Ezekiel 44:15-31

Lexham English Bible

¹⁵ But the Levitical priests, the descendants^[a] of Zadok, who cared for the responsibility of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray^[b] from me, they will approach me to serve me, and they will stand before me^[c] to offer to me fat and blood,” declares^[d] the Lord Yahweh. ¹⁶ “They shall come to my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table to serve me, and they will observe my requirement. ¹⁷ And then^[e] when they come^[f] to the gates of the inner courtyards, they shall put on their^[g] inner linen garments and not wear wool garments when they serve^[h] in the gates of the inner courtyard and inside^[i] the temple. ¹⁸ Linen turbans shall be on their head and linen undergarments shall be on their waists; they shall not gird themselves with material causing perspiration. ¹⁹ When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their garment in which they were serving, and they must place them in the holy chambers,^[j] and they must put on other garments, so that they will not make the people holy with their garments. ²⁰ And their head they shall not shave, or long hair they shall not let grow; short they shall clip their heads. ²¹ And no priest shall drink wine when they come into the inner courtyard. ²² And a widow or divorced woman they shall not take for themselves as wives, but only^[k] a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or the widow who is a widow for a priest they may take.

²³ And they will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is unholy, and the difference between unclean and clean they must show them. ²⁴ And at a legal dispute they themselves shall stand to judge; employing^[l] my judgments they shall judge it, and with respect to my laws and my statutes. All my festivals they shall keep and my Sabbaths they shall consecrate. ²⁵ And near a dead person^[m] he^[n] shall not come to be defiled, but only^[o] for a father and for a mother and for a son and for a daughter, for a brother and for a sister who was not married^[p] may they defile themselves. ²⁶ And, after his^[q] cleansing, they shall count for him seven days, ²⁷ and then on the day of his coming into the sanctuary to the inner courtyard to serve in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” declares^[r] the Lord Yahweh.

²⁸ And thus it will be to them as regards inheritance, that I am their inheritance, and so you shall not give to them property in Israel; I am their property. ²⁹ The grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, they themselves may eat them, and also all the consecrated possessions^[s] in Israel will be theirs. ³⁰ And also what is first of all of the firstfruits of everything, and of all of the contribution of everything from all of your contributions, to the priest it belongs,^[t] and what is first of your dough you shall give to the priest, so that a blessing may rest on your house. ³¹ Any dead body or mangled carcass from the birds^[u] or from the animals,^[v] the priests shall not eat.”