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Regulations concerning Priests

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: '^(C1)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,^2 (C1)except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother,³ also for his virgin sister, who is near to him ^(F1)because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.⁴ 'He shall not defile himself as a ^(F1)relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.⁵ '^(C1)They shall not make any baldness on their heads, ^(C2)nor shave off the edges of their beards, ^(C3)nor make any cuts in their flesh.⁶ 'They shall be holy to their God and ^(C1)not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire ^(F1)to the LORD, ^(C2)the food of their God; so they shall be holy.⁷ '^(C1)They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.⁸ 'You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers ^(C1)the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.⁹ '^(C1)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ 'The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^(F1)who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(C1)shall not ^(F2)uncover his head nor tear his clothes;^11 (C1)nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;^12 (C1)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^(C2)the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD.¹³ 'He shall take a wife in her virginity.¹⁴ '^(C1)A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to ^(F1)marry a virgin of his own people,¹⁵ so that he will not profane his ^(F1)offspring among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"

¹⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,¹⁷ "Speak to Aaron, saying, 'No man of your ^(F1)offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the ^(C1)food of his God.¹⁸ '^(C1)For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a ^(F1)(C1)disfigured face, or any deformed limb,¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a ^(F1)defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or ^(C1)crushed testicles.²¹ 'No man among the ^(F1)descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the LORD'S offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer ^(C1)the food of his God.²² 'He may eat ^(C1)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,²³ only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.'"²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.