^44:9This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.¹⁰

^44:10“ ‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for¹¹ their sin. ^44:11Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. ^44:12Because they used to minister to them before their idols, and became a sinful obstacle¹² to the house of Israel, consequently I have made a vow¹³ concerning them, declares the sovereign Lord, that they will be responsible¹⁴ for their sin. ^44:13They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed. ^44:14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all of its service and all that will be done in it.

The Levitical Priests

^44:15“ ‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok¹⁵ who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign Lord. ^44:16They will enter my sanctuary, and approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge.

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Footnotes

10 Tobiah, an Ammonite (Neh 13:8), was dismissed from the temple.
11 Heb “will bear.”
12 Heb “a stumbling block of iniquity.” This is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (cf. also Ezek 7:19; 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30).
13 Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
14 Heb “will bear.”
15 Zadok was a descendant of Aaron through Eleazar (1 Chr 6:50–53), who served as a priest during David’s reign (2 Sam 8:17).