Leviticus 21

Regulations for Conduct of Priests

1 And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: 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 chief man among his people, to profane himself.5 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 holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.7 They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.8 Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.10  He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;11 nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother;12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration 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 harlotthese 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 defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too 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 veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he 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.

LEVITICUS 21

Instructions for Priests

1 The [Lord] gave Moses these instructions for Aaron's sons, the priests:
Touching a dead body will make you unclean. So don't go near a dead relative, 2 except your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, 3 or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her. 4 Don't make yourself unclean by attending the funeral of someone related to you by marriage.t 5 t Don't shave any part of your head or trim your beard or cut yourself to show that you are mourning. 6 I am the [Lord] your God, and I have chosen you alone to offer sacrifices of food to me on the altar. That's why you must keep yourselves holy. 7 Don't marry a divorced woman or a woman who has served as a temple prostitute. You are holy,

8 because I am holy. And so, you must be treated with proper respect, since you offer food sacrifices to me, the God of holiness.

9 If any of you priests has a daughter who disgraces you by serving as a temple prostitute, she must be burned to death.
10 If you are the high priest, you must not mess up your hair or tear your clothes in order to mourn for the dead. 11 Don't make yourself unclean by going near a dead body, not even that of your own father or mother.

12 If you leave the sacred place to attend a funeral, both you and the sacred place become unclean, because you are the high priest.
13 If you are the high priest, you must marry only a virgin 14 from your own tribe. Don't marry a divorced woman or any other woman who has already had sex, including a temple prostitute.

15 In this way, your descendants will be qualified to serve me. Remember—I am the [Lord], and I have chosen you.
16 The [Lord] told Moses

17-18 to say to Aaron:
No descendant of yours can ever serve as my priest if he is blind or lame, if his face is disfigured, if one leg is shorter than the other, 19 if either a foot or a hand is paralyzed, 20 if he is a hunchback or a dwarf, if an eye or his skin is diseased, or if his testicles have been damaged. 21 These men may not serve as my priests and burn sacrifices to me. 22 They may eat the food offerings presented to me,

23 but they may not enter the sacred place or serve me at the altar. Remember—I am the [Lord], the one who makes a priest holy.
24 Moses told all of this to Aaron, his sons, and the people of Israel.