Leviticus 21

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among 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 But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,	2 except for his nearest relatives, his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother
3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.	3 or his maiden sister, who is of his own family while she remains unmarried; for these he may make himself unclean.
4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.	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 shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings 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 unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: 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 a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto 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 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which 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 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth 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 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend 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 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;	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 sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil 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 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.	13 "The priest shall marry a virgin.
14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.	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 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.	15 otherwise he will have base offspring among his people. I, the LORD, have made him sacred."
16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,	16 The LORD said to Moses,
17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of 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 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,	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 a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,	19 or a crippled foot or hand,
20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;	20 or who is hump-backed or weakly or walleyed, or who is afflicted with eczema, ringworm or hernia.
21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread 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 shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the 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 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do 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 And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.	24 Moses, therefore, told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.