Leviticus 21

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¹The Lord told Moses, “Tell Aaron's sons, the priests: A priest is not to make himself unclean by touching the dead body of any of his relatives.

²The only exceptions are for his immediate family. This includes his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,

³or his unmarried sister since she is a close relative because she doesn't have a husband.

⁴He must not make himself unclean for those only related to him by marriage—he is not to make himself ceremonially impure.

⁵Priests are not to shave bald spots on their heads, trim the sides of their beards, or cut their bodies.

⁶They must be holy to their God and not disgrace their God's reputation. They are the one who present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God. Consequently they must be holy.

⁷A priest is not to marry a woman made unclean through prostitution or who is divorced by her husband, for the priest must be holy to his God.

⁸You shall consider him holy because he presents the food offerings to your God. He shall be holy to you, because I am holy. I am the Lord, and I chose you as my special people.

⁹A priest's daughter who makes herself unclean through prostitution makes her father unclean. She must be executed by burning.

¹⁰The high priest has the highest place among the other priests. He has been anointed with olive oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly clothing. He must not leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothes.

¹¹He is not to go near any dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even it is for his own father or mother.

¹²He must not leave to deal with someone who has died or make the sanctuary of his God unclean because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.

¹³He can only marry a virgin.

¹⁴He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one made unclean through prostitution. He has to marry a virgin from his own people,

¹⁵so that he doesn't make his children unclean among his people, for I am the Lord who makes him holy.”

¹⁶The Lord told Moses,

¹⁷“Tell Aaron: These rules apply for all future generations. If any of your descendants has a physical defect, he is not allowed to come and present the food offerings of his God.

¹⁸No man is allowed to do this if he has any defects, including anyone who is blind, crippled, facially disfigured, or has deformities,

¹⁹anyone who has a broken foot or arm,

²⁰anyone who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has cataracts, skin sores or scabs, or a damaged testicle.

²¹No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect is allowed to come and present the food offerings to the Lord. Because he has a defect, he must not come and offer the food of his God.

²²He is still allowed to eat the food from the Most Holy Place of his God and also from the sanctuary,

²³but because he has a defect, he is not allowed to go near the curtain or the altar, so that my sanctuary and everything in it are not made unclean, because I am the Lord who makes them holy.”

²⁴Moses repeated this to Aaron and his sons, and to all the Israelites.