Rules for Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,^(A) and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean^(B) for any of his people who die,^{(C) 2} except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,^(D) his son or daughter, his brother, ³ or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.^{(E) 4} He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,^[a] and so defile himself.

⁵ “‘Priests must not shave^(F) their heads or shave off the edges of their beards^(G) or cut their bodies.^{(H) 6} They must be holy to their God^(I) and must not profane the name of their God.^(J) Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,^(K) the food of their God,^(L) they are to be holy.^(M)

⁷ “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,^(N) because priests are holy to their God.^{(O) 8} Regard them as holy,^(P) because they offer up the food of your God.^(Q) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.^(R)

⁹ “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.^(S)

¹⁰ “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head^(T) and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,^(U) must not let his hair become unkempt^[b] or tear his clothes.^{(V) 11} He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.^(W) He must not make himself unclean,^(X) even for his father or mother,^{(Y) 12} nor leave the sanctuary^(Z) of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil^(AA) of his God. I am the Lord.

¹³ “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.^{(AB) 14} He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, ¹⁵ so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect^(AC) may come near to offer the food of his God.^{(AD) 18} No man who has any defect^(AE) may come near: no man who is blind^(AF) or lame,^(AG) disfigured or deformed; ¹⁹ no man with a crippled foot or hand, ²⁰ or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.^{(AH) 21} No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect^(AI) is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord.^(AJ) He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.^{(AK) 22} He may eat the most holy food of his God,^(AL) as well as the holy food; ²³ yet because of his defect,^(AM) he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.^(AN) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.^(AO)’”

²⁴ So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

²¹ After all this had happened, Paul decided^[a] to go to Jerusalem,^(A) passing through Macedonia^(B) and Achaia.^(C) “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”^{(D) 22} He sent two of his helpers,^(E) Timothy^(F) and Erastus,^(G) to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia^(H) a little longer.

The Riot in Ephesus

²³ About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.^{(I) 24} A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. ²⁵ He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.^{(J) 26} And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus^(K) and in practically the whole province of Asia.^(L) He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.^{(M) 27} There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

²⁸ When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”^{(N) 29} Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius^(O) and Aristarchus,^(P) Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia,^(Q) and all of them rushed into the theater together. ³⁰ Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples^(R) would not let him. ³¹ Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

³² The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another.^(S) Most of the people did not even know why they were there. ³³ The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned^(T) for silence in order to make a defense before the people. ³⁴ But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”^(U)

³⁵ The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians,^(V) doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? ³⁶ Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. ³⁷ You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples^(W) nor blasphemed our goddess. ³⁸ If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen^(X) have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls.^(Y) They can press charges. ³⁹ If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰ As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” ⁴¹ After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.