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Leviticus 21 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Lev 21:1And the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them that none of them shall defile himself for the dead among his people,
Lev 21:2except for his nearest of kin, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,
Lev 21:3or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself).
Lev 21:4He shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself.
Lev 21:5They shall not make tonsures upon their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
Lev 21:6They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings by fire to the LORD, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
Lev 21:7They shall not marry a harlot 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.
Lev 21:8You shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
Lev 21:9And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
Lev 21:10"The priest who is chief among his brethren, upon 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 rend his clothes;
Lev 21:11he shall not go in to any dead body, nor defile himself, even for his father or for his mother;
Lev 21:12neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
Lev 21:13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
Lev 21:14A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a harlot, these he shall not marry; but he shall take to wife a virgin of his own people,
Lev 21:15that he may not profane his children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctify him."
Lev 21:16And the LORD said to Moses,
Lev 21:17"Say to Aaron, None of your descendants throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.
Lev 21:18For 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,
Lev 21:19or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand,
Lev 21:20or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles;
Lev 21:21no man of the descendants 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 bread of his God.
Lev 21:22He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,
Lev 21:23but he shall not come near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries; for I am the LORD who sanctify them."
Lev 21:24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.
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Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52. — 2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English

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Pericope taken from the NASB95 and has been graciously provided by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.

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