Leviticus 21-22

Complete Jewish Bible

Parashah 31: Emor (Speak) 21:1–24:23

21 Adonai said to Moshe, “Speak to the cohanim, the sons of Aharon; tell them: ‘No cohen is to make himself unclean for any of his people who dies, ² except for his close relatives — his mother, father, son, daughter and brother; ³ he may also make himself unclean for his virgin sister who has never married and is therefore dependent on him. ⁴ He may not make himself unclean, because he is a leader among his people; doing so would profane him. ⁵ Cohanim are not to make bald spots on their heads, mar the edges of their beards or cut gashes in their flesh. ⁶ Rather, they are to be holy for their God and not profane the name of their God. For they are the ones who present Adonai with offerings made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they must be holy.

⁷ “‘A cohen is not to marry a woman who is a prostitute, who has been profaned or who has been divorced; because he is holy for his God. ⁸ Rather, you are to set him apart as holy, because he offers the bread of your God; he is to be holy for you, because I, Adonai, who makes you holy, am holy. ⁹ The daughter of a cohen who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she is to be put to death by fire.

¹⁰ “‘The cohen who is ranked highest among his brothers, the one on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who is consecrated to put on the garments, is not to stop grooming his hair, tear his clothes, ¹¹ go in to where any dead body is or make himself unclean, even when his father or mother dies. ¹² He may not leave the sanctuary then or profane the sanctuary of his God, because the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Adonai.

¹³ “‘He is to marry a virgin; ¹⁴ he may not marry a widow, divorcee, profaned woman or prostitute; but he must marry a virgin from among his own people ¹⁵ and not disqualify his descendants among his people; because I am Adonai, who makes him holy.’”

(ii) ¹⁶ Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁷ “Tell Aharon, ‘None of your descendants who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ No one with a defect may approach — no one blind, lame, with a mutilated face or a limb too long, ¹⁹ a broken foot or a broken arm, ²⁰ a hunched back, stunted growth, a cataract in his eye, festering or running sores, or damaged testicles — ²¹ no one descended from Aharon the cohen who has such a defect may approach to present the offerings for Adonai made by fire; he has a defect and is not to approach to offer the bread of his God. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both the especially holy and the holy; ²³ only he is not to go in to the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a defect — so that he will not profane my holy places, because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”

²⁴ Moshe said these things to Aharon, his sons and all the people of Isra’el.

22 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Tell Aharon and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the people of Isra’el which they set apart as holy for me, so that they will not profane my holy name; I am Adonai. ³ Tell them, ‘Any descendant of yours through all your generations who approaches the holy things that the people of Isra’el consecrate to Adonai and is unclean will be cut off from before me; I am Adonai.

⁴ “‘Any descendant of Aharon with tzara‘at or a discharge is not to eat the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who has touched a person made unclean by a dead body, or who has had a seminal emission, ⁵ or who has touched a reptile or insect that can make him unclean, or a man who is unclean for any reason and who can transmit to him his uncleanness — ⁶ the person who touches any of these will be unclean until evening and is not to eat the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. ⁷ After sunset he will be clean; and afterwards, he may eat the holy things; because they are his food. ⁸ But he is not to eat anything that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals and thereby make himself unclean; I am Adonai. ⁹ The cohanim must observe this charge of mine; otherwise, if they profane it, they will bear the consequences of their sin for doing so and die in it; I am Adonai, who makes them holy.

¹⁰ “‘No one who is not a cohen may eat anything holy, nor may a tenant or employee of a cohen eat anything holy. ¹¹ But if a cohen acquires a slave, either through purchase or through his being born in his household, he may share his food. ¹² If the daughter of a cohen is married to a man who is not a cohen, she is not to have a share of the food set aside from the holy things. ¹³ But if the daughter of a cohen is a widow or divorcee and has no child, and she is sent back to her father’s house as when she was young, she may share in her father’s food; but no one not a cohen is to share in it. ¹⁴ If a person eats holy food by mistake, he must add one-fifth to it and give the holy food to the cohen. ¹⁵ They are not to profane the holy things of the people of Isra’el that they have set apart for Adonai ¹⁶ and thus cause them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their holy things; because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”

(iii) ¹⁷ Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aharon and his sons and to the entire people of Isra’el; tell them: ‘When anyone, whether a member of the house of Isra’el or a foreigner living in Isra’el, brings his offering, either in connection with a vow or as a voluntary offering, and brings it to Adonai as a burnt offering, ¹⁹ in order for you to be accepted, you must bring a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep or the goats. ²⁰ You are not to bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted from you. ²¹ Whoever brings a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai in fulfillment of a vow or as a voluntary offering, whether it come from the herd or from the flock, it must be unblemished and without defect in order to be accepted. ²² If it is blind, injured, mutilated, has an abnormal growth or has festering or running sores, you are not to offer it to Adonai or make such an offering by fire on the altar to Adonai. ²³ If a bull or lamb has a limb which is too long or short, you may offer it as a voluntary offering; but for a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴ An animal with bruised, crushed, torn or cut genitals you are not to offer to Adonai. You are not to do these things in your land, ²⁵ and you are not to receive any of these from a foreigner for you to offer as bread for your God, because their deformity is a defect in them — they will not be accepted from you.’”

²⁶ Adonai said to Moshe, ²⁷ “When a bull, sheep or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days; but from the eighth day on, it may be accepted for an offering made by fire to Adonai. ²⁸ However, no animal is to be slaughtered together with its young on the same day, neither cow nor ewe.

²⁹ “When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Adonai, you must do it in a way such that you will be accepted. ³⁰ It must be eaten on the same day it is offered; leave none of it till morning; I am Adonai.

³¹ “You are to keep my mitzvot and obey them; I am Adonai. ³² You are not to profane my holy name; on the contrary, I am to be regarded as holy among the people of Isra’el; I am Adonai, who makes you holy, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Adonai.”