Study Desk

"And they shall 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 bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

"Nevertheless I will appoint them to take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

"But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood," declares the Lord GOD.

"They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to serve Me and assume the responsibility I give them.

"And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house.

"Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat.

"And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall 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 not transfer holiness to the people with their garments.

"Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.

"Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard.

"And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but shall take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

"Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

"In a dispute 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 appointed feasts, and sanctify My Sabbaths.

"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.

"And after he is cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him.

"On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering," declares the Lord GOD.

"And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property.

"They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs.

"And the first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough, to make a blessing rest on your house.

"The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.

"Now when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the LORD, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width shall be twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary.