Study Desk

"It is a shameful thing for a brother and his sister or half-sister to marry each other and have sexual relations with each other. They must be punished in public. They must be separated from their people. The man who has sexual relations with his sister must be punished for his sin.

"A man must not have sexual relations with his uncle's wife. It would be like having sexual relations with his uncle. That man and his uncle's wife will be punished for their sins. They will die without children.

"It is wrong for a man to take his brother's wife. It would be like having sexual relations with his brother! They will have no children.

But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, he can touch the dead body. The priest can make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother or

his unmarried sister. (This sister is close to him because she has no husband. So the priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies.)

But a priest must not make himself unclean if the dead person was only one of his slaves.

"The high priest was chosen from among his brothers. The anointing oil was poured on his head. In this way he was chosen for the special job of being high priest. He was chosen to wear the special clothes, so he must not do things to show his sadness in public. He must not let his hair grow wild. He must not tear his clothes.

He must not make himself unclean by touching a dead body. He must not go near a dead body, even if it is his own father or mother.

He must not marry a woman who has had sexual relations with any man. He must not marry a prostitute, a divorced woman, or a widow. The high priest must marry a virgin from his own people.

In this way people will show respect for his children. I, the Lord , have separated the high priest for his special work."

"Tell Aaron and his sons: The gifts that the Israelites bring to me become holy. They belong to me, so you priests must show respect for these things. If you don't, you will show that you don't respect my holy name. I am the Lord .

"If any of Aaron's descendants has a serious skin disease or a discharge, he cannot eat the holy food until he becomes clean. This rule is for any priest who becomes unclean. That priest can become unclean from a dead body or from his own semen.

He will be clean only after the sun goes down. Then he can eat the holy food because it is his share.

But if the priest buys a person as a slave with his own money, that person may eat some of the holy things. Slaves who were born in the priest's house may also eat some of the priest's food.

"Tell Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites: A citizen of Israel or a foreigner might want to bring an offering. It might be because of a promise that person made, or it might just be a special sacrifice that person wanted to give to the Lord as a burnt offering.

You must not offer to the Lord any animal that is blind, that has broken bones or is crippled, or that has a discharge or a serious skin disease. You must not offer sick animals as a gift to the Lord . You must not put anything like that on his altar.

That bread will belong to Aaron and his sons. They will eat the bread in a holy place, because that bread is one of the special gifts to the Lord . It is Aaron's share forever."

"Bring the man who cursed to a place outside the camp. Then bring together everyone who heard him curse. They will put their hands on his head. And then all the people must throw stones at him and kill him.

"Count all the Israelites. List the name of each man with his family and his family group.

One man from each tribe will help you. This man will be the leader of his tribe.