13
They will not approach me to serve me in the office of cohen or approach any of the holy things or the especially holy things; but they will bear their shame for the disgusting practices they committed.
14
Yet I will put them in charge of the house and all its maintenance and everything to be done in it.
15
"'However, the cohanim, who are L'vi'im and descendants of Tzadok, who took care of my sanctuary when the people of Isra'el went astray from me - they are the ones who will approach me and serve me; it is they who will attend me and offer me the fat and the blood,' says Adonai ELOHIM.
16
'They will enter my sanctuary, approach my table to minister to me and perform my service.
17
"'Once they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they are to wear linen clothing; they are not to wear any wool while serving at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside it.
18
They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their bodies, and they are not to wear anything that makes them sweat.
19
Before going out to the people in the outer courtyard, they are to remove the clothes in which they minister, lay them in the holy rooms, and put on other clothes; so that they won't transmit holiness to the people by means of their clothing.
20
They are not to shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must keep their hair carefully trimmed.
21
No cohen is to drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.
22
They may not marry a widow or a divorcee but must marry virgins descended from the house of Isra'el or a widow whose deceased husband was a cohen.
23
"'They are to teach my people the difference between holy and common and enable them to distinguish between clean and unclean.