Parallel Bible results for "leviticus 21"

Leviticus 21

New Living Translation NLT

1 The LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. “A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative.

2 The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother,

3 or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband.

4 But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.

5 “The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies.

6 They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the LORD, gifts of food for their God.

7 “Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God.

8 You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy.

9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.

10 “The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothing.

11 He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother.

12 He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD .

13 “The high priest may marry only a virgin.

14 He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan,

15 so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the LORD who makes him holy.”

16 Then the LORD said to Moses,

17 “Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God.

18 No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed,

19 or has a broken foot or arm,

20 or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles.

21 No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the LORD . Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God.

22 However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings.

23 Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.”

24 So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

The Message Bible MSG

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,

2 except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother,

3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean,

4 but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself.

5 "Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies.

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.

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.

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.

9 "If a priest's daughter defiles herself in prostitution, she disgraces her father. She must be burned at the stake.

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.

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;

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.

13 "He is to marry a young virgin,

14 not a widow, not a divorcee, not a cult prostitute - he is only to marry a virgin from his own people.

15 He must not defile his descendants among his people because I am God who makes him holy."

16 God spoke to Moses:

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.

18 That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed,

19 crippled in foot or hand,

20 hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles.

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.

22 He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and 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."

24 Moses delivered this message to Aaron, his sons, and to all the People of Israel.