This haftarah describes the future Temple's priesthood restricted specifically to the Zadokite priests, descendants of Zadok, who kept charge of the sanctuary faithfully when the rest of the Israelites went astray into idolatry, a distinction the text draws deliberately between priests who remained loyal and those whose earlier unfaithfulness disqualifies them from serving at the altar itself, though they retain lesser duties elsewhere in the Temple precincts.
The passage then sets out detailed regulations for these priests: specific linen garments to be worn during service and removed before going out among the ordinary people, restrictions against shaving the head or letting hair grow long, a prohibition on drinking wine before entering the inner court, and rules on which women a priest may marry, limited to virgins or widows of other priests rather than divorced women or widows from outside the priestly line.
The haftarah closes affirming that priests must teach the people the difference between the holy and the common and between the clean and the unclean, must serve as judges in disputes according to God's own ordinances, and must not eat anything that has died naturally or been torn by animals, closing a passage of detailed priestly regulation with a reminder of the broader teaching role priests are expected to fulfill.