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Leviticus 21

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📖 Leviticus introduction

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1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ✦ 2except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, ✦ 3also for his virgin sister who is near to him because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself. 4He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, so as to profane himself. ✦ 5They shall not shave any area on their heads bald, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. ✦ 6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, because they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy. ✦ 7They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute and profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ✦ 8You shall consecrate him, therefore, because he offers the food of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. ✦ 9Also 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 highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ✦ 11nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; ✦ 12nor shall he leave the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. ✦ 13He shall take a wife in her virginity. ✦ 14A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by prostitution, these he shall not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people, ✦ 15so that he will not profane his children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’ ” ✦ 16Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘None of your descendants throughout their generations who has an impairment shall approach to offer the food of his God. ✦ 18For no one who has an impairment shall approach: a man who is blind, or one who limps, or one who has a slit nose, or one with any conspicuous feature, ✦ 19or someone who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or crushed testicles. ✦ 21No man among the descendants 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 the food of his God. ✦ 22He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, ✦ 23only 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.’ ” ✦ 24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Where this chapter connects

Lev 21 ·15Ezek 44 ·7Lev 19 ·6Lev 10 ·6Mal 2 ·6Exod 29 ·51 Tim 3 ·5Exod 28 ·4

Christ at the center

Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.

How Leviticus 21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

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