Leviticus 21
Berean Standard BibleTranslation
Berean Standard Bible
Douay-Rheims Bible, American Edition (1899)
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,
1The Lord said also to Moses: Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say to them: Let not a priest incur an uncleanness at the death of his citizens:
2except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,
2But only for his kin, such as are near in blood, that is to say, for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his daughter, for his brother also,
3or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.
3And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband:
4He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.
4But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing that may make him unclean.
5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
5Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make incisions in their flesh.
6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.
6They shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name: for they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their God, and therefore they shall be holy.
7A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
7They shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one that has been put away from her husband: because they are consecrated to their God,
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.
8And offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them.
9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.
9If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire.
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.
10The high priest, that is to say, the priest, is the greatest among his brethren. upon whose head the oil of unction hath been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who hath been vested with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, he shall not rend his garments:
11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
11Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his father, or his mother, shall he be defiled:
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.
12Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy unction of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.
13The woman he marries must be a virgin.
13He shall take a virgin unto his wife:
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,
14But a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of his own people:
15so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”
15He shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common people of his nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify him.
16Then the LORD said to Moses,
16And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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.
17Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.
18No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;
18Neither shall he approach to minister to him: If he be blind, if he be lame, if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose,
19no man who has a broken foot or hand,
19If his foot, or if his hand be broken,
20or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.
20If he be crookbacked, or blear eyed, or have a pearl in his eye, or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture:
21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.
21Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish, he shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to his God.
22He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,
22He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves, that are offered in the sanctuary,
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.’”
23Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the altar, because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary. I am the Lord who sanctify them.
24Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
24Moses therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.
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