"Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours [is] the judgment, Because you have been a snare to Mizpah And a net spread on Tabor.

"And now, O priests, this commandment is for you.

Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue," Says the LORD of hosts.

'nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother;

And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled.

"You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD [is] upon you." And they did according to the word of Moses.

' This [is] the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who [are] in the tent shall be unclean seven days;

'Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

"They shall not defile [themselves] by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves.