Leviticus 21
Legacy Standard Bible
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. 6 They shall be holy to their God and (F)not profane the name of their God, for they bring near the offerings [d]to Yahweh by fire, (G)the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 (H)They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8 Therefore, you shall set him apart as holy, for he brings near (I)the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I Yahweh, who makes you holy, am holy. 9 (J)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
10 ‘And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and [e]who has been ordained to wear the garments, (K)shall not [f]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 (L)nor shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; 12 (M)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for (N)the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Yahweh. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 (O)A widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife, 15 so that he will not profane his seed among his people; for I am Yahweh who makes him holy.’”
16 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your seed throughout their generations who has a defect shall come near to offer the (P)food of his God. 18 (Q)For no one who has a defect shall come near: a blind man or a lame man or he who has a [g](R)disfigured face or any deformed limb, 19 or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a [h]defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or (S)crushed testicles. 21 No man among the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to bring near the offerings to Yahweh by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not approach to bring near (T)the food of his God. 22 He may eat (U)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, 23 only he shall not go in to the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 21:2 Lit flesh
- Leviticus 21:3 Or whom no man has had
- Leviticus 21:4 Lit husband among
- Leviticus 21:6 Lit of
- Leviticus 21:10 Lit whose hand has been filled
- Leviticus 21:10 Lit unbind
- Leviticus 21:18 Lit slit
- Leviticus 21:20 Lit obscurity
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.
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