Study Desk

" 'But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD .

They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service.

" 'When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that they do not consecrate the people by means of their garments.

" 'They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed.

No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court.

They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests.

They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

" 'In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed feasts, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

" '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 he is cleansed, he must wait seven days.

On the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering for himself, declares the Sovereign LORD .

" 'I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession.

They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.

The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest on your household.

The priests must not eat anything, bird or animal, found dead or torn by wild animals.