The Holiness of the Priests

21 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘^(A)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ^2 (B)except for his ^[a]blood relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, ³ also for his virgin sister, who is near to him ^[b]because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself as a ^[c]relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ^5 (C)They shall not make any baldness on their heads ^(D)nor shave off the edges of their beards ^(E)nor make any cuts in their flesh.

¹⁰ ‘And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^[a]who has been ordained to wear the garments, ^(A)shall not ^[b]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ^11 (B)nor shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; ^12 (C)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^(D)the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Yahweh.