Leviticus 21
Lexham English Bible
Regulations Concerning Priests
21 Then[a] Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘One must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his own people, 2 except for his direct relative closest to him: his mother and his father, and his son and his daughter, and his brother, 3 and for his sister, a virgin, who is closest to him, who has not had a husband[b]—for her he may defile himself. 4 He must not make himself unclean as a kinsman by marriage,[c] defiling himself.
5 “‘And they shall not shave bald patches on their head, and they shall not shave off the corner of their beard, and they shall not make a cut in their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, because they are bringing near the offerings made by fire to[d] Yahweh—their God’s food—and they shall be holy.
7 “‘They shall not marry[e] a woman who is a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they marry[f] a woman divorced from her husband, because each priest[g] is holy for his God. 8 And you shall consecrate him, because he is bringing near your God’s food; he shall be holy to you, since I, Yahweh, who consecrates you, am holy.
9 “‘As for[h] the daughter of any priest, if she is defiled by prostituting, she is disgracing her father—she shall be burned in the fire.
10 “‘As for[i] the priest who is higher than his brothers, on whose head the oil of anointment is poured and he was ordained[j] to wear the garments, he shall not dishevel his head, and he shall not tear his garments. 11 And he shall not go near any dead person, nor shall he make himself unclean for his father or[k] for his mother. 12 And he shall not go out from the sanctuary, and he shall not profane his God’s sanctuary, because the dedication of his God’s oil of anointment is on him; I am Yahweh.
13 “‘And he himself must take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow or[l] a divorced woman or[m] a defiled woman, a prostitute—these he must not take; he shall take only[n] a virgin from his people as wife. 15 And he shall not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates him.’”
16 Then[o] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations, in whom is a physical defect, shall not come near to present your God’s food. 18 Indeed,[p] any man in whom is a physical defect shall not come near: a blind man or lame or disfigured or deformed, 19 or a man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle. 21 Any man from Aaron the priest’s offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to[q] Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his God’s food. 22 He may eat his God’s food, from the most holy things[r] and from the holy things. 23 But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect is in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’”
24 Thus[s] Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.[t]
Footnotes
- Leviticus 21:1 Or “And”
- Leviticus 21:3 Literally “who is not for a man/husband”
- Leviticus 21:4 Literally “a husband among his people”
- Leviticus 21:6 Hebrew “of”
- Leviticus 21:7 Literally “take”
- Leviticus 21:7 Literally “take”
- Leviticus 21:7 Hebrew “he”; singular antecedent specified from the context
- Leviticus 21:9 Or “And”
- Leviticus 21:10 Or “And”
- Leviticus 21:10 Literally “he has filled up his hand”
- Leviticus 21:11 Or “and”
- Leviticus 21:14 Or “and”
- Leviticus 21:14 Or “and”
- Leviticus 21:14 Or “instead”
- Leviticus 21:16 Or “And”
- Leviticus 21:18 Or “For”
- Leviticus 21:21 Hebrew “of”
- Leviticus 21:22 Literally “the holy things of the holy things”
- Leviticus 21:24 Or “And”
- Leviticus 21:24 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
Leviticus 21
New Living Translation
Instructions for the Priests
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
“A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative. 2 The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother, 3 or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband. 4 But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.
5 “The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies. 6 They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the Lord, gifts of food for their God.
7 “Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God. 8 You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the Lord, am holy, and I make you holy.
9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.
10 “The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed[a] or tear his clothing. 11 He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother. 12 He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.
13 “The high priest may marry only a virgin. 14 He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan, 15 so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the Lord who makes him holy.”
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, 17 “Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God. 18 No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, 19 or has a broken foot or arm, 20 or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the Lord. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God. 22 However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. 23 Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the Lord who makes them holy.”
24 So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Footnotes
- 21:10 Or never uncover his head.
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