1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the
sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut. 2 Yahweh said to
me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man
enter in by it; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered in by it;
therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the prince, he shall sit therein as
prince to eat bread before Yahweh; he shall enter by the way of the porch of
the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. 4 Then he brought me by
the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the
glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh: and I fell on my face.
5 Yahweh said to me, Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and
hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the
house of Yahweh, and all the laws of it; and mark well the entrance of the
house, with every exit of the sanctuary. 6 You shall tell the rebellious,
even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you house of
Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, 7 in that you
have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in
flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you
offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant,
to add to all your abominations. 8 You have not kept the
charge of my holy things; but you have set keepers of my charge in my
sanctuary for yourselves. 9 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner,
uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my
sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel. 10 But
the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray
from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they
shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the
house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and
the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to
them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a
stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted
up my hand against them, says the Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their
iniquity. 13 They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of
priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that
are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which
they have committed. 14 Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the
house, for all the service of it, and for all that shall be done therein.
15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of
my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come
near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me
the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh: 16 they shall enter into my
sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they
shall keep my charge. 17 It shall be that, when they enter in at the gates
of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool
shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and
within. 18 They shall have linen tires on their heads, and shall have
linen breeches on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with
anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go forth into the outer
court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their
garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they
shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their
garments. 20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks
to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads. 21 Neither
shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put
away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a
widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They shall teach my people the
difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between
the unclean and the clean. 24 In a controversy they shall stand to judge;
according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws
and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Sabbaths
holy. 25 They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for
father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for
sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26 After he is
cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days. 27 In the day that he goes
into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he
shall offer his sin-offering, says the Lord Yahweh. 28 They shall have an
inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no
possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the
meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every
devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The first of all the first
fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your
offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests
the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The
priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it
be bird or animal.
World English Bible - Public Domain |
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