The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

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- Chapter 21 -

Yahweh also said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them,

’You priests must not cause yourselves to become unfit to do my work by touching any dead body. You are permitted to touch only the corpses of close relatives, such as your mother, father, son, daughter or your brother.

You may also touch the corpse of a sister if she is not married and has been living in your house, because she has no husband to bury her.

You priests must not cause yourselves to become unfit to do my work by touching the dead bodies of other relatives of yours.

You priests must not shave your heads or the edges of your beards; you must not cut your bodies to show that you are mourning for someone who has died.

You must act in ways that I, your God, consider to be suitable for you, my priests; you must not disgrace me. You are the ones who will present to me the offerings that you will burn. These offerings will be made to me from your food supplies. So you must act in ways that are suitable, because you honor me.

You priests must not marry women who have been prostitutes or who have been divorced from their husbands, because you priests are set apart for God.

You must remember that I have set you apart to worship me. It is as though you were offering food to me, your God. Regard yourselves as belonging to me, because I, Yahweh, am the one who made you to be priests, and I have nothing to do with any evil, I am holy.

If a priest’s daughter becomes a prostitute, she disgraces her father, and you must burn her in a fire.

The high priest is the one among his relatives who has been appointed for that work by having his head anointed with olive oil. He is also the one who has been appointed to wear the garments that are made and set apart for the honor of Yahweh. He must not allow the hair on his head to remain uncombed, and he must not tear his clothes when he is mourning for someone.

He must not enter any place where there is a corpse. He must not do that and cause himself to become unfit for his work, even if it is his father or his mother who has died.

He must not leave the sacred tent to join those who are mourning, because he would cause himself to become unfit for his work and would also defile the sacred tent. He must not leave the sacred tent at that time, because by being anointed with olive oil he has been appointed to serve his God in the sacred tent. I, Yahweh, am the one who am commanding this.

Women whom you priests marry must be virgins.

You priests must not marry widows or prostitutes or divorced women, because if you do that, and if you later have sons, they will not be acceptable to be priests among your people.

You must marry only virgins from among your own people. I am Yahweh, who sets priests apart for my honor and for those who worship me.’”

Restrictions against Those with Blemishes

Yahweh also said to Moses,

“Say this to Aaron: ’For all future time, none of your descendants who has any defects on his body will be allowed to come near the altar to offer sacrifices to me which will be like my food.

No one who is blind or lame or deformed, or whose face is disfigured,

no man with a crippled foot or a crippled hand,

no man who has a hunchback or an abnormally short person, no man whose eyes are defective, no man who has a skin disease or whose private parts have been damaged.

No descendant of Aaron, the first high priest, who has any defect is allowed to come to the altar to offer to me, his God, sacrifices that will be burned.

Priests who have defects are permitted to eat the various kinds of holy food offered to me.

But because of their defects, they must not go near the curtain in the sacred tent or near the altar, because if they did that, they would desecrate my sacred tent. I am Yahweh, the one who sets those places apart for myself and for my honor.’”

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

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people,

except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,

and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

“‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.

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, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy.

“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.

“‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.

“‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes.

He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother.

He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the LORD.

“‘He shall take a wife in her virginity.

He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife.

He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.’”

Restrictions against Those with Blemishes

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God.

For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,

or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand,

or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.

No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.

He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

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