Leviticus 21

Holiness and the Priests

1 And the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: a No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 b They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and c not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, d the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 e They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman f divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for g I, the Lord, who sanctify you, h am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; i she shall be burned with fire.

10 j "The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, k shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not l go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 m He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he n profane the sanctuary of his God, for the o consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 1 14 A widow, p or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin 2 of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for g I am the Lord who sanctifies him."

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 "Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may q approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man r blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face s or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a r defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or t crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to u offer the Lord's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of v the most holy and of the w holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not x profane my sanctuaries, y for I am the Lord who sanctifies them." 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

  1. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:25
    They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:20
    They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.
    Leviticus 19:27 - 28
    You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
    Deuteronomy 14:1
    You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.
  3. Cross References
    Leviticus 18:21
    You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
  4. Cross References
    Leviticus 3:11
    And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the Lord.
  5. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:13 - 14
    And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
    Ezekiel 44:22
    They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 24:1 - 4
    When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house.
  7. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:9
    They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
    Leviticus 22:16
    And so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
  8. Cross References
    Leviticus 11:44
    For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 38:24
    About three months later Judah was told, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality." And Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned.
  10. Cross References
    Leviticus 8:12
    And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.
    Leviticus 16:32
    And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments.
    Exodus 29:29 - 30
    The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them.
    Numbers 35:25
    And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
  11. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:6
    And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, "Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled.
  12. Cross References
    Numbers 19:14
    This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days.
    Leviticus 21:1 - 2
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people.
  13. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:7
    And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you." And they did according to the word of Moses.
  14. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:23
    But he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
  15. Cross References
    Leviticus 8:9
    And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.
    Leviticus 8:12
    And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.
    Leviticus 8:30
    Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons' garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.
  16. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:7
    They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
    Ezekiel 44:22
    They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
  17. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:8
    You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.
  18. Cross References
    Leviticus 10:3
    Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord has said, 'Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'" And Aaron held his peace.
    Numbers 16:5
    And he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the Lord will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him.
    Psalms 65:4
    Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!
  19. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:22
    Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food offering on the altar.
  20. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:23
    You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted.
  21. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:18
    For 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.
  22. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 23:1
    No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
  23. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:6
    They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord 's food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
  24. Cross References
    Leviticus 2:3
    But the rest of the grain offering shall be for...
    Leviticus 2:10
    But the rest of the grain offering shall be for...
    Leviticus 6:17
    It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given...
    Leviticus 6:25
    Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is th...
    Leviticus 7:1
    This is the law of the guilt offering. It is mo...
    Leviticus 10:12
    Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar...
    Leviticus 10:17
    Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the ...
    Leviticus 14:13
    And he shall kill the lamb in the place where t...
    Leviticus 24:9
    And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and the...
    Numbers 18:9
    This shall be yours of the most holy things, re...
  25. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:10
    A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired servant shall eat of a holy thing.
    Leviticus 22:12
    If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things.
  26. Cross References
    Leviticus 21:12
    He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord.
  27. Cross References
    Leviticus 22:9
    They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
    Leviticus 22:16
    And so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Previous Book Next Book