Leviticus 21
21
Holiness for All the Priests
1The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell the priests, Aaron’s sons: None of you should become unclean by touching one of your relatives who has died. 2However, you are allowed to become unclean when one of your nearest relatives dies. These relatives include your mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3and especially an unmarried virgin sister who is still close to you. 4As the head of your people, you should never become unclean. That would make you unholy.
5“You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
6“Be God’s holy men, and don’t dishonor the name of your God. Be holy because you bring sacrifices by fire to the Lord. It is the food of your God. 7You should never marry prostitutes, those who have lost their virginity, or divorced women because a priest is God’s holy man. 8Be holy because you offer the food of your God. Be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I set you apart as holy. 9When a priest’s daughter dishonors herself by becoming a prostitute, she dishonors her father. She must be burned.
Holiness for the Chief Priest
10“The priest who is anointed with oil and wears the chief priest’s clothes is chief over his brothers. He must never mourn by leaving his hair uncombed or by tearing his clothes. 11He must never go near any dead bodies or become unclean, even for his father or mother. 12He must not leave the holy tent of his God. If he does, he will be dishonoring it, because he is dedicated with the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.
13“The anointed priest must marry a virgin. 14He must never marry a widow, a divorced woman, a woman who has lost her virginity, or a prostitute. He may only marry a virgin from his own people. 15He must not dishonor his children among his people because I, the Lord, set him apart as holy.”
16The Lord spoke to Moses, 17“Tell Aaron: If any of your descendants (now or in future generations) has a physical defect, he must never bring food to offer to God. 18Indeed, no one who has a physical defect may ever come near ⌞the altar⌟. That means anyone who is blind or lame, who has a disfigured face, a deformity, 19or a crippled hand or foot, 20who is a hunchback or dwarf, who has defective sight, skin diseases, or crushed testicles. 21If a descendant of the priest Aaron has a physical defect, he must never bring sacrifices by fire to the Lord. He has a defect. He must never bring food to offer to God. 22He may eat the food of his God—what is holy and what is very holy. 23However, he must never come up to the canopy or to the altar, since he has a physical defect. He must never dishonor the holy places because I, the Lord, set them apart as holy.”
24So Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
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Leviticus 21: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Leviticus 21
21
Holiness Code for Kohanim
1Then Adonai said to Moses, “Speak to the kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: A kohen is not to allow himself to become unclean for the dead among his people,
2except for his relatives that are nearest to him—his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,
3or his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband. For her he may allow himself to become unclean.
4But he is not to defile himself—a husband among his people—and so profane himself.
5“Kohanim are not to shave their heads, nor shave off the corners of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
6They are to be holy to their God, and not profane the Name of their God, for they present the offerings of Adonai made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they are to be holy.
7They are not to marry women who are defiled as prostitutes, or profane. Neither shall they marry women divorced from their husbands, for a kohen is holy to his God.
8Therefore you are to sanctify him, because he offers the bread of your God. He should be holy to you, for I, Adonai, who sanctifies you, am holy.
9“The daughter of any kohen, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, profanes her father. She is to be burned with fire.
10“He who is the kohen gadol among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured and is consecrated to put on the garments, is not to let the hair of his head hang loose or tear his clothes,
11nor shall he go near any dead person, defiling himself, even for his father or his mother.
12He is not to go out of the Sanctuary or profane the Sanctuary of his God—for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Adonai.
13“He shall take a wife in her virginity.
14A widow, or one divorced, or one who has been defiled as a prostitute, he is not to marry. He is to take a virgin from his own people as a wife,
15so as not to corrupt his offspring among his people. For I am Adonai who sanctifies him.”
16Adonai spoke to Moses saying:
17“Say to Aaron: None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the food of his God.
18Any man who has a defect is not to draw near: no one blind or lame or disfigured or deformed,
19or a man who has a crippled foot or crippled hand
20or a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect or a rash or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.
21None of the offspring of Aaron the kohen who has a defect shall come near to present the offerings of Adonai made by fire. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.
22He may eat the food of his God, both from the most holy and the holy.
23But he is not to approach the curtain or come near the altar, because of the defect on him, so that he may not desecrate My sanctuaries, for I am Adonai who sanctifies them.”
24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons, and to all Bnei-Yisrael.
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