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Vayikra 21
Orthodox Jewish Bible
Vayikra 21
Orthodox Jewish Bible
[EMOR]
21 And Hashem said unto Moshe, Speak unto the kohanim the Bnei Aharon, and say unto them, There shall none be made tamei for the dead among his people;
2 But for his close kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his em, and for his av, and for his ben, and for his bat, and for his ach.
3 And for his betulah achot (virgin sister), that is close unto him, which hath had no ish (husband); for her may he be made tamei.
4 But he shall not make himself tamei, being a ba’al (leader, chief man) among his people, to profane himself.
5 They shall not shave their head bald, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their basar.
6 They shall be kedoshim unto Eloheihem, and not commit Chillul ha-shem against the Shem of Eloheihem; for the offerings of Hashem made by eish and the lechem of Eloheihem they do offer; therefore they shall be kodesh.
7 They shall not take an isha that is a zonah, or chalalah (desecrated woman) neither shall they take an isha gerusha (divorced woman) from her ish; for he is kadosh unto Elohav.
8 Thou shalt set him apart as kodesh therefore; for he offereth the lechem of Eloheicha; he shall be makriv kadosh (holy offering) unto thee: for I, Hashem, the One setting you apart as kodesh, am kadosh.
9 And the bat of any kohen, if she profane herself by playing the zonah, she profaneth her av; she shall be burned with eish.
10 And he that is the Kohen HaGadol among his brethren, upon whose head the Shemen Hamishchah (Anointing Oil) was poured, and that is ordained to put on the garments, shall not in mourning uncover his head, nor rend his garments;
11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor make himself tamei for his av, or for his em;
12 Neither shall he go out of the Mikdash, nor profane the Mikdash Elohav; for the nezer shemen mishchat Elohav (consecration of the anointing oil of his G-d) is upon him: I am Hashem.
13 And he shall take an isha in her virginity.
14 An almanah, or a gerusha, or chalalah, or a zonah, these shall he not take; but he shall take a betulah of his own people to wife.
15 Neither shall he profane his zera among his people; for I Hashem do set him apart as kodesh.
16 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,
17 Speak unto Aharon, saying, Whosoever he be of thy zera in their dorot that hath any defect, let him not approach to offer the lechem of Elohav.
18 For whatsoever ish he be that hath a mum, he shall not approach; an ish ivver, or a pise’ach (lame), or he who is disfigured or malformed,
19 Or an ish that has a crippled regel or a crippled yad,
20 Or hunchback, or a dwarf, or that hath a defect in his eye, or festering, or running sores, or damaged of testicle;
21 No ish that hath a mum of the zera Aharon HaKohen shall come near to offer the offerings of Hashem made by eish; he hath a mum; he shall not come near to offer the lechem Elohav.
22 He shall eat the lechem Elohav, both of the kodshei hakodashim, and of hakodashim.
23 Only he shall not go near unto the Parochet (curtain), nor come near unto the Mizbe’ach, because he hath a mum on him; that he profane not My Mikdash; for I Hashem do set them apart as kodesh.
24 And Moshe told it unto Aharon, and to his Banim, and unto all the Bnei Yisroel.
Leviticus 21
New International Version
Leviticus 21
New International Version
Rules for Priests
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,(A) and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean(B) for any of his people who die,(C) 2 except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,(D) his son or daughter, his brother, 3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.(E) 4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,[a] and so defile himself.
5 “‘Priests must not shave(F) their heads or shave off the edges of their beards(G) or cut their bodies.(H) 6 They must be holy to their God(I) and must not profane the name of their God.(J) Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,(K) the food of their God,(L) they are to be holy.(M)
7 “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,(N) because priests are holy to their God.(O) 8 Regard them as holy,(P) because they offer up the food of your God.(Q) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.(R)
9 “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.(S)
10 “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head(T) and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,(U) must not let his hair become unkempt[b] or tear his clothes.(V) 11 He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.(W) He must not make himself unclean,(X) even for his father or mother,(Y) 12 nor leave the sanctuary(Z) of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil(AA) of his God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.(AB) 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect(AC) may come near to offer the food of his God.(AD) 18 No man who has any defect(AE) may come near: no man who is blind(AF) or lame,(AG) disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.(AH) 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect(AI) is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord.(AJ) He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.(AK) 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God,(AL) as well as the holy food; 23 yet because of his defect,(AM) he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.(AN) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.(AO)’”
24 So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 21:4 Or unclean as a leader among his people
- Leviticus 21:10 Or not uncover his head
Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)
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