Leviticus 21 :: New International Version (NIV)

Rules for Priests

(cf. Eze 44:15–31 )

Lev 21:1The 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,

Lev 21:2

Lev 21:2except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,

Lev 21:3

Lev 21:3or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.

Lev 21:4

Lev 21:4He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,[fn] and so defile himself.

Lev 21:5

Lev 21:5“ ‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.

Lev 21:6

Lev 21:6They 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.

Lev 21:7

Lev 21:7“ ‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.

Lev 21:8

Lev 21:8Regard 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.

Lev 21:9

Lev 21:9“ ‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.

Lev 21:10

Lev 21:10“ ‘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[fn] or tear his clothes.

Lev 21:11

Lev 21:11He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,

Lev 21:12

Lev 21:12nor 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.

Lev 21:13

Lev 21:13“ ‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.

Lev 21:14

Lev 21:14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,

Lev 21:15

Lev 21:15so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy.’ ”

Lev 21:16

Lev 21:16The LORD said to Moses,

Lev 21:17

Lev 21:17“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.

Lev 21:18

Lev 21:18No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed;

Lev 21:19

Lev 21:19no man with a crippled foot or hand,

Lev 21:20

Lev 21:20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.

Lev 21:21

Lev 21:21No 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.

Lev 21:22

Lev 21:22He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food;

Lev 21:23

Lev 21:23yet 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.’ ”

Lev 21:24

Lev 21:24So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(21:4)

Or unclean as a leader among his people

(21:10)

Or not uncover his head

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.