Study Desk

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: 'A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,

except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,

or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband-for her he may make himself unclean.

He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, ^(F48) and so defile himself.

" 'Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.

They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.

" 'They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.

Regard 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. ^(F49)

" 'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.

" '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 unkempt ^(F50) or tear his clothes.

He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,

nor 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 .

" 'The woman he marries must be a virgin.

He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,

so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD , who makes him holy. ^(F51) ' "