Leviticus 21 ESV NIV Parallel

◄ Leviticus 21 ►

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1And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people,

1The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: 'A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,

2except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,

2except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,

3or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean).

3or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband--for her he may make himself unclean.

4He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself.

4He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.

5They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.

5"'Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.

6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.

6They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the LORD, the food of their God, they are to be holy.

7They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

7"'They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.

8You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.

8Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the LORD am holy--I who make you holy.

9And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

9"'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.

10“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes.

10"'The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes.

11He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother.

11He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,

12He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD.

12nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD.

13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

13"'The woman he marries must be a virgin.

14A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people,

14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,

15that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

15so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy.'"

16And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

16The LORD said to Moses,

17“Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.

17"Say to Aaron: 'For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God.

18For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long,

18No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed;

19or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand,

19no man with a crippled foot or hand,

20or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.

20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.

21No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the LORD. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.

22He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,

22He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food;

23but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”

23yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.'"

24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

24So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

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