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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,
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except for a close relative,
such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,
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or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him
since she has no husband - for her he may make himself unclean.
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He must not make himslef unclean for people related to him
by marriage, and so defile himself.
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" 'Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges
of their beards or cut their bodies.
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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.
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" 'They must not marry woman defiled by prostitution or divorced
from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.
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Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God.
Consider them holy, because I am the LORD and holy - I who
make you holy.
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"If a priest's daughter defiles herself becoming a prostitute, she
disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.
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" '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 or tear his clothes.
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He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must
not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother,
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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.
13.
" 'The woman he marries must be a virgin.
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He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or
a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin
from his own people,
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so he will not defile his offspring among his people,
I am the LORD, who makes him holy.' "
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The LORD said to Moses,
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"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.
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No man who has ant defect may come near: no man
who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed;
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no man with a crippled foot or hand,
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or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who as any eye defect,
or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.
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No 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.
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He may eat the most holy fod of his God, as well as the holy food;
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yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain
or apporach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.
I am the Lord, who makes them holy.'"
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So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Isralites.
"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.