Leviticus 21
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1The LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. “A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative.1And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
2The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother,2But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,
3or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband.3And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.
4But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.4But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
5“The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies.5They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
6They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the LORD, gifts of food for their God.6They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
7“Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God.7They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
8You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy.8Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
9“If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.9And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
10“The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothing.10And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
11He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother.11Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
12He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD.12Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
13“The high priest may marry only a virgin.13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
14He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan,14A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
15so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the LORD who makes him holy.”15Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
16Then the LORD said to Moses,16And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17“Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God.17Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
18No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed,18For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
19or has a broken foot or arm,19Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
20or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles.20Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
21No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God.21No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
22However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings.22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
23Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.”23Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
24So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.24And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
Leviticus 20
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