13. And they shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame and their punishment for the abominations which they have committed.
14. Yet I will appoint them as caretakers to have charge of the temple, for all the service of the temple and for all that will be done in it.
15. But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall attend Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.
16. They shall enter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17. When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within the temple.
18. They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes [them to] sweat.
19. And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they ministered and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, lest by contact of their garments with the people they should consecrate (separate and set apart for holy use) such persons [unintentionally and unfittingly].
20. Neither shall they shave their heads or allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut short or trim the hair of their heads.
21. Neither shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner court.
22. Neither shall they take for their wives a widow or a woman separated or divorced from her husband; but they shall marry maidens [who are virgins] of the offspring of the house of Israel or a widow previously married to a priest.
23. The priests shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common or profane, and cause them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
24. And in a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall judge according to My judgments; and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts, and they shall keep My Sabbaths holy.
25. And they shall go near to no dead person to defile themselves, except for father or for mother, for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who has had no husband; for them they may defile themselves. [Lev. 21:1, 2.]
26. And after he is cleansed [from the defilement of a dead body] they shall reckon to him seven days more before returning to the temple.