Leviticus 21

¹And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:

²But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,

³And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

⁴But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

⁵They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

⁶They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

⁷They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.

⁸Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy.

⁹And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

¹⁰And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;

¹¹Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;

¹²Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord.

¹³And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

¹⁴A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.

¹⁵Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the Lord do sanctify him.

¹⁶And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁷Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.

¹⁸For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

¹⁹Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,

²⁰Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;

²¹No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

²²He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.

²³Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them.

²⁴And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

Leviticus 21

¹And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, Let no man make himself unclean for the dead among his people;

²But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his brother;

³And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.

⁴But let him, being a chief among his people, not make himself unclean in such a way as to put shame on himself.

⁵They are not to have their hair cut off for the dead, or the hair on their chins cut short, or make cuts in their flesh.

⁶Let them be holy to their God and not make the name of their God common; for the fire offerings of the Lord and the bread of their God are offered by them, and they are to be holy.

⁷They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away by her husband: for the priest is holy to his God.

⁸And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy.

⁹And if the daughter of a priest makes herself common and by her loose behaviour puts shame on her father, let her be burned with fire.

¹⁰And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow.

¹¹He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother;

¹²He may not go out of the holy place or make the holy place of his God common; for the crown of the holy oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord.

¹³And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man.

¹⁴A widow, or one whose husband has put her away, or a common woman of loose behaviour, may not be the wife of a priest; but let him take a virgin from among his people.

¹⁵And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.

¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses,

¹⁷Say to Aaron, If a man of your family, in any generation, is damaged in body, let him not come near to make the offering of the bread of his God.

¹⁸For any man whose body is damaged may not come near: one who is blind, or has not the use of his legs, or one who has a broken nose or any unnatural growth,

¹⁹Or a man with broken feet or hands,

²⁰Or one whose back is bent, or one who is unnaturally small, or one who has a damaged eye, or whose skin is diseased, or whose sex parts are damaged;

²¹No man of the offspring of Aaron whose body is damaged in any way may come near to give the fire offerings of the Lord: he is damaged, he may not come near to make the offerings.

²²He may take of the bread of God, the holy and the most holy;

²³But he may not go inside the veil or come near the altar, because he is damaged; and he may not make my holy places common; for I the Lord have made them holy.

²⁴These are the words which Moses said to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel.