Ezekiel 44:15-31

New King James Version

¹⁵^(A)“But the priests, the Levites, ^(B)the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary ^(C)when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they ^(D)shall stand before Me to offer to Me the ^(E)fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶“They shall ^(F)enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near ^(G)My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. ¹⁷And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that ^(H)they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. ¹⁸^(I)They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, ^(J)they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall ^(K)not sanctify the people.

²⁰^(L)“They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow ^(M)long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. ²¹^(N)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²²They shall not take as wife a ^(O)widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

²³“And ^(P)they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to ^(Q)discern between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴^(R)In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, ^(S)and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

²⁵“They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves. ²⁶^(T)After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, ^(U)he must offer his sin offering ^(V)in the inner court,” says the Lord God.

²⁸“It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I ^(W)am their inheritance. You shall give them no ^(X)possession in Israel, for I am their possession. ²⁹^(Y)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; ^(Z)every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰The ^(AA)best^[a] of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you ^(AB)shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, ^(AC)to cause a blessing to rest on your house. ³¹The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that ^(AD)died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.