9. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.
10. “ ‘The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.
11. They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them.
12. But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord.
13. They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices.
14. And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.
15. “ ‘But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok and who guarded 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.
16. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and serve me as guards.
17. “ ‘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.
18. They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.
19. 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 the people are not consecrated through contact with their garments.
20. “ ‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed.
21. No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court.
22. They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests.
23. 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.
24. “ ‘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 festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.
25. “ ‘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.