Leviticus 21

Holiness Required of Priestsⓘ

Priests and the dead¹Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaronʼs sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, ²except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, ³or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. ⁴He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.

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

Whom priests may marry⁷A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his 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. ⁹If a priestʼs daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

Rules for the high priest¹⁰The 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^a or tear his garments. ¹¹He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 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.

¹³The woman he marries must be a virgin. 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, ¹⁵so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

Restrictions against Those with Blemishesⓘ

Physical defects and approaching the altar¹⁶Then 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.

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

²¹No 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. Priests with defects still eat holy food²²He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food, 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.’”

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