Haggai 2:11
9 “The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,” the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared. “And in this place I will give peace,” decrees the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year, the Lord’s message came to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said, ‘Ask the priests about the law. 12 If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’” The priests answered, “It will not.” 13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
Malachi 2:7
5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 6 He taught what was true; sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Notes and References
"... The Levites, in contrast, were charged with patrolling the public areas of the Temple and the Temple Mount, a very real function. Philo, indeed, seems to have considered it the Levites' main task. Under these circumstances, it is understandable that those Levites whose main duties were police functions might come to be called by the specific term shofrim, and not merely by the general term 'Levites.' The Levites' status as teachers is less clear. This might be simply a result of the circumstance that most of the surviving relevant literature from the New Testament and post-Destruction period preserves either priestly or rabbinic points of view, of which the former held that 'the lips of the priest guard knowledge and the Torah should be sought from his mouth' (Malachi 2:7; Compare with Ezekiel 44:23; Haggai 2:11-12; Zechariah 7:3; Sirach 45:30; Letter of Aristeas 53, 310; Philo, Hypothetica) while the latter insisted that the Crown of the Torah is not contingent upon any particular pedigree.'* Nevertheless, the cupboard is not entirely empty. We hear of Levites 'who cause the people to understand' in the days of Ezra (Nehemiah 8:7-8; Ezra 8:18), and the Chronicler (II 17:7-9; 30:22; 35:3) attributes this to the Monarchy period as well, as usual; von Rad has found what he views as Levitical sermons in this book ..."
Schwartz, Daniel R. Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity (p. 97) J. C. B. Mohr, 1992