak) 21:1–24:23
1Adonai said to Moshe, “Speak to the cohanim, the sons of Aharon; tell them: ‘No cohen is to make himself unclean for any of his people who dies, 2except for his close relatives — his mother, father, son, daughter and brother; 3he may also make himself unclean for his virgin sister who has never married and is therefore dependent on him. 4He may not make himself unclean, because he is a leader among his people; doing so would profane him. 5Cohanim are not to make bald spots on their heads, mar the edges of their beards or cut gashes in their flesh. 6Rather, they are to be holy for their God and not profane the name of their God. For they are the ones who present Adonai with offerings made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they must be holy.
7“‘A cohen is not to marry a woman who is a prostitute, who has been profaned or who has been divorced; because he is holy for his God. 8Rather, you are to set him apart as holy, because he offers the bread of your God; he is to be holy for you, because I, Adonai, who makes you holy, am holy. 9The daughter of a cohen who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she is to be put to death by fire.
10“‘The cohen who is ranked highest among his brothers, the one on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who is consecrated to put on the garments, is not to stop grooming his hair, tear his clothes, 11go in to where any dead body is or make himself unclean, even when his father or mother dies. 12He may not leave the sanctuary then or profane the sanctuary of his God, because the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Adonai.
13“‘He is to marry a virgin; 14he may not marry a widow, divorcee, profaned woman or prostitute; but he must marry a virgin from among his own people 15and not disqualify his descendants among his people; because I am Adonai, who makes him holy.’”
(ii) 16Adonai said to Moshe, 17“Tell Aharon, ‘None of your descendants who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18No one with a defect may approach — no one blind, lame, with a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19a broken foot or a broken arm, 20a hunched back, stunted growth, a cataract in his eye, festering or running sores, or damaged testicles — 21no one descended from Aharon the cohen who has such a defect may approach to present the offerings for Adonai made by fire; he has a defect and is not to approach to offer the bread of his God. 22He may eat the bread of his God, both the especially holy and the holy; 23only he is not to go in to the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a defect — so that he will not profane my holy places, because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”
24Moshe said these things to Aharon, his sons and all the people of Isra’el.
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