BSB LEV Chapter 21

Holiness Required of Priests

21 Then 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, 2 except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3 or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband 4 He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage and so profane himself.

5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 6 They 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.

7 [A priest] must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for [the priest] is holy to his God. 8 You 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. 9 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

10 The 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[fn] or tear his garments 11 He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 12 He 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.

13 The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

Restrictions against Those with Blemishes

16 Then the LORD said to Moses 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.

18 No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 19 no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

21 No 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. 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy [food], 23 but 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.’ ”

24 Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites