Ezekiel 44:12-24

English Standard Version

¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became ^(A)a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^(B)sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They ^(C)shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but ^(D)they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep ^(E)charge of the temple, ^(F)to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But ^(G)the Levitical priests, ^(H)the sons of Zadok, who kept ^(I)the charge of my sanctuary ^(J)when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^(K)to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^(L)the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^(M)my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^(N)linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^(O)and lay them in the holy chambers. And ^(P)they shall put on other garments, ^(Q)lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ^20 (R)They shall not shave their heads or ^(S)let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (T)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ^22 (U)They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^23 (V)They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^(W)show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (X)In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^(Y)they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.