Nehemia 13:29

13:29 Please remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priesthood, ¹  and the Levites.

Maleakhi 2:4

2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant ²  may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all.

[13:29]  ¹ tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Lucianic Greek recension, and the Syriac Peshitta read the plural הַכֹּהֲנִים (hakkohanim, “the priests”) rather than the singular reading of the MT, הַכְּהֻנָּה (hakkÿhunnah, “the priesthood”).

[2:4]  ² sn My covenant refers to the priestly covenant through Aaron and his grandson Phinehas (see Exod 6:16-20; Num 25:10-13; Jer 33:21-22). The point here is to contrast the priestly ideal with the disgraceful manner in which it was being carried out in postexilic times.