[44:15] The Sovereign Lord said, “Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok, however, continued to serve me faithfully in the Temple when the rest of the people of Israel turned away from me. So now they are the ones who are to serve me and come into my presence to offer me the fat and the blood of the sacrifices.
[44:16] They alone will enter my Temple, serve at my altar, and conduct the Temple worship.
[44:17] When they enter the gateway to the inner courtyard of the Temple, they are to put on linen clothing. They must not wear anything made of wool when they are on duty in the inner courtyard or in the Temple.
[44:18] So that they won't perspire, they are to wear linen turbans and linen trousers, but no belt.
[44:19] Before they go to the outer courtyard where the people are, they must first take off the clothes they wore on duty in the Temple and leave them in the holy rooms. They are to put on other clothing in order to keep their sacred clothing from harming the people.
[44:20] “Priests must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. They are to keep it a proper length.
[44:21] Priests must not drink any wine before going into the inner courtyard.
[44:22] No priest may marry a divorced woman; he is to marry only an Israelite virgin or the widow of another priest.
[44:23] “The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is ritually clean and what is not.
[44:24] When a legal dispute arises, the priests are to decide the case according to my laws. They are to keep the religious festivals according to my rules and regulations, and they are to keep the Sabbaths holy.
[44:25] “A priest is not to become ritually unclean by touching a corpse, unless it is one of his parents, one of his children or a brother or an unmarried sister.
[44:26] After he has become clean again, he must wait seven days
[44:27] and then go into the inner courtyard of the Temple and offer a sacrifice for his purification, so that he can serve in the Temple again. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.
[44:28] “The priests have the priesthood as their share of what I have given Israel to be handed down from one generation to another. They are not to hold property in Israel; I am all they need.
[44:29] The grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings will be the priests' food, and they are to receive everything in Israel that is set apart for me.
[44:30] The priests are to have the best of all the first harvest and of everything else that is offered to me. Each time the people bake bread, they are to give the priests the first loaf as an offering, and my blessing will rest on their homes.
[44:31] The priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies a natural death or is killed by another animal.”