The LORD spoke to Moses and said, "Tell the priests, the sons of Aaron, that they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean for the dead among the people, except for their closest relatives—mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or an unmarried sister who depends on them, for she has no husband. For anyone else, even people related by marriage, they must not defile themselves.
The priests must not shave their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies. They are to be holy to their God and must not profane His name. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire—the food of their God—they are to remain holy.
They must not marry women who have been defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God. Regard them as holy, for they offer the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy.
If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father and must be burned in the fire.
The high priest, the one anointed among his brothers to wear the sacred garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. He must not enter any place where there is a dead body, even for his father or mother, and must not leave the sanctuary or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God.
The woman he marries must be a virgin; he must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution. Only a virgin from his own people is allowed, so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the LORD, who makes him holy.
The LORD then said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: None of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, or has a crippled foot or hand, a hunchback, a dwarf, any eye defect, festering or running sores, or damaged testicles may come near.
No descendant of Aaron with any defect is to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire. Though he has a defect, he may eat the most holy food and the holy food, but he must not approach the curtain or the altar, lest he desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy."
Moses relayed all these instructions to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and they obeyed the commands of the LORD.