Ezekiel 44:9-31

New American Standard Bible

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(A)No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. ¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who ^(B)went astray from Me ^[a]following their idols, shall ^(C)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ^(D)ministers in My sanctuary, having ^(E)oversight at the gates of the house and ^(F)ministering in the house; they shall ^(G)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^(H)stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Since they ministered to them ^(I)before their idols and became a ^(J)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have ^[b](K)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall ^(L)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹³ And they shall ^(M)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^(N)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will ^[c]appoint them ^[d]to ^(O)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ “But the ^(P)Levitical priests, the sons of ^(Q)Zadok, who ^[e](R)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^(S)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall ^(T)stand before Me to offer Me the ^(U)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(V)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^(W)table to serve Me and ^[f]assume the responsibility I give them. ¹⁷ And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with ^(X)linen garments; and wool shall not ^[g]be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. ¹⁸ Linen ^(Y)turbans shall be on their heads and ^(Z)linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall ^(AA)take off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments, so that they will ^(AB)not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ Also they shall ^(AC)not shave their heads, yet they shall not ^(AD)let their locks ^[h]grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (AE)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. ²² And they shall not ^[i]marry a widow or a ^(AF)divorced woman, but shall ^(AG)take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^(AH)difference between the holy and the ^[j]common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute ^(AI)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ^(AJ)appointed feasts, and ^(AK)sanctify My Sabbaths. ^25 [k](AL)They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ And after he is ^(AM)cleansed, seven days ^[l]shall elapse for him. ²⁷ On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the ^(AN)inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^(AO)sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

²⁸ “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that ^(AP)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property. ²⁹ They shall ^(AQ)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything ^(AR)banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first of all the ^(AS)first fruits of every kind and every ^[m]contribution of every kind, from all your ^[n]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^(AT)first of your ^[o]dough, to make a ^(AU)blessing rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has ^(AV)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.