Leviticus 21:16

Easy-to-Read Version

The Lord said to Moses,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD spoke to Moshe, saying,

King James Version
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Lexham English Bible
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

New Century Version
The Lord said to Moses,

New English Translation
The Lord spoke to Moses:

Amplified Bible
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Contemporary English Version
The Lord told Moses

Complete Jewish Bible
(ii) Adonai said to Moshe,

Darby Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

English Standard Version
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

George Lamsa Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Good News Translation
The Lord commanded Moses

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord spoke to Moses:

Literal Translation
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And ye LORDE talked wt Moses, & sayde:

American Standard Version
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said to Moses,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde spake vnto Moyses, saying:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:

King James Version (1611)
And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

English Revised Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Moses,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord spak to Moyses,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Update Bible Version
And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

World English Bible
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

New King James Version
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

New Living Translation
Then the Lord said to Moses,

New Life Bible
Then the Lord said to Moses,

New Revised Standard
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Revised Standard Version
And the LORD said to Moses,

THE MESSAGE
God spoke to Moses: "Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God. That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, crippled in foot or hand, hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to God ; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am God who makes them holy."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ "Tell Aaron: If any of your descendants have anything wrong with them, they must not carry the special bread to God. ¹⁸ Any man who has something wrong with him must not serve as priest and bring sacrifices to me. These men cannot serve as priests: blind men, crippled men, men with bad scars on their faces, men with arms or legs that are too long, ¹⁹ men with broken feet or hands, ²⁰ men with bent backs, men who are dwarfs, men who are cross-eyed, men with rashes or bad skin diseases, and men with crushed testicles. ²¹ "If one of Aaron's descendants has something wrong with him, he cannot approach the altar to bring gifts to the Lord . And he cannot carry the special bread to God. ²² He is from the family of priests, so he can eat the holy bread. He can also eat the very holy bread. ²³ But he cannot go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place and he cannot go near the altar. This is because he has something wrong with him. He must not make my holy places unholy. I am the Lord , and I make these places holy." ²⁴ So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron's sons, and all the Israelites.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 27:38
But Esau continued to beg his father. "Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me also, father!" Esau began to cry.

Genesis 29:11
Then Jacob kissed Rachel and cried.

Genesis 44:34
I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I am very afraid of what would happen to my father."

Judges 2:4
After the angel gave the Israelites this message from the Lord , the people cried loudly.

Ruth 1:9
I pray that the Lord will help each of you find a husband and a good home." Naomi kissed her daughters-in-law, and they all started crying.

1 Samuel 24:16
When David finished speaking, Saul asked, "Is that your voice, David my son?" Then Saul lifted his voice and began to cry.

1 Samuel 30:4
David and the other men in his army cried loudly until they were too weak to cry anymore.

1 Kings 3:26
The second woman said, "Yes, cut him in two. Then neither of us will have him." But the first woman, the real mother, loved her son and said to the king, "Please, sir, don't kill the baby! Give him to her."

Esther 8:6
I am begging the king because I could not bear to see these terrible things happen to my people. I could not bear to see my family killed."

Isaiah 49:15
But the Lord says, "Can a woman forget her baby? Can she forget the child who came from her body? Even if she can forget her children, I cannot forget you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had spoken to him of the holiness of the priests, that they should not defile themselves, neither with the dead nor with impure marriages, he proceeded to add some things concerning blemishes in their bodies, which rendered them unfit for the service:

saying; as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He was not treated as an outcast, but enjoyed his privileges as a son of Aaron, except in regard to active duties.

Leviticus 21:20

A dwarf - One who is small and wasted, either short, as in the text, or slender, as in the margin. It is hardly likely that dwarfishness would be overlooked in this enumeration. So most critical authorities.

Scurry or scabbed - These words most probably include all affected with any skin disease.

Leviticus 21:22

See Leviticus 2:3 note; Leviticus 6:25 note.

Leviticus 21:23

Sanctuaries - The places especially holy, including the most holy place, the holy place, and the altar.

This law is of course to be regarded as one development of the great principle that all which is devoted to the service of God should be as perfect as possible of its kind.