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

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,

²except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,

³or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.

⁴He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.

⁵Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.

⁶They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.

⁷A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

⁸You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.

⁹If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

¹⁰The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.

¹¹He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.

¹²He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.

¹³The woman he marries must be a virgin.

¹⁴He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,

¹⁵so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

¹⁶Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁷“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.

¹⁸No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;

¹⁹no man who has a broken foot or hand,

²⁰or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

²¹No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.

²²He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,

²³but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

²⁴Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.