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. 5And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, 45pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the 6statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and 7pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6You shall say to the 89rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord 10God says: “11Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, 7when you brought in 12foreigners, 13uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you 14offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they 15broke My covenant--this in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not 1617taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners 18to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

9‘This is what the Lord God says: “19No 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 20went astray from Me 21following their idols, shall 22suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 11Yet they shall be 23ministers in My sanctuary, having 24oversight at the gates of the house and 25ministering in the house; they shall 26slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall 27stand before them to minister to them. 12Since they ministered to them 28before their idols and became a 29stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have 3031sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall 32suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 13And they shall 33not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will 34bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14Nevertheless I will 35appoint them 36to 37take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

15“But the 38Levitical priests, the sons of 39Zadok, who 4041took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel 42went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall 43stand before Me to offer Me the 44fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16“They shall 45enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My 46table to serve Me and 47assume the responsibility I give them. 17And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with 48linen garments; and wool shall not 49be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. 18Linen 50turbans shall be on their heads and 51linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. 19And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall 52take 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 53not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. 20Also they shall 54not shave their heads, yet they shall not 55let their locks 56grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 2157Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. 22And they shall not 58marry a widow or a 59divorced woman, but shall 60take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23Moreover, they shall teach My people the 61difference between the holy and the 62common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24In a dispute 63they 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 64appointed feasts, and 65sanctify My Sabbaths. 256667They 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. 26And after he is 68cleansed, seven days 69shall elapse for him. 27On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the 70inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his 71sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28“And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that 72I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel--I am their property. 29They shall 73eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything 74banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. 30And the first of all the 75first fruits of every kind and every 76contribution of every kind, from all your 77contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the 78first of your 79dough, to make a 80blessing rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has 81died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.