21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person 1 no priest 2 is to defile himself among his people, 3 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: 4 his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, 5 who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 6 21:5 Priests 7 must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. 8
21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane 9 the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, 10 the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. 11 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, 12 nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, 13 for the priest 14 is holy to his God. 15 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, 16 am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. 17
21:10 “‘The high 18 priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained 19 to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. 20 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; 21 he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane 22 the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. 23 21:14 He must not marry 24 a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people 25 as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, 26 for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations 27 who has a physical flaw 28 is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly 29 no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, 30 or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, 31 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, 32 or one with a spot in his eye, 33 or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, 34 or a crushed testicle. 21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward 35 to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, 21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy 36 or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus 37 he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
21:24 So 38 Moses spoke these things 39 to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.
22:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy offerings 40 of the Israelites, which they consecrate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name. 41 I am the Lord. 22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, 42 if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate 43 to the Lord while he is impure, 44 that person must be cut off from before me. 45 I am the Lord. 22:4 No man 46 from the descendants of Aaron who is diseased or has a discharge 47 may eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. The one 48 who touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person, 49 or a man who has a seminal emission, 50 22:5 or a man who touches a swarming thing by which he becomes unclean, 51 or touches a person 52 by which he becomes unclean, whatever that person’s impurity 53 – 22:6 the person who touches any of these 54 will be unclean until evening and must not eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body in water. 22:7 When the sun goes down he will be clean, and afterward he may eat from the holy offerings, because they are his food. 22:8 He must not eat an animal that has died of natural causes 55 or an animal torn by beasts and thus become unclean by it. I am the Lord. 22:9 They must keep my charge so that they do not incur sin on account of it 56 and therefore die 57 because they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
22:10 “‘No lay person 58 may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger 59 nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy, 22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money, 60 that person 61 may eat the holy offerings, 62 and those born in the priest’s 63 own house may eat his food. 64 22:12 If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, 65 she may not eat the holy contribution offerings, 66 22:13 but if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in 67 her father’s house as in her youth, 68 she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.
22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, 69 he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. 70 22:15 They 71 must not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute 72 to the Lord, 73 22:16 and so cause them to incur a penalty for guilt 74 when they eat their holy offerings, 75 for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”