Leviticus 21

Rules for Priests

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,^a and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean^b for any of his people who die,^c except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,^d his son or daughter, his brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.^e He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.

“ ‘Priests must not shave^f their heads or shave off the edges of their beards^g or cut their bodies.^h They must be holy to their Godⁱ and must not profane the name of their God.^j Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,^k the food of their God,^l they are to be holy.^m

“ ‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,ⁿ because priests are holy to their God.^o Regard them as holy,^p because they offer up the food of your God.^q Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.^r

“ ‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.^s

“ ‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head^t and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,^u must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes.^v He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.^w He must not make himself unclean,^x even for his father or mother,^y nor leave the sanctuary^z of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil^a of his God. I am the Lord.

“ ‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.^b He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’ ”

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect^c may come near to offer the food of his God.^d No man who has any defect^e may come near: no man who is blind^f or lame,^g disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.^h No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defectⁱ is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord.^j He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.^k He may eat the most holy food of his God,^l as well as the holy food; yet because of his defect,^m he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.ⁿ I am the Lord, who makes them holy.^o’ ”

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