Leviticus 21

English EASY 2024

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1The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to Aaron's sons, the priests. Tell them, “A priest must not touch a dead body. That would make him unclean among his people.

2But if it is someone from his family who has died, he may touch their body. It may be his mother, his father, his son, his daughter or his brother.

3He may touch the dead body of his sister if she has no husband to take care of her. The priest may make himself unclean for her.

4But a priest must not touch the dead body of someone who belongs to his family because of marriage. He must not make himself unclean for that person.

5A priest must not cut the hair off his head. He must not cut the edges of his beard. He must not cut marks in his body.

6Priests must be holy to serve me. They must not bring shame to the name of their God. They are the people who offer gifts to the Lord. They bring food to their God. So they must be holy people.

7A priest must not marry a woman who has been a prostitute. He must not marry a woman who has become separate from her husband. A priest must be holy to serve his God.

8You must respect priests as holy people, because they offer food to your God. I am the Lord and I am holy. I am the one who causes you to be holy.

9If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, she is unclean. She has brought shame on her father. You must burn her in a fire until she dies.

10They have poured special oil on the head of the leader of the priests. He is able to wear the special clothes for priests. This shows that he is greater than his brothers. So he must always make his hair look nice. He must not tear his clothes.

11He must not go anywhere that is near a dead body. Even if it is his father or his mother who has died, he must not make himself unclean for them.

12He must not leave the holy place to go to a funeral. That would cause the holy place to be unclean. The oil that they poured on his head shows that I have chosen him as my servant. I am the Lord.

13The leader of the priests must marry a woman who has not had sex before.

14He must not marry a widow or a woman who has become separate from her husband. He must not marry a woman who has been a prostitute. Instead, he must choose a Levite woman who has not had sex before.

15I, the Lord, have caused priests to be holy. So he must not marry a woman who would cause his children to be unclean.” ’

16The Lord said to Moses,

17‘Tell Aaron, “Your descendants may only serve me as priests if they have a perfect body. If not, they must not bring offerings of food to their God. This rule will continue for all time.

18No man may serve me if he has anything wrong with his body. He must not be blind. He must not have a weak leg or one leg that is shorter than the other leg. He must not have any part of his face that is the wrong shape.

19He must not have an arm or a leg that is broken.

20He must not have a back that is not straight. He must not be very small and thin. He must not have an eye disease or a skin disease. He must not have testicles that are spoiled.

21No descendant of Aaron who has something wrong with his body may serve me as a priest. He may not offer gifts to me, the Lord. His body is not perfect, so he may not bring offerings of food to his God.

22He may eat the holy food offerings and the most holy food offerings.

23But he must not go near the curtain in the Holy Place. He must not go up to the altar. This is because he has something wrong with his body. He must not make the holy places unclean. I am the Lord. I cause the priests to be holy.” ’

24Moses told all these rules to Aaron, to his sons and to all Israel's people.

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