A reading from the book of Leviticus.

And the Lord said to Moses, speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them,

No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, except for his closest relatives,

his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, or his

virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband. For her, he may make himself

unclean. He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people, and so profane himself. They shall not make bald patches

on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. They

shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the Lord's

food offerings, the bread of their God. Therefore, they shall be

holy. They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled. Neither shall they marry a woman

divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. You shall sanctify Him, for He offers the bread of your God.

He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord who sanctify you am holy.

And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by hoaring, profanes her father,

she shall be burned with fire.

The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, and

who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose,

nor tear his clothes.

He shall not go in to any dead bodies, nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his clothes. He shall not go into any dead bodies, nor make himself unclean, even for his father or

for his mother. He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God. For the

consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him, I am the Lord. And he shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow or a divorced woman,

or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry, but he shall take

as his wife a virgin of his own people, that he may not profane his offspring among his people,

...