How the Religious Leaders Should Live

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the religious leaders, the sons of Aaron, ‘No one should make himself unclean for a dead person among his people, ² except for his own family, his mother, father, son, daughter and brother, ³ or his young sister who is near to him because she has had no husband. For her he may make himself unclean. ⁴ He should not make himself unclean as a husband among his people, and so make himself sinful. ⁵ They should not cut all the hair from any part on their heads, or cut part of the hair off their face, or make cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They should be holy to their God and not put the name of their God to shame. For they give the gifts by fire to the Lord, the bread of their God. So they must be holy. ⁷ They should not take a woman who is unclean because of selling the use of her body. They should not take a woman who is divorced from her husband. For the religious leader is holy to his God. ⁸ So you must set him apart, for he gives the bread of your God. He will be holy to you. For I, the Lord Who sets you apart, am holy. ⁹ If the daughter of any religious leader makes herself sinful by selling the use of her body, she puts her father to shame. She will be burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘The head religious leader on whose head the holy oil has been poured, and who has been set apart to wear the clothing, must not take the covering off his head or tear his clothes. ¹¹ He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother. ¹² He must not go out of the holy place or sin against the holy place of his God. For the crown of the holy oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. ¹³ He should take a wife who has never had a man before. ¹⁴ He should not marry a woman whose husband has died, or a divorced woman, or one who has made herself sinful by selling the use of her body. But he should marry a woman from his own people, who has never had a man. ¹⁵ By doing this he will not sin against his children among his people. For I am the Lord Who makes him holy.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘None of your children or their children who has something wrong with his body should go near to give the bread as a gift to his God. ¹⁸ For no one whose body is not perfect should come near, no blind man, or man who cannot walk, or one with a marked face, or a bad arm or leg, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or hand, ²⁰ or a man with a crooked upper back from birth, or a very little man, or one who has a bad eye or skin trouble or sores, or one whose sex parts have been crushed. ²¹ No man among the children of Aaron the religious leader, who has something wrong with his body, should come near to give the Lord’s gifts by fire. He should not come near to give the bread of his God, because he has something wrong with him. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy. ²³ But he should not come near the curtain or the altar, because he has something wrong with him, and so he may not sin against My holy places. For I am the Lord Who makes them holy.’” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.