New Living Translation

Ezekiel 44:21-27 New Living Translation (NLT)

21. The priests must not drink wine before entering the inner courtyard.

22. They may choose their wives only from among the virgins of Israel or the widows of the priests. They may not marry other widows or divorced women.

23. They will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is common, what is ceremonially clean and unclean.

24. “They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among my people. Their decisions must be based on my regulations. And the priests themselves must obey my instructions and decrees at all the sacred festivals, and see to it that the Sabbaths are set apart as holy days.

25. “A priest must not defile himself by being in the presence of a dead person unless it is his father, mother, child, brother, or unmarried sister. In such cases it is permitted.

26. Even then, he can return to his Temple duties only after being ceremonially cleansed and then waiting for seven days.

27. The first day he returns to work and enters the inner courtyard and the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself, says the Sovereign lord.