Passage Lookup

Leviticus 21

Regulations concerning Priests

   ¹Then 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,

   ²except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother,

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

   ⁴'He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.

   ⁵'They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.

   ⁶'They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.

   ⁷'They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

   ⁸'You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.

   ⁹'Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

   ¹⁰'The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;

   ¹¹nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

   ¹²nor 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 on him; I am the LORD.

   ¹³'He shall take a wife in her virginity.

   ¹⁴'A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people,

   ¹⁵so that he will not profane his offspring among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"

   ¹⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

   ¹⁷"Speak to Aaron, saying, 'No man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the food of his God.

   ¹⁸'For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb,

   ¹⁹or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,

   ²⁰or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.

   ²¹'No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the LORD'S offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God.

   ²²'He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,

   ²³only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"

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

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Leviticus 21

    ²Except for his near [blood] kin, for his mother, father, son, daughter, brother,

    ³And for his sister, a virgin, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may be defiled.

    ⁴He shall not even defile himself, being a [bereaved] husband [his wife not being his blood kin] or being a chief man among his people, and so profane himself.

    ⁵The priests [like the other Israelite men] shall not shave the crown of their heads or clip off the corners of their beard or make any cuttings in their flesh.

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

    ⁷They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or polluted or profane or divorced, for [the priest] is holy to his God.

    ⁸You shall consecrate him therefore, for he offers the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you, for I the Lord Who sanctifies you am holy.

    ⁹The daughter of any priest who profanes herself by playing the harlot profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire [after being stoned].

    ¹⁰But he who is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to put on the [sacred] garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose or rend his clothes [in mourning],

    ¹¹Neither shall he go in where any dead body lies nor defile himself [by doing so, even] for his father or for his mother;

    ¹²Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary nor desecrate or make ceremonially unclean the sanctuary of his God, for the crown or consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

    ¹³He shall take a wife in her virginity.

    ¹⁴A widow or a divorced woman or a woman who is polluted or profane or a harlot, these he shall not marry, but he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people,

    ¹⁵That he may not profane or dishonor his children among his people; for I the Lord do sanctify the high priest.

    ¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses,

    ¹⁷Say to Aaron, Any one of your sons in their successive generations who has any blemish, let him not come near to offer the bread of his God.

    ¹⁸For no man who has a blemish shall approach [God's altar to serve as priest], a man blind or lame, or he who has a disfigured face or a limb too long,

    ¹⁹Or who has a fractured foot or hand,

    ²⁰Or is a hunchback, or a dwarf, or has a defect in his eye, or has scurvy or itch, or scabs or skin trouble, or has damaged testicles.

    ²¹No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish and is disfigured or deformed shall come near [the altar] to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire. He has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

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

    ²³But he shall not come within the veil or come near the altar [of incense], because he has a blemish, that he may not desecrate and make unclean My sanctuaries and hallowed things; for I the Lord do sanctify them.

    ²⁴And Moses told it to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation