Ezekiel 44:1-31

Then the shining man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east, but it was shut. YAHWEH said to me, “This gate must be kept shut. No one may open it or enter through it, since YAHWEH, the God of Israel, has passed through it. Therefore, it must remain shut. The prince, and only the prince, may sit inside the gateway to eat his sacred meal in the presence of YAHWEH. He must enter and leave through the porch of the gate of the outer courtyard.” Then the shining man led me through the north gate to the front of the temple. And I looked and behold, I saw YAHWEH’s glory cloud filling the temple. And I was awestruck and fell facedown to the ground. And YAHWEH said to me, “Son of man, set your heart on what I am about to tell you. Look closely and listen carefully to everything I explain regarding all the laws and instructions about my temple. Pay careful attention to the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. And tell the rebels among the people of Israel, ‘Lord YAHWEH says to you: Enough of all your despicable deeds, you people of Israel! You have desecrated my temple by admitting gentiles into my sanctuary who are uncircumcised in heart and body, allowing them into my presence while you offer the fat and blood of sacrifices to me. You have broken my covenant in addition to all the wicked things you have done. Instead of keeping charge of my holy things yourselves, you have placed these gentiles in charge of my sanctuary.’ ” Lord YAHWEH says, “No gentile, uncircumcised in heart and body, may enter my sanctuary, even the foreigners living among the Israelites. For the Levites who abandoned me when Israel turned their backs on me to worship their false gods must bear the consequences of their own sin. They may serve me in my sanctuary by being temple gatekeepers and temple servants. They may kill the animals the people bring to offer as burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and by serving the worshipers in the temple. But because they assisted the people of Israel in the worship of their idols and thereby caused them to sin, I, Lord YAHWEH, solemnly swear that they will suffer for their sin. They will never draw near to me again to fulfill the priestly office in my presence, nor will they ever again touch my holy things—my very, very holy things! They must bear the shame and disgrace of their despicable deeds. I will, however, assign them the responsibility of performing temple duties in the outer court. I will make them responsible for serving the temple and the work to be done in it.” YAHWEH says, “The Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who faithfully served in my sanctuary when the rest of the Israelites strayed far from me, they will come near to me to minister to me. I, Lord YAHWEH, declare that they will stand in my presence to offer the sacrifices of fat and blood. They will enter my sanctuary and approach my table to minister to me and to oversee the temple worship. “When the Zadokite priests enter the gates of the inner court, they must be wearing linen garments. They are not allowed to wear any wool clothing when they are on duty inside the inner court or in the temple. Their turbans and undergarments must all likewise be of linen. They are not to wear anything that makes them perspire. When they finish their sacred duties, before they go out to mingle with the people in the outer court, they must remove their priestly garments they ministered in and leave them in the holy chamber rooms. They then must put on regular clothes so that they will not transmit holiness to the people through their sacred garments. “The priests must not shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but must keep it properly trimmed. “Priests must not drink wine before they enter the inner court. “They may not marry a widow or a divorced woman but only an Israelite virgin. They may, however, marry a widow if she is the widow of a priest. “They must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is ordinary and make them understand the difference between what is ritually clean for God’s service and what is ritually unacceptable. “If a dispute arises, the priests will judge it consistent with my laws. They must follow my instructions and regulations for all my appointed feasts and honor my holy Sabbaths. “A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother, or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. After his purification, he must wait seven days. And the first day he goes back into the inner court to minister in the Holy Place, he must offer his sin offering. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken.” YAHWEH says of the priests, “I will be their sole inheritance. You are not to give them any possession in Israel, for I alone am their sole possession. “Their food will be the grain offering, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything dedicated by vow to God in Israel will be theirs. All the best fruits of every kind and all the offerings that the people give to God must go to the priests. And you must also give the first portion of the grain you grind into flour to the priests so that a blessing may rest on your house. Priests must not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or that wild animals have killed.”