Chapter 21

Regulations concerning Priests

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘aNo one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,

2 aexcept for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother,

3 also for his virgin sister, who is near to him 1because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

4 ‘He shall not defile himself as a 1relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.

5 ‘aThey shall not make any baldness on their heads, bnor shave off the edges of their beards, cnor make any cuts in their flesh.

6 ‘They shall be holy to their God and anot profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire 1to the Lord, bthe food of their God; so they shall be holy.

7 ‘aThey shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

8 ‘You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers athe food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy.

9 ‘aAlso the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

10 ‘The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and 1who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ashall not 2uncover his head nor tear his clothes;

11 anor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

12 anor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for bthe consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord.

13 ‘He shall take a wife in her virginity.

14 ‘aA widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to 1marry a virgin of his own people,

15 so that he will not profane his 1offspring among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’ ”

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your 1offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the afood of his God.

18 ‘aFor no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a 1adisfigured face, or any deformed limb,

19 or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,

20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a 1defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or acrushed testicles.

21 ‘No man among the 1descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer athe food of his God.

22 ‘He may eat athe food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,

23 only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’ ”

24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.