The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, A priest must not ritually contaminate himself by touching the dead,
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And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
2 except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother,
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But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,
3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean,
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And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.
4 but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself.
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But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
5 "Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies.
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They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
6 They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because their job is to present the gifts of God, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
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They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
7 "Because a priest is holy to his God he must not marry a woman who has been a harlot or a cult prostitute or a divorced woman.
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They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
8 Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy.
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Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
9 "If a priest's daughter defiles herself in prostitution, she disgraces her father. She must be burned at the stake.
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And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
10 "The high priest, the one among his brothers who has received the anointing oil poured on his head and been ordained to wear the priestly vestments, must not let his hair go wild and tangled nor wear ragged and torn clothes.
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And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
11 He must not enter a room where there is a dead body. He must not ritually contaminate himself, even for his father or mother;
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Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
12 and he must neither abandon nor desecrate the Sanctuary of his God because of the dedication of the anointing oil which is upon him. I am God.
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Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
13 "He is to marry a young virgin,
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And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
14 not a widow, not a divorcee, not a cult prostitute - he is only to marry a virgin from his own people.
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A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
15 He must not defile his descendants among his people because I am God who makes him holy."
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Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
16 God spoke to Moses:
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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17 "Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God.
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Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
18 That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed,
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For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
19 crippled in foot or hand,
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Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
20 hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles.
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Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to God; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God.
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No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
22 He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy,
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He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
23 but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am God who makes them holy."
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Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
24 Moses delivered this message to Aaron, his sons, and to all the People of Israel.
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And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.