21:1 The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,
21:2 except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,
21:3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband–for her he may make himself unclean.
21:4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.
21:5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.
21:6 They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
21:7 “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.
21:8 Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the LORD am holy–I who make you holy.
21:9 “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.
21:10 “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes.
21:11 He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,
21:12 nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD.
21:13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.
21:14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,
21:15 so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy.’”
21:16 The LORD said to Moses,
21:17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God.
21:18 No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed;
21:19 no man with a crippled foot or hand,
21:20 or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.
21:21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.
21:22 He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food;
21:23 yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.’”
21:24 So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
21:1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,
21:2 Except for his relative who is near to him, for his mother and for his father and for his son and for his daughter and for his brother
21:3 And for his virgin sister, who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
21:4 He shall not defile himself, as a leader among his people, so as to profane himself.
21:5 They shall not make any baldness on their head or shave off the edges of their beard or make any cuttings in their flesh.
21:6 They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, for they present Jehovah’s offerings by fire, the food of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
21:7 They shall not take a woman who is a harlot or profaned, nor shall they take a woman put away from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
21:8 You shall sanctify him therefore, for he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Jehovah, who sanctifies you, am holy.
21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself through prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burnt with fire.
21:10 And he who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head go loose nor tear his clothes.
21:11 Neither shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or for his mother.
21:12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him; I am Jehovah.
21:13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
21:14 A widow or a divorced woman or a profaned woman, a harlot, these he shall not take; but rather a virgin of his own people he shall take as wife.
21:15 And he shall not profane his seed among his people, for I am Jehovah who sanctifies him.
21:16 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
21:17 Speak to Aaron, saying, No one of your seed throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to present the food of his God.
21:18 For no one who has a defect shall approach: one who is blind or lame or with a disfigured nose or with an extended limb,
21:19 Or one who has a broken foot or a broken hand,
21:20 Or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scale or crushed testicles.
21:21 No one of the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to present Jehovah’s offerings by fire. He has a defect; he shall not come near to present the food of his God.
21:22 He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,
21:23 But he shall not go in unto the veil or come near to the altar, because he has a defect, so that he does not profane My holy places; for I am Jehovah who sanctifies them.
21:24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel.