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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, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother,³ also for his virgin sister who is near to him ^(F1)because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself.⁴ 'He shall not defile himself as a ^(F1)relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself.⁵ '^(C1)They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, ^(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, because 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 a prostitute and ^(F1)profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.⁸ 'You shall consecrate him, therefore, because 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 prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ 'The priest who is ^(F1)highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^(F2)who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(C1)shall not ^(F3)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 leave 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 prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to ^(F1)marry a virgin of his own people,¹⁵ so that he will not profane his ^(F1)children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.'"

¹⁶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,¹⁷ "Speak to Aaron, saying, 'None of your ^(F1)descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the ^(C1)food of his God.¹⁸ '^(C1)For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a ^(C1)slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature,¹⁹ or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand,²⁰ or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or ^(C1)crushed testicles.²¹ 'No man among the ^(F1)descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the LORD'S offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward 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 come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does 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.