Leviticus, 21

1. Yahweh said to Moses: 'Speak to the priests descended from Aaron and say: "None of them must make himself unclean by touching the corpse of one of his people,

1. And the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them that none of them shall defile himself for the dead among his people,

2. unless it be of one of his closest relations-father, mother, son, daughter, brother,

2. except for his nearest of kin, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,

3. or virgin sister, since she being unmarried is still his close relation: he can make himself unclean for her;

3. or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself).

4. but for a close female relation who is married he will not make himself unclean; he would profane himself.

4. He shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself.

5. "They will not make tonsures on their heads, shave the edges of their beards, or gash their bodies.

5. They shall not make tonsures upon their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

6. They will be consecrated to their God and will not profane the name of their God. For their function is to offer the food burnt for Yahweh, the food of their God, and so they must be holy.

6. They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings by fire to the LORD, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.

7. "They will not marry a woman profaned by prostitution, or one divorced by her husband, for the priest is consecrated to his God.

7. They shall not marry a harlot or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.

8. "You will treat him as holy, for he offers the food of your God. For you, he will be a holy person, for I, Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.

8. You shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.

9. "If a priest's daughter profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father and will be burnt alive.

9. And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

10. "The priest who is pre-eminent over his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who, robed in the sacred vestments, has received investiture, will not disorder his hair or tear his clothes;

10. "The priest who is chief among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, nor rend his clothes;

11. he will not go near any corpse or make himself unclean even for his father or mother.

11. he shall not go in to any dead body, nor defile himself, even for his father or for his mother;

12. He will not leave the holy place in such a way as to profane the sanctuary of his God; for he bears the consecration of the anointing oil of his God. I am Yahweh.

12. neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.

13. "He will marry a woman who is still a virgin.

13. And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

14. He will not marry a woman who has been widowed or divorced or profaned by prostitution, but will marry a virgin from his own people:

14. A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a harlot, these he shall not marry; but he shall take to wife a virgin of his own people,

15. he must not make his own children profane, for I, Yahweh, have sanctified him." '

15. that he may not profane his children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctify him."

16. Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

16. And the LORD said to Moses,

17. 'Speak to Aaron and say: "None of your descendants, for all time, may come forward to offer the food of his God if he has any infirmity,

17. "Say to Aaron, None of your descendants throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.

18. for none may come forward if he has an infirmity, be he blind or lame, disfigured or deformed,

18. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long,

19. or with an injured foot or arm,

19. or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand,

20. a hunchback, someone with rickets or ophthalmia or the scab or running sores, or a eunuch.

20. or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles;

21. No descendant of the priest Aaron may come forward to offer the food burnt for Yahweh if he has any infirmity; if he has an infirmity, he will not come forward to offer the food of his God.

21. no man of the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD's offerings by fire; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

22. "He may eat the food of his God, things especially holy and things holy,

22. He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,

23. but he will not go near the curtain or approach the altar, since he has an infirmity and must not profane my holy things; for I, Yahweh, have sanctified them." '

23. but he shall not come near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries; for I am the LORD who sanctify them."

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

24. So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.