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Leviticus 21

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📖 Leviticus introduction

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1And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, ✦ 2except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; ✦ 3also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. 4Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. ✦ 5‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. ✦ 6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. ✦ 7They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. ✦ 8Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. ✦ 9The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire. ✦ 10‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ✦ 11nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother; ✦ 12nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. ✦ 13And he shall take a wife in her virginity. ✦ 14A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. ✦ 15Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ” ✦ 16And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. ✦ 18For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long, ✦ 19a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 20or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. ✦ 21No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ✦ 22He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; ✦ 23only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ” ✦ 24And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel. ✦

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

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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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