Leviticus 21

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 The Lord also said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them: Do not allow a priest to be contaminated by 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 except only by his blood-relatives and near-relatives, that is, by a father or mother, or by a son or daughter, or also a brother,	2 except for his nearest relatives, his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother
3 or a virgin sister, who is not married to a 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 by the leader of his people shall he be contaminated.	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 or their beard, and they shall not 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 they shall not pollute his name. For they offer the incense of the Lord and the bread of their God, and because of this 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 as a wife a promiscuous woman, or a prostitute, or her who has been repudiated by her husband. For 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 they offer the bread of the presence. Therefore, let them be holy, for I also am holy: the Lord, who sanctifies 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 will have been taken into prostitution, and will have violated the name of her father, she shall be consumed by 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, the priest who is the greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the oil of anointing has been poured, and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood, and who has been vested with the holy vestments: he shall not expose his head; he shall not rend his vestments.	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 And he shall not enter to any dead body whatsoever; likewise, not even by his father or mother shall he be contaminated.	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 exit from the holy places, lest he pollute the Sanctuary of the Lord. For the oil of the holy anointing 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 as his wife.	13 "The priest shall marry a virgin.
14 But a widow, or one who has been repudiated or defiled, or also a mistress, he shall not accept, but only a maiden from among 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 family with the common people of his nation. For I am the Lord, who sanctifies 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: A man from your offspring, throughout their families, who has a blemish, shall not offer the 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 is blind, if he is lame, if he is small, or large, or has 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 hand is broken,	19 or a crippled foot or hand,
20 if he has a bulging back or bleary eyes, or if he has a white spot in his eye, or a chronic scab, or a skin disease on his body, or a hernia.	20 or who is hump-backed or weakly or walleyed, or who is afflicted with eczema, ringworm or hernia.
21 Anyone from the offspring of Aaron, the priest, who has a blemish, shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor the 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 Nevertheless, he shall eat from the loaves which 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 But even so, he may not enter within the veil, nor approach to the altar. For he has a blemish, and he must not contaminate my Sanctuary. I am the Lord, who sanctifies 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 Therefore, Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all of Israel, everything that had been commanded to him.	24 Moses, therefore, told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.