21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,
21:2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother,
21:3 also for his virgin sister who is near to him ①because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself.
▷ ①Or who has not belonged to a man
21:4 He shall not defile himself as a ①relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself.
▷ ①Lit husband among
21:5 They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.
21:6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire ①to the LORD, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.
▷ ①Lit of
21:7 They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and ①profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.
▷ ①I.e., deflowered
21:8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers the food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.
21:9 Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
21:10 ‘The priest who is ①highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ②who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not ③uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
▷ ①I.e., the high priest ②Lit whose hand has been filled ③Lit unbind
21:11 nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;
21:12 nor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD.
21:13 He shall take a wife in her virginity.
21:14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to ①marry a virgin of his own people,
▷ ①Lit take as wife
21:15 so that he will not profane his ①children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.’ ”
▷ ①Lit seed
21:16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
21:17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your ①descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the food of his God.
▷ ①Lit seed
21:18 For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature,
21:19 or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand,
21:20 or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or crushed testicles.
21:21 No man among the ①descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the LORD’S offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward to offer the food of his God.
▷ ①Lit seed
21:22 He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,
21:23 only he shall not come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’ ”
21:24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.