21Verse 1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,Verse 2except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,Verse 3or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.Verse 4He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.Verse 5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.Verse 6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the food offerings, the food of their God, they must be holy.Verse 7A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.Verse 8You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.Verse 9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.Verse 10The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose+or tear his garments.Verse 11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.Verse 12He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.Verse 13The woman he marries must be a virgin.Verse 14He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,Verse 15so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”
Restrictions against Those with Blemishes
Verse 16Then the LORD said to Moses,Verse 17“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.Verse 18No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;Verse 19no man who has a broken foot or hand,Verse 20or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.Verse 21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the food offerings to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.Verse 22He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,Verse 23but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”Verse 24Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.