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7“‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.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.Or who sanctify you; or who set you apart as holy

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

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 unkemptOr not uncover his head or tear his clothes.11He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,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.

13“‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,15so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy.Or who sanctifies him; or who sets him apart as holy‘”

16The LORD said to Moses,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.18No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed;19no man with a crippled foot or hand,20or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.22He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food;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.Or who sanctifies them; or who sets them apart as holy‘”

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

3“Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD.

4“‘If a descendant of Aaron has an infectious skin diseaseTraditionally leprosy; the Hebrew word was used for various diseases affecting the skin—not necessarily leprosy. or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen,5or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be.6The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.7When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food.8He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the LORD.

9“‘The priests are to keep my requirements so that they do not become guilty and die for treating them with contempt. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.Or who sanctifies them; or who sets them apart as holy; also in verse 16

10“‘No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it.11But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.12If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions.13But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat any of it.

14“‘If anyone eats a sacred offering by mistake, he must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it.15The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the LORD16by allowing them to eat the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt requiring payment. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.’”