Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:‘^aNo one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2 ^aexcept for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, 3 also for his virgin sister who is near to him ¹because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself. 4 He shall not defile himself as a ¹relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself. 5 ^aThey shall not shave any area on their heads bald, ^bnor shave off the edges of their beards, ^cnor make any cuts in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God and ^anot profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire ¹to the LORD, ^bthe food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 ^aThey shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and ¹profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers ^athe food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 ^aAlso the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

10 ‘The priest who is ¹highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ²who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^ashall not ³uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 ^anor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; 12 ^anor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^bthe consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD. 13 He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 ^aA widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to ¹marry a virgin of his own people, 15 so that he will not profane his ¹children among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.’”

16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your ¹descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the ^afood of his God. 18 ^aFor no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a ^bslit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature, 19 or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20 or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or ^acrushed testicles. 21 No man among the ¹descendants of Aaron the priest who has an impairment is to come forward to offer the LORD’S offerings by fire; since he has an impairment, he shall not come forward to offer ^athe food of his God. 22 He may eat ^athe food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, 23 only he shall not come up to the veil or approach the altar, since he has an impairment, so that he does not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.