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16 Then[a] 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,[b] 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[c] 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[d] 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[e] Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 21:16 Or “And”
  2. Leviticus 21:18 Or “For”
  3. Leviticus 21:21 Hebrew “of”
  4. Leviticus 21:22 Literally “the holy things of the holy things”
  5. Leviticus 21:24 Or “And”
  6. Leviticus 21:24 Literally “sons/children of Israel”

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(A) is to come near to present the food(B) 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,[a](C) or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs,(D) or a crushed testicle.(E) 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(F) or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate my holy places, for I am the Lord who sets them apart.”(G) 24 Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

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Footnotes

  1. 21:20 Or or emaciated