Ezekiel 44:15-29

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.