Leviticus 21

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Yahweh said to Moses: 'Speak to the priests descended from Aaron and say: "None of them mustmake himself unclean by touching the corpse of one of his people,	1 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to Aaron's sons, the priests, and tell them: None of you shall make himself unclean for any dead person among his people,
2 unless it be of one of his closest relations-father, mother, son, daughter, brother,	2 except for his nearest relatives, his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother
3 or virgin sister, since she being unmarried is still his close relation: he can make himself unclean forher;	3 or his maiden sister, who is of his own family while she remains unmarried; for these he may make himself unclean.
4 but for a close female relation who is married he wil not make himself unclean; he would profanehimself.	4 But for a sister who has married out of his family he shall not make himself unclean; this would be a profanation.
5 "They wil not make tonsures on their heads, shave the edges of their beards, or gash their bodies.	5 "The priests shall not make bare the crown of the head, nor shave the edges of the beard, nor lacerate the body.
6 They wil be consecrated to their God and wil not profane the name of their God. For their function isto offer the food burnt for Yahweh, the food of their God, and so they must be holy.	6 To their God they shall be sacred, and not profane his name; since they offer up the oblations of the LORD, the food of their God, they must be holy.
7 "They wil not marry a woman profaned by prostitution, or one divorced by her husband, for the priestis consecrated to his God.	7 "A priest shall not marry a woman who has been a prostitute or has lost her honor, nor a woman who has been divorced by her husband; for the priest is sacred to his God.
8 "You wil treat him as holy, for he offers the food of your God. For you, he wil be a holy person, for I,Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.	8 Honor him as sacred who offers up the food of your God; treat him as sacred, because I, the LORD, who have consecrated him, am sacred.
9 "If a priest's daughter profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father and wil be burnt alive.	9 "A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death.
10 "The priest who is pre-eminent over his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured,and who, robed in the sacred vestments, has received investiture, wil not disorder his hair or tear his clothes;	10 "The most exalted of the priests, upon whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the special vestments, shall not bare his head or rend his garments,
11 he wil not go near any corpse or make himself unclean even for his father or mother.	11 nor shall he go near any dead person. Not even for his father or mother may he thus become unclean
12 He wil not leave the holy place in such a way as to profane the sanctuary of his God; for he bears theconsecration of the anointing oil of his God. I am Yahweh.	12 or leave the sanctuary; otherwise he will profane the sanctuary of his God, for with the anointing oil upon him, he is dedicated to his God, to me, the LORD.
13 "He will marry a woman who is stil a virgin.	13 "The priest shall marry a virgin.
14 He wil not marry a woman who has been widowed or divorced or profaned by prostitution, but wilmarry a virgin from his own people:	14 Not a widow or a woman who has been divorced or a woman who has lost her honor as a prostitute, but a virgin, taken from his own people, shall he marry;
15 he must not make his own children profane, for I, Yahweh, have sanctified him." '	15 otherwise he will have base offspring among his people. I, the LORD, have made him sacred."
16 Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:	16 The LORD said to Moses,
17 'Speak to Aaron and say: "None of your descendants, for al time, may come forward to offer the foodof his God if he has any infirmity,	17 "Speak to Aaron and tell him: None of your descendants, of whatever generation, who has any defect shall come forward to offer up the food of his God.
18 for none may come forward if he has an infirmity, be he blind or lame, disfigured or deformed,	18 Therefore, he who has any of the following defects may not come forward: he who is blind, or lame, or who has any disfigurement or malformation,
19 or with an injured foot or arm,	19 or a crippled foot or hand,
20 a hunchback, someone with rickets or ophthalmia or the scab or running sores, or a eunuch.	20 or who is hump-backed or weakly or walleyed, or who is afflicted with eczema, ringworm or hernia.
21 No descendant of the priest Aaron may come forward to offer the food burnt for Yahweh if he has anyinfirmity; if he has an infirmity, he wil not come forward to offer the food of his God.	21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any such defect may draw near to offer up the oblations of the LORD; on account of his defect he may not draw near to offer up the food of his God.
22 "He may eat the food of his God, things especially holy and things holy,	22 He may, however, partake of the food of his God: of what is most sacred as well as of what is sacred.
23 but he wil not go near the curtain or approach the altar, since he has an infirmity and must notprofane my holy things; for I, Yahweh, have sanctified them." '	23 Only, he may not approach the veil nor go up to the altar on account of his defect; he shall not profane these things that are sacred to me, for it is I, the LORD, who make them sacred."
24 And Moses promulgated this to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the Israelites.	24 Moses, therefore, told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.