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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”

On Physical Defects

16 The Lord told Moses, 17 “Tell Aaron that whoever of your descendants throughout their generations has a bodily defect is not to approach to offer the food of his God. 18 Indeed, any person who has a defect is not to approach the Tent of Meeting—[a] the blind, the lame, one who is mutilated in the face or who has a very long limb, 19 or a person who has a fractured foot or hand, 20 has scoliosis,[b] is a dwarf, or has an eye defect, an itching disease, scabs, or a crushed testicle. 21 None of the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to approach to bring offerings of the Lord made by fire, since he has a defect. He is not to approach to offer the food of his God. 22 However, he may eat the food of his God, including the most holy and the holy offerings, 23 but he is not to enter through the curtain nor approach the altar, since he has a defect. That way, he won’t defile my sanctuary, since I am the Lord, who sets you apart.”

24 Moses told all of this[c] to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the Israelis.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 21:18 The Heb. lacks the Tent of Meeting
  2. Leviticus 21:20 Or has a crooked back
  3. Leviticus 21:24 The Heb. lacks all of this