Leviticus 21
1AGAIN the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say unto them, They must not defile themselves for the dead in their family,
2except only for their nearest of kin. For a father, or a mother, or for sons, or daughters, or for a brother,
3and for a virgin sister who dwelleth with him, and who hath not been betrothed to a husband; for these he may defile himself.
4He must not defile himself unexpectedly among his people, to occasion their defilement.
5You shall not shave the head to make it bald, for the dead. Nor shall they shave their beard, nor make gashes in their flesh.
6They shall be consecrated to their God, and shall not profane the name of their God, for they are to offer up the sacrifices of the Lord—the gifts to their God; therefore they shall be holy.
7They shall not take to wife a harlot, nor a woman who hath been defiled, nor a woman divorced from her husband.
8Because he [i.e. the priest] is consecrated to the Lord his God, therefore thou shalt hallow him. He offereth up the gifts of the Lord your God, he shall be hallowed. Because I the Lord am the holy one Who halloweth them,
9therefore if the daughter of a priest profane herself by whoredom, she profaneth the name of her father, she shall be burned with fire.
10And with regard to the priest, who is great above his brethren, the oil of the anointed one having been poured on his head, and he having been consecrated to put on the garments, he must not take the tiara from his head, nor rend his garments,
11nor go near any dead person, nor defile himself for his father, nor for his mother, nor go out of the holy places,
12nor defile the sanctuary of his God; because the holy oil, the anointing of his God, is upon him. I am the Lord.
13He shall take to wife a virgin of his own family.
14A widow, or a woman divorced or defiled, or a harlot, these he shall not take. He shall take none to wife, but a virgin of his own tribe;
15and he shall not profane his seed among his people. It is I the Lord who hallow him.
16Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17Say to Aaron, be the man who he may of thy family, throughout your generations, who hath any blemish about him, he shall not come near to present the gifts of his God.
18No man who hath any blemish, who is blind, or lame, or hath a hare lip, or a slit ear; nor any man who hath a contortion in the hand,
19or a splay foot,
20or who is humpbacked, or dim-sighted, or blear-eyed, nor any man who hath the scurvy, or the itch, or a rupture—
21No person of the seed of Aaron the priest, who hath any blemish about him, shall come near to offer the sacrifices of thy God. Because he hath a blemish he shall not come near to offer the gifts of God.
22With regard to the gifts of God, even the most holy, of these he may eat,
23but he shall not approach to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he hath a blemish. And he shall not profane the sanctuary of his God, because I am the Lord who halloweth them.
24And Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.