Leviticus 21

New American Standard Bible

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, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, ³also for his virgin sister who is near to him ^[a]because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself. ⁴He shall not defile himself as a ^[b]relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself. ⁵^(C)They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, ^(D)nor shave off the edges of their beards, ^(E)nor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶They shall be holy to their God and ^(F)not profane the name of their God, because 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 a prostitute and ^[d]profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸You shall consecrate him, therefore, because 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 prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰‘The priest who is ^[e]highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^[f]who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(K)shall not ^[g]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 leave 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. ¹³He shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴^(O)A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to ^[h]marry a virgin of his own people, ¹⁵so that he will not profane his ^[i]children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

¹⁶Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your ^[j]descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the ^(P)food of his God. ¹⁸^(Q)For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a ^(R)slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature, ¹⁹or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or ^(S)crushed testicles. ²¹No man among the ^[k]descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward to offer ^(T)the food of his God. ²²He may eat ^(U)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, ²³only he shall not come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’” ²⁴So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Footnotes

Leviticus 21:3 Or who has not belonged to a man
Leviticus 21:4 Lit husband among
Leviticus 21:6 Lit of
Leviticus 21:7 I.e., deflowered
Leviticus 21:10 I.e., the high priest
Leviticus 21:10 Lit whose hand has been filled
Leviticus 21:10 Lit unbind
Leviticus 21:14 Lit take as wife
Leviticus 21:15 Lit seed
Leviticus 21:17 Lit seed
Leviticus 21:21 Lit seed

Psalm 26-27

New American Standard Bible

Protestation of Integrity and Prayer for Protection.

A Psalm of David.

26 ^[a]^(A)Vindicate me, Lord, for I have ^(B)walked in my integrity,
And I have ^(C)trusted in the Lord ^[b]^(D)without wavering.
²^(E)Examine me, Lord, and put me to the test;
^(F)Refine my ^[c]mind and my heart.
³For Your ^(G)^[d]goodness is before my eyes,
And I have ^(H)walked in Your truth.
⁴I do not ^(I)sit with ^[e]deceitful people,
Nor will I go with ^[f]^(J)pretenders.
⁵I ^(K)hate the assembly of evildoers,
And I will not sit with the wicked.
⁶I will ^(L)wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go around ^(M)Your altar, Lord,
⁷That I may proclaim with the voice of ^(N)thanksgiving
And declare all Your ^[g]wonders.

⁸Lord, I ^(O)love the dwelling of Your house,
And the place ^[h]where Your ^(P)glory remains.
⁹^(Q)Do not ^[i]take my soul away along with sinners,
Nor my life with ^(R)men of bloodshed,
¹⁰In whose hands is a ^(S)wicked scheme,
And whose right hand is full of ^(T)bribes.
¹¹But as for me, I will ^(U)walk in my integrity;
^(V)Redeem me, and be gracious to me.
¹²^(W)My foot stands on ^(X)level ground;
In the ^(Y)congregations I will bless the Lord.

A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my ^(Z)light and my ^(AA)salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the ^[j]^(AB)defense of my life;
^(AC)Whom should I dread?
²When evildoers came upon me to ^(AD)devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they ^(AE)stumbled and fell.
³If an ^(AF)army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am ^(AG)confident.

⁴^(AH)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may ^(AI)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold ^(AJ)the ^[k]beauty of the Lord
And to ^[l]^(AK)meditate in His temple.
⁵For on the ^(AL)day of trouble He will ^(AM)conceal me in His ^[m]tabernacle;
He will ^(AN)hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will ^(AO)lift me up on a rock.
⁶And now ^(AP)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer ^(AQ)sacrifices in His tent ^[n]with shouts of joy;
I will ^(AR)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷^(AS)Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and ^(AT)answer me.
⁸When You said, “^(AU)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“^(AV)I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
⁹^(AW)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in ^(AX)anger;
You have been ^(AY)my help;
^(AZ)Do not abandon me nor ^(BA)forsake me,
God of my salvation!
¹⁰^[o]For my father and ^(BB)my mother have forsaken me,
But ^(BC)the Lord will take me up.

¹¹^(BD)Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a ^(BE)level path
Because of my enemies.
¹²Do not turn me over to the ^[p]^(BF)desire of my enemies,
For ^(BG)false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent ^(BH)witness.
¹³I certainly believed that I would see the ^(BI)goodness of the Lord
In the ^(BJ)land of the living.
¹⁴^(BK)Wait for the Lord;
Be ^(BL)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.