Leviticus, 21

¹ Jehovah went on to say to Moses: “Talk to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘No one should defile himself for a dead person^*1 among his people.

² But he may do so for a close blood relative, for his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,

³ and he may defile himself for his sister if she is a virgin who is near to him and has not yet married.

⁴ He may not defile himself and make himself profane for a woman who belongs to a husband of his people.

⁵ They should not make their heads bald or shave off the fringe of their beard or make cuts on their body.

⁶ They should be holy to their God, and they should not profane the name of their God, for they are presenting Jehovah’s offerings made by fire, the bread^*1 of their God, and they must be holy.

⁷ They should not marry a prostitute, a woman who has been defiled, or a woman divorced from her husband, because the priest is holy to his God.

⁸ You must sanctify him, because he is one presenting the bread of your God. He should be holy to you, because I, Jehovah, the one sanctifying you, am holy.

⁹ “‘Now if the daughter of a priest should profane herself by committing prostitution, she is profaning her father. She should be burned in the fire.

¹⁰ “‘The high priest of his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been installed^*1 to wear the priestly garments, should not let his head go ungroomed or tear his garments.

¹¹ He should not approach any dead person;^*1 he may not defile himself even for his father or his mother.

¹² He should not go out from the sanctuary and should not profane the sanctuary of his God, for the sign of dedication, the anointing oil of his God, is upon him. I am Jehovah.

¹³ “‘He must take as a wife a woman who is a virgin.

¹⁴ He may not marry a widow, a divorced woman, one who has been defiled, or a prostitute; but he should take a virgin from his people as a wife.

¹⁵ He should not profane his offspring^*1 among his people, for I am Jehovah, who is sanctifying him.’”

¹⁶ Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying:

¹⁷ “Tell Aaron, ‘No man of your offspring^*1 throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to present the bread of his God.

¹⁸ If there is any man who has a defect, he may not approach: a man who is blind or lame or has a disfigured face^*1 or one limb too long,

¹⁹ a man with a fractured foot or a fractured hand,

²⁰ a hunchback or a dwarf,^*1 or a man with an eye defect or eczema or ringworm or damaged testicles.

²¹ No man of the offspring^*1 of Aaron the priest who has a defect may approach to present Jehovah’s offerings made by fire. Because he has a defect, he may not approach to present the bread of his God.

²² He may eat the bread of his God from the most holy things and from the holy things.

²³ However, he may not come near the curtain, and he may not approach the altar, because there is a defect in him; and he should not profane my sanctuary, for I am Jehovah, who is sanctifying them.’”

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