Leviticus 21
Christian Standard Bible
The Holiness of the Priests
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives,(A) 2 except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother. 3 He may make himself unclean for his unmarried virgin sister in his immediate family. 4 He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage[a] and so defile himself.
5 “Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.(B) 6 They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God.(C) For they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, and they must be holy. 7 They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution.[b](D) They are not to marry one divorced(E) by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy. 9 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by promiscuity,[c](F) she defiles her father; she must be burned to death.(G)
10 “The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained[d] to wear the clothes, must not dishevel his hair[e] or tear his clothes.(H) 11 He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother.(I) 12 He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him;(J) I am the Lord.
13 “He is to marry a woman who is a virgin. 14 He is not to marry a widow,(K) a divorced woman,(L) or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he does not corrupt his bloodline[f] among his people, for I am the Lord who sets him apart.”
Physical Defects and Priests
16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 17 “Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect(M) is to come near to present the food(N) of his God. 18 No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed; 19 no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf,[g](O) or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs,(P) or a crushed testicle.(Q) 21 No descendant of the priest Aaron who has a defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God. 22 He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy. 23 But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain(R) or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate my holy places, for I am the Lord who sets them apart.”(S) 24 Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Leviticus 21
English Standard Version
Holiness and the Priests
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, (A)No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 (B)They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and (C)not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, (D)the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 (E)They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman (F)divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for (G)I, the Lord, who sanctify you, (H)am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; (I)she shall be burned with fire.
10 (J)“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, (K)shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not (L)go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 (M)He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he (N)profane the sanctuary of his God, for the (O)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.[a] 14 A widow, (P)or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin[b] of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for (Q)I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may (R)approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man (S)blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face (T)or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a (U)defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or (V)crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to (W)offer the Lord's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of (X)the most holy and of the (Y)holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not (Z)profane my sanctuaries,[c] (AA)for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 21:13 Or a young wife
- Leviticus 21:14 Hebrew young woman
- Leviticus 21:23 Or my holy precincts
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
