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[a]A priest shall not marry a woman debased by prostitution, nor a woman who has been divorced by her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.(A) Honor him as holy for he offers the food(B) of your God; he shall be holy to you, because I, the Lord, am holy who make you holy.

If a priest’s daughter debases herself by prostitution, she thereby debases her father; she shall be burned with fire.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 21:7 The ideal seems to be that a priest marry a virgin. This is explicitly stated for the high priest (cf. vv. 13–14; so also Ez 44:22, except there priests may marry widows of priests). The high priest has the added limitation that his wife must come from his kindred, i.e., the priestly family (cf. Ez 44:22).

“‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,(A) because priests are holy to their God.(B) Regard them as holy,(C) because they offer up the food of your God.(D) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.(E)

“‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.(F)

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