Leviticus 21:1-15

New American Standard Bible 1995

Regulations concerning Priests

21 Then the Lord 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 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 ^[a]because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself as a ^[b]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 present the offerings by fire ^[c]to the Lord, ^(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 You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers ^(I)the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, 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 ‘The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^[d]who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(K)shall not ^[e]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 consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. ¹³ 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 is to ^[f]marry a virgin of his own people, ¹⁵ so that he will not profane his ^[g]offspring among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”