Leviticus 21
21
Holy Priests
1-4 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, A priest must not ritually contaminate himself by touching the dead, except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean, but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself.
5-6“Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because their job is to present the gifts of God, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
7-8“Because a priest is holy to his God he must not marry a woman who has been a harlot or a cult prostitute or a divorced woman. Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy.
9“If a priest’s daughter defiles herself in prostitution, she disgraces her father. She must be burned at the stake.
10-12“The high priest, the one among his brothers who has received the anointing oil poured on his head and been ordained to wear the priestly vestments, must not let his hair go wild and tangled nor wear ragged and torn clothes. He must not enter a room where there is a dead body. He must not ritually contaminate himself, even for his father or mother; and he must neither abandon nor desecrate the Sanctuary of his God because of the dedication of the anointing oil which is upon him. I am God.
13-15“He is to marry a young virgin, not a widow, not a divorcee, not a cult prostitute—he is only to marry a virgin from his own people. He must not defile his descendants among his people because I am God who makes him holy.”
16-23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God. That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, crippled in foot or hand, hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to God; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am God who makes them holy.”
24Moses delivered this message to Aaron, his sons, and to all the People of Israel.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
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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