Leviticus 21:1-24
21 And Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “Talk to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and you must say to them, ‘For a deceased soul* no one may defile himself among his people.+
2 But for a blood relation of his who is close to him, for his mother and for his father and for his son and for his daughter and for his brother
3 and for his sister, a virgin who is close to him, who has not become a man’s, for her* he may defile himself.
4 He may not defile himself for a woman possessed by an owner* among his people so as to make himself profane.
5 They should not produce baldness upon their heads,+ and the extremity of their beard they should not shave,+ and on their flesh they should not make an incision.+
6 They should prove themselves holy to their God,+ and they should not profane the name of their God,+ because they are those presenting Jehovah’s offerings made by fire, the bread of their God;+ and they must prove themselves holy.*+
7 A prostitute+ or a violated woman they should not take; and a woman divorced+ from her husband they should not take,+ because he is holy to his God.
8 So you must sanctify him,+ because he is one presenting the bread of your God. He should prove to be holy to you,+ because I Jehovah, who am sanctifying YOU, am holy.+
9 “‘Now in case the daughter of a priest should make herself profane by committing prostitution, it is her father that she is profaning. She should be burned in the fire.+
10 “‘And as for the high priest of his brothers upon whose head the anointing oil would be poured+ and whose hand was filled with power* to wear the garments,+ he should not let his head go ungroomed,+ and he should not tear his garments.+
11 And he should not come to any dead soul.*+ For his father and his mother he may not defile himself.
12 He should also not go out from the sanctuary and not profane the sanctuary of his God,+ because the sign of dedication, the anointing oil of his God,+ is upon him. I am Jehovah.
13 “‘And for his part, he should take a woman in her virginity.+
14 As for a widow or a divorced woman and one violated, a prostitute, none of these may he take, but he should take a virgin from his people as a wife.
15 And he should not profane his seed* among his people,+ because I am Jehovah who is sanctifying him.’”+
16 And Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying:
17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your seed throughout their generations in whom there proves to be a defect+ may come near to present the bread of his God.+
18 In case there is any man in whom there is a defect, he may not come near: a man blind or lame or with his nose slit or with one member too long,*+
19 or a man in whom there proves to be a fracture of the foot or a fracture of the hand,
20 or hunchback or thin* or diseased in his eyes or scabby or having ringworms or having his testicles broken.+
21 Any man of the seed of Aaron the priest in whom there is a defect may not approach to present Jehovah’s offerings made by fire.+ There is a defect in him. He may not approach to present the bread of his God.+
22 He may eat the bread of his God from the most holy things+ and from the holy things.+
23 However, he may not come in near the curtain,+ and he may not approach the altar,+ because there is a defect in him;+ and he should not profane my sanctuary,+ for I am Jehovah who is sanctifying them.’”+
24 Accordingly Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons and all the sons of Israel.
Footnotes
^ Lit., “For a soul,” that is, a dead soul. Heb., leneʹphesh; Gr., psy·khaisʹ, pl. Compare vs 11 and Nu 6:6 ftns. See App 4A.
^ “Her,” M; LXX, “them.”
^ “He may not defile himself for a woman possessed by an owner” is a proposed rendering as M is obscure; LXX, “He must not defile himself suddenly”; Vg, “He must not defile himself for a prince.”
^ “Holy,” SamLXXSyVg; M, “something holy.”
^ “And whose hand was filled with power.” Or, “and who was empowered (inaugurated; installed).” Heb., u·mil·leʼʹ ʼeth-ya·dhohʹ; Gr., te·te·lei·o·meʹnou (LXXThomson, “having been consecrated”). See Heb 5:9 and Heb 7:28 ftns.
^ Lit., “souls of one dead.” Heb., naph·shothʹ, pl., followed by meth, “dead”; Gr., psy·kheiʹ followed by te·te·leu·te·kuiʹai, the perfect participle of “decease,” combine to mean “soul deceased”; Sy, “soul of one dead”; Vg, “dead one.”
^ Or, “offspring.”
^ Or, “with a superfluous member.”
^ Or, “dwarfed.” Possibly, “consumptive.”
