Leviticus 21:1-24
Rules for Priests
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die, 2 except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother, 3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean. 4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,[a] and so defile himself.
5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. 6 They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
7 “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God. 8 Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.
9 “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.
10 “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt[b] or tear his clothes. 11 He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother, 12 nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. 18 No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not 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 yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’”
24 So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
The LORD said to Moses, “Tell these things to Aaron’s sons, the priests: A priest must not make himself unclean by touching a dead person...But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, he can touch the dead body...The priest can make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother or 3 his unmarried[sister...(This sister is close to him because she has no husband...So the priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies.)...But a priest must not make himself unclean if the dead person was only one of his slaves...“Priests must not shave their heads bald...They must not shave off the edges of their beards...They must not make any cuts in their bodies...Priests must be holy for their God...They must show respect for God’s name...They offer the bread and special gifts to the LORD, so they must be holy...
“A priest serves God in a special way, so he must not marry a woman who has had sexual relations with any other man...He must not marry a prostitute or a divorced woman...A priest serves God in a special way...So you must treat him in a special way, because he carries holy things...He brings the holy bread to me, and I AM Holy...I AM the LORD, and I make you holy...“If a priest’s daughter becomes a prostitute, she ruins her reputation and brings shame to her father...She must be burned to death in the fire!...
“The high priest was chosen from among his brothers...The anointing oil was poured on his head...In this way he was chosen for the special job of being high priest...He was chosen to wear the special clothes, so he must not do things to show his sadness in public...He must not let his hair grow wild...He must not tear his clothes...He must not make himself unclean by touching a dead body...He must not go near a dead body, even if it is his own father or mother...The high priest must not leave God’s Holy Place, because he might become unclean and then make God’s Holy Place unclean...The anointing oil was poured on the high priest’s head...This separated him from the rest of the people...I AM the LORD...
“The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin...He must not marry a woman who has had sexual relations with any man...He must not marry a prostitute, a divorced woman, or a widow...The high priest must marry a virgin from his own people...In this way people will show respect for his children...I, the LORD, have separated the high priest for his special work.”...
The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: If any of your descendants have anything wrong with them, they must not carry the special bread to God...Any man who has something wrong with him must not serve as priest and bring sacrifices to Me...These men cannot serve as priests: blind men, crippled men, men with bad scars on their faces, men with arms or legs that are too long, men with broken feet or hands, men with bent backs, men who are dwarfs, men who are cross-eyed, men with rashes or bad skin diseases, and men with crushed testicles...
“If one of Aaron’s descendants has something wrong with him, he cannot approach the altar to bring gifts to the LORD...And he cannot carry the special bread to God...He is from the family of priests, so he can eat the holy bread...He can also eat the very holy bread...But he cannot go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place and he cannot go near the altar...This is because he has something wrong with him...He must not make My Holy Places unholy...I AM the LORD, and I make these places Holy.”...
So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and all the Israelites...