Leviticus 21:1-23

¹And the Lord said to Moses, Speak thou to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say to them, A priest be not defouled in the dead men of his citizens,

²no but only in his kinsmen, and nigh of blood, that is, on father, and mother, and son, and daughter, and brother,

³and sister, a virgin, that is not wedded to man;

⁴but neither he shall be defouled in the prince of his people.

⁵Priests shall not shave their head, neither beard, neither they shall make carvings in their fleshes;

⁶they shall be holy to their God, and they shall not defoul his name; for they offer incense of the Lord, and the loaves of their God, and therefore they shall be holy.

⁷A priest shall not wed a wife a corrupt woman, and a foul whore, neither he shall wed her that is forsaken of the husband, for he is hallowed to his God,

⁸and offereth the loaves of setting forth; therefore be he holy, for I am the holy Lord that halloweth you.

⁹If the daughter of a priest is taken in defouling of virginity, and defouleth the name of her father, she shall be burnt in fire.

¹⁰The bishop, that is the most priest among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of anointing is poured, and whose hands be made sacred in priesthood, and he is clothed in holy clothes, shall not discover his head, he shall not tear his clothes,

¹¹and utterly he shall not enter in to any dead man; and he shall not be defouled on his father, and mother,

¹²neither he shall go out of the holy places, lest he defoul the saintuary of the Lord, for the oil of holy anointing of his God is on him; I am the Lord.

¹³He shall wed to wife a virgin;

¹⁴he shall not take a widow, and a forsaken woman, and a foul woman, and whore, but a virgin of his people;

¹⁵meddle or mingle he not the generation of his kin to the common people of his folk, for I am the Lord, that halloweth him.

¹⁶And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

¹⁷Speak thou to Aaron; a man of thy seed, by meines, that hath a wem, that is, a notable foulness, shall not offer bread to his God,

¹⁸neither shall nigh to his service; if he is blind; if he is crooked; if he is either of little, either of great, or wrong nose;

¹⁹if he is of broken foot, either hand;

²⁰if he hath a botch, or a bulge, on his back; either if he is bleary-eyed; if he hath white colour, or a pearl, in his eye, that hindereth his sight; if he hath continual scab; if he hath a dry scab in his body; either if he be bruised in privy members.

²¹Each man of the seed of Aaron the priest, that hath a wem, shall not nigh to offer sacrifices to the Lord, neither to offer loaves to his God;

²²nevertheless he shall eat the loaves that be offered in the saintuary,

²³so only that he enter not within the veil; he shall not nigh to the altar, for he hath a wem, and he shall not defoul my saintuary; I am the Lord, that hallow them.