Regulations for Conduct of Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: a‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, 2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; 3 also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. 4 Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a 1chief man among his people, to profane himself.

5 b‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be choly to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the dbread of their God; etherefore they shall be holy. 7 fThey shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman gdivorced from her husband; for 2the priest is holy to his God. 8 Therefore you shall 3consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for hI the Lord, who isanctify you, am holy. 9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be jburned with fire.

10 ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was kpoured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not luncover 4his head nor tear his clothes; 11 nor shall he go mnear any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother; 12 nnor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the oconsecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. 15 Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For any man who has a pdefect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb qtoo long, 19 a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. 21 No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; 23 only he shall not go near the rveil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest she profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”

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

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, that they aseparate 1themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they bdo not profane My holy name by what they cdedicate to Me: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, dwhile he has 2uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.

4 ‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a eleper or has fa discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings guntil he is clean. And hwhoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or ia man who has had an emission of semen, 5 or jwhoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or kany person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be—6 the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he lwashes his body with water. 7 And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because mit is his food. 8 nWhatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the Lord.

9 ‘They shall therefore keep oMy 3ordinance, plest they bear sin for it and die thereby, if they profane it: I the Lord sanctify them.

10 q‘No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who 4dwells with the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing. 11 But if the priest rbuys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is born in his house may eat his food. 12 If the priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings. 13 But if the priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food; but no outsider shall eat it.

14 ‘And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it. 15 They shall not profane the sholy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, 16 or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”

Offerings Accepted and Not Accepted

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: t‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who 5offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord as a burnt offering—19 uyou shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. 20 vWhatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. 21 And wwhoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, xto fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 yThose that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an 6ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make zan offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord. 23 Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb atoo long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

24 ‘You shall not offer to the Lord what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. 25 Nor bfrom a foreigner’s hand shall you offer any of these as cthe bread of your God, because their dcorruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’ ”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 e“When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her fand her young on the same day. 29 And when you goffer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, offer it of your own free will. 30 On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leave hnone of it until morning: I am the Lord.

31 i“Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. 32 jYou shall not profane My holy name, but kI will be 7hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who lsanctifies you, 33 mwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.”

Feasts of the Lord

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be aholy convocations, these are My feasts.

The Sabbath

3 b‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

4 c‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 dOn the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 eOn the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no 1customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

The Feast of Firstfruits

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: f‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of gthe firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall hwave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a 2sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count ififty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer ja new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are kthe firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young…