| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1The 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, | 1The LORD said to Moses: "Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron--say to them, 'For a dead person no priest is to defile himself among his people, |
| 2except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother, | 2except for his close relative who is near to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, |
| 3or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband--for her he may make himself unclean. | 3and his virgin sister who is near to him, who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. |
| 4He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself. | 4He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. |
| 5"'Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. | 5Priests must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. |
| 6They 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. | 6"'They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the LORD's gifts, the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. |
| 7"'They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God. | 7They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. |
| 8Regard 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. | 8You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the LORD who sanctifies you all, am holy. |
| 9"'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire. | 9If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. |
| 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 or tear his clothes. | 10"'The high priest--who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments--must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. |
| 11He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother, | 11He must not go where there is any dead person; he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. |
| 12nor 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. | 12He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD. |
| 13"'The woman he marries must be a virgin. | 13He must take a wife who is a virgin. |
| 14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, | 14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people as a wife. |
| 15so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy.'" | 15He must not profane his children among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'" |
| 16The LORD said to Moses, | 16The LORD spoke 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. | 17"Tell Aaron, 'No man from your descendants throughout their generations who has a physical flaw is to approach to present the food of his God. |
| 18No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; | 18Certainly no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, or a limb too long, |
| 19no man with a crippled foot or hand, | 19or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, |
| 20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. | 20or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one with a spot in his eye, or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, or a crushed testicle. |
| 21No 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. | 21No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward to present the LORD's gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. |
| 22He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; | 22He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, |
| 23yet 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.'" | 23but he must not go into the veil-canopy or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus he must not profane my holy places, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'" |
| 24So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites. | 24So Moses spoke these things to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites. |
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