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
21
Regulations Concerning Priests
1Then#Or “And” Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘One must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his own people, 2except for his direct relative closest to him: his mother and his father, and his son and his daughter, and his brother, 3and for his sister, a virgin, who is closest to him, who has not had a husband#Literally “who is not for a man/husband”—for her he may defile himself. 4He must not make himself unclean as a kinsman by marriage,#Literally “a husband among his people” defiling himself.
5“ ‘And they shall not shave bald patches on their head, and they shall not shave off the corner of their beard, and they shall not make a cut in their body. 6They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, because they are bringing near the offerings made by fire to#Hebrew “of” Yahweh—their God’s food—and they shall be holy.
7“ ‘They shall not marry#Literally “take” a woman who is a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they marry#Literally “take” a woman divorced from her husband, because each priest#Hebrew “he”; singular antecedent specified from the context is holy for his God. 8And you shall consecrate him, because he is bringing near your God’s food; he shall be holy to you, since I, Yahweh, who consecrates you, am holy.
9“ ‘As for#Or “And” the daughter of any priest, if she is defiled by prostituting, she is disgracing her father—she shall be burned in the fire.
10“ ‘As for#Or “And” the priest who is higher than his brothers, on whose head the oil of anointment is poured and he was ordained#Literally “he has filled up his hand” to wear the garments, he shall not dishevel his head, and he shall not tear his garments. 11And he shall not go near any dead person, nor shall he make himself unclean for his father or#Or “and” for his mother. 12And he shall not go out from the sanctuary, and he shall not profane his God’s sanctuary, because the dedication of his God’s oil of anointment is on him; I am Yahweh.
13“ ‘And he himself must take a wife in her virginity. 14A widow or#Or “and” a divorced woman or#Or “and” a defiled woman, a prostitute—these he must not take; he shall take only#Or “instead” a virgin from his people as wife. 15And he shall not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates him.’ ”
16Then#Or “And” Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations, in whom is a physical defect, shall not come near to present your God’s food. 18Indeed,#Or “For” any man in whom is a physical defect shall not come near: a blind man or lame or disfigured or deformed, 19or a man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand, 20or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle. 21Any man from Aaron the priest’s offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to#Hebrew “of” Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his God’s food. 22He may eat his God’s food, from the most holy things#Literally “the holy things of the holy things” and from the holy things. 23But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect is in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’ ”
24Thus#Or “And” Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.#Literally “sons/children of Israel”
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