Gate for the Prince

44 Then He brought me back by way of the ^(A)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the ^(B)Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the ^(C)prince, he shall sit in it as prince to ^(D)eat bread before the Lord; he shall ^(E)enter by way of the ^(F)porch of the gate and shall go out ^[a]by the same way.”

⁴ Then He brought me by way of the ^(G)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ^(H)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I ^(I)fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, ^[b](J)pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the ^(K)statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and ^[c]pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the ^[d](L)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord ^[e]God says: “^(M)Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, ⁷ when you brought in ^(N)foreigners, ^(O)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you ^(P)offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they ^(Q)broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not ^[f](R)taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners ^[g]to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(S)No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. ¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who ^(T)went astray from Me ^[h]following their idols, shall ^(U)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ^(V)ministers in My sanctuary, having ^(W)oversight at the gates of the house and ^(X)ministering in the house; they shall ^(Y)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^(Z)stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Since they ministered to them ^(AA)before their idols and became a ^(AB)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have ^[i](AC)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall ^(AD)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹³ And they shall ^(AE)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^(AF)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will ^[j]appoint them ^[k]to ^(AG)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ “But the ^(AH)Levitical priests, the sons of ^(AI)Zadok, who ^[l](AJ)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^(AK)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall ^(AL)stand before Me to offer Me the ^(AM)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(AN)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^(AO)table to serve Me and ^[m]assume the responsibility I give them. ¹⁷ And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with ^(AP)linen garments; and wool shall not ^[n]be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. ¹⁸ Linen ^(AQ)turbans shall be on their heads and ^(AR)linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall ^(AS)take off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments, so that they will ^(AT)not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ Also they shall ^(AU)not shave their heads, yet they shall not ^(AV)let their locks ^[o]grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (AW)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. ²² And they shall not ^[p]marry a widow or a ^(AX)divorced woman, but shall ^(AY)take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^(AZ)difference between the holy and the ^[q]common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute ^(BA)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ^(BB)appointed feasts, and ^(BC)sanctify My Sabbaths. ^25 [r](BD)They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ And after he is ^(BE)cleansed, seven days ^[s]shall elapse for him. ²⁷ On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the ^(BF)inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^(BG)sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

²⁸ “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that ^(BH)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property. ²⁹ They shall ^(BI)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything ^(BJ)banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first of all the ^(BK)first fruits of every kind and every ^[t]contribution of every kind, from all your ^[u]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^(BL)first of your ^[v]dough, to make a ^(BM)blessing rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has ^(BN)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.