Lev 21 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then the Lord said to Moses , “ Speak to the priests , the sons of Aaron , and say to them: ‘ No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people ,

Leviticus 21

Regulations concerning Priests

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘ ^aNo one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2 ^bexcept for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, 3 also for his virgin sister who is near to him ^{▼▼Or who has not belonged to a man}because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself. 4 He shall not defile himself as a ^{▼▼Lit husband among}relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself. 5 ^eThey shall not shave any area on their heads bald, ^fnor shave off the edges of their beards, ^gnor make any cuts in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God and ^hnot profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire ^{▼▼Lit of}to the Lord, ^jthe food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 ^kThey shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and ^{▼▼I.e., deflowered}profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers ^mthe food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 ⁿAlso 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 ^{▼▼I.e., the high priest}highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^{▼▼Lit whose hand has been filled}who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^qshall not ^{▼▼Lit unbind}uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 ^snor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; 12 ^tnor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^uthe consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. 13 He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 ^vA widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to ^{▼▼Lit take as wife}marry a virgin of his own people, 15 so that he will not profane his ^{▼▼Lit seed}children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your ^{▼▼Lit seed}descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the ^zfood of his God. 18 ^aaFor no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a ^abslit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature, 19 or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or ^accrushed testicles. 21 No man among the ^{▼▼Lit seed}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 ^aethe food of his God. 22 He may eat ^afthe food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, 23 only 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.’” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.