New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his relatives,
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And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, Let no man make himself unclean for the dead among his people;
2 except for his nearest kin: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother;
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But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his brother;
3 likewise, for a virgin sister, close to him because she has had no husband, he may defile himself for her.
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And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.
4 But he shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself.
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But let him, being a chief among his people, not make himself unclean in such a way as to put shame on himself.
5 They shall not make bald spots upon their heads, or shave off the edges of their beards, or make any gashes in their flesh.
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They are not to have their hair cut off for the dead, or the hair on their chins cut short, or make cuts in their flesh.
6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the Lord's offerings by fire, the food of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
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Let them be holy to their God and not make the name of their God common; for the fire offerings of the Lord and the bread of their God are offered by them, and they are to be holy.
7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband. For they are holy to their God,
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They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away by her husband: for the priest is holy to his God.
8 and you shall treat them as holy, since they offer the food of your God; they shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, I who sanctify you, am holy.
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And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy.
9 When the daughter of a priest profanes herself through prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned to death.
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And if the daughter of a priest makes herself common and by her loose behaviour puts shame on her father, let her be burned with fire.
10 The priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the vestments, shall not dishevel his hair, nor tear his vestments.
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And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow.
11 He shall not go where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother.
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He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother;
12 He shall not go outside the sanctuary and thus profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord.
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He may not go out of the holy place or make the holy place of his God common; for the crown of the holy oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord.
13 He shall marry only a woman who is a virgin.
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And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man.
14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, a prostitute, these he shall not marry. He shall marry a virgin of his own kin,
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A widow, or one whose husband has put her away, or a common woman of loose behaviour, may not be the wife of a priest; but let him take a virgin from among his people.
15 that he may not profane his offspring among his kin; for I am the Lord; I sanctify him.
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And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.
16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
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And the Lord said to Moses,
17 Speak to Aaron and say: No one of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the food of his God.
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Say to Aaron, If a man of your family, in any generation, is damaged in body, let him not come near to make the offering of the bread of his God.
18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, one who is blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long,
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For any man whose body is damaged may not come near: one who is blind, or has not the use of his legs, or one who has a broken nose or any unnatural growth,
19 or one who has a broken foot or a broken hand,
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Or a man with broken feet or hands,
20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a blemish in his eyes or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.
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Or one whose back is bent, or one who is unnaturally small, or one who has a damaged eye, or whose skin is diseased, or whose sex parts are damaged;
21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord's offerings by fire; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God.
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No man of the offspring of Aaron whose body is damaged in any way may come near to give the fire offerings of the Lord: he is damaged, he may not come near to make the offerings.
22 He may eat the food of his God, of the most holy as well as of the holy.
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He may take of the bread of God, the holy and the most holy;
23 But he shall not come near the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries; for I am the Lord; I sanctify them.
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But he may not go inside the veil or come near the altar, because he is damaged; and he may not make my holy places common; for I the Lord have made them holy.
24 Thus Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.
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These are the words which Moses said to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.