Ezekiel 44:4-31

4Then He brought me by way of the 1north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the 2glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I 3fell on my face. 5The Lord said to me, “Son of man, 45mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the 6statutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and 7mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6You shall say to the 89rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord 10God, “11Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7when you brought in 12foreigners, 13uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you 14offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they 15made My covenant void--this in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not 16kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners 17to keep charge of My sanctuary.”

9‘Thus says the Lord God, “18No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who 19went astray from Me after their idols, shall 20bear the punishment for their iniquity. 11Yet they shall be 21ministers in My sanctuary, having 22oversight at the gates of the house and 23ministering in the house; they shall 24slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall 25stand before them to minister to them. 12Because they ministered to them 26before their idols and became a 27stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have 2829sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall 30bear the punishment for their iniquity. 13And they shall 31not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will 32bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14Yet I will 33appoint them 34to 35keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

15“But the 36Levitical priests, the sons of 37Zadok, who 38kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel 39went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall 40stand before Me to offer Me the 41fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16“They shall 42enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My 43table to minister to Me and keep My charge. 17It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with 44linen garments; and wool shall not 45be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18Linen 46turbans shall be on their heads and 47linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall 48put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will 49not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20Also they shall 50not shave their heads, yet they shall not 51let their locks 52grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 2153Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22And they shall not 54marry a widow or a 55divorced woman but shall 56take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23Moreover, they shall teach My people the 57difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24In a dispute 58they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My 59appointed feasts and 60sanctify My sabbaths. 256162They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. 26After he is 63cleansed, seven days shall 64elapse for him. 27On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the 65inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his 66sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28“And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that 67I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel--I am their possession. 29They shall 68eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every 6970devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30The first of all the 71first fruits of every kind and every 72contribution of every kind, from all your 73contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the 74first of your 75dough to cause a 76blessing to rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has 77died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.