Leviticus 21

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 The Lord said also to Moses: Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say to them: Let not a priest incur an uncleanness at the death of his citizens:	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 But only for his kin, such as are near in blood, that is to say, for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his daughter, for his brother also,	2 except for his nearest relatives, his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother
3 And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband:	3 or his maiden sister, who is of his own family while she remains unmarried; for these he may make himself unclean.
4 But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing that may make him unclean.	4 But for a sister who has married out of his family he shall not make himself unclean; this would be a profanation.
5 Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make incisions in their flesh.	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 shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name: for they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their God, and therefore they shall 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 shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor one that has been put away from her husband: because they are consecrated to their 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 And offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them.	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 the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom, and dishonour the name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire.	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 high priest, that is to say, the priest, is the greatest among his brethren. upon whose head the oil of unction hath been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who hath been vested with the holy vestments, shall not uncover his head, he shall not rend his garments:	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 Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person: not even for his father, or his mother, shall he be defiled:	11 nor shall he go near any dead person. Not even for his father or mother may he thus become unclean
12 Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy unction of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.	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 shall take a virgin unto his wife:	13 "The priest shall marry a virgin.
14 But a widow or one that is divorced, or defiled, or a harlot, he shall not take, but a maid of 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 shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common people of his nation: for I am the Lord who sanctify him.	15 otherwise he will have base offspring among his people. I, the LORD, have made him sacred."
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:	16 The LORD said to Moses,
17 Say to Aaron: Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families, hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.	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 Neither shall he approach to minister to him: If he be blind, if he be lame, if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose,	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 If his foot, or if his hand be broken,	19 or a crippled foot or hand,
20 If he be crookbacked, or blear eyed, or have a pearl in his eye, or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture:	20 or who is hump-backed or weakly or walleyed, or who is afflicted with eczema, ringworm or hernia.
21 Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish, he shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to 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 shall eat nevertheless of the loaves, that are offered in the sanctuary,	22 He may, however, partake of the food of his God: of what is most sacred as well as of what is sacred.
23 Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the altar, because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary. I am the Lord who sanctify 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 Moses therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.	24 Moses, therefore, told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.