1 T hen he brought me back to the outer gate of the holy place, toward the east, and it was shut.

¶ Then he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary which looks toward the east; and it was shut.

2 T he Lord said to me, “This gate must stay shut. It must not be opened. No one may come in through it, for the Lord God of Israel has come in through it. So it must stay shut.

Then the LORD said unto me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

3 O nly the ruler may sit at the gate to eat bread before the Lord. He must come in through the porch of the gate, and go out the same way.” Those Who Could Go In to the House of God

It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate and shall go out by the way of the same.

4 T hen he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house. There I saw the shining-greatness of the Lord filling the Lord’s house, and I fell with my face to the ground.

¶ Then he brought me toward the north gate in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell upon my face.

5 T he Lord said to me, “Son of man, be careful to see with your eyes and to hear with your ears everything that I say to you about all the rules and laws of the Lord’s house. Be careful to learn which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Lord’s house, and which persons are not allowed.

And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, pay attention, and behold with thine eyes and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD and all its laws; and pay attention to the entering in of the house and to every going forth from the sanctuary.

6 T ell the sinful people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, “Enough of your hated sins, O people of Israel!

And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: O ye house of Israel, let all your abominations cease.

7 Y ou have brought in strangers, who had not gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, and who were sinful in their heart. You brought them into My holy place to make it unclean, when you brought My food of the fat and the blood. You have broken My agreement by all your hated sins.

In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in my sanctuary to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.

8 A nd you have not taken care of My holy things yourselves. You have let strangers take care of My holy place.”

And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9 ‘ So the Lord God says, “No stranger among the people of Israel who has not gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, and is sinful in his heart, may come into My holy place. Levites Cannot Be Religious Leaders

Thus hath the Lord GOD said; No son of a stranger, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary, of any sons of strangers that are among the sons of Israel.

10 “ The Levites who went far from Me when Israel left Me to follow their false gods, will be punished for their sin.

¶ And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall bear their iniquity.

11 T hey may do the work in My holy place. They may watch over the gates of the house and do the work in the house. They may kill the burnt gifts and the gifts brought by the people. And they may stand in front of the people to serve them.

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, gatekeepers at the gates of the house, and servants in the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to serve them.

12 B ut because they served them in front of their false gods and caused the people of Israel to sin, I have promised,” says the Lord God, “that they will be punished for their sin.

Because they served them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore I have lifted up my hand regarding them, said the Lord GOD, that they shall bear their iniquity.

13 T hey must not come near Me to serve Me as a religious leader. They must not come near any of My holy things and the things that are most holy. But they must suffer their shame because of the hated sins they have done.

And they shall not come near unto me, to serve me as priests, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to my most holy things: but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14 Y et I will have them take care of the house and do all the work that is needed to be done in it. Zadok’s Sons to Serve in the House of God

But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house for all the service thereof and for all that shall be done therein.

15 “ But the Levite religious leaders of the sons of Zadok took care of My holy place when the people of Israel left Me. So they will come near Me to serve Me. They will stand before Me to give Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord God.

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, said the Lord GOD.

16 “ They will come into My holy place and come near My table, to serve Me and to do My work.

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

17 W hen they come through the gates of the inner open space, they will be dressed in linen clothing. They must not wear any wool while they are serving inside the gates of the inner open space or in the house.

¶ And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.

18 T hey will wear linen head-coverings and linen underclothes. They must not dress in anything that makes their bodies wet with heat.

They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads and shall have linen underwear upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causes sweat.

19 W hen they go out to the people in the outer open space, they must take off the clothes they wear while they serve Me, and lay them in the holy rooms. Then they will put on other clothes, so that they do not make the people holy because of their clothing.

And 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 ministered and lay them in the chambers of the sanctuary, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

20 A nd they must not cut all the hair from their heads, yet they must not let their hair grow long. They must only cut their hair shorter.

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut their hair.

21 N one of the religious leaders may drink wine when they come into the inner open space.

Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

22 T hey must not marry a woman whose husband has died, or who has been divorced. But they may marry women of Israel who have never had a man, or a woman whose husband was a religious leader before he died.

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

23 T hey will teach My people the difference between what is holy and what is not. And they will teach them to know what is unclean and what is clean.

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane and teach them to discern between the clean and the unclean.

24 I n an argument, the religious leaders will serve as judges, and will judge by My Laws. They will also keep My Laws in all My special suppers. And they will keep My Day of Rest holy.

And in controversy they shall stand to judge; and they shall judge it according to my rights; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my solemn assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

25 T hey must not make themselves unclean by going near a dead person. But they may make themselves unclean if the dead person is their father or mother, son or daughter, brother, or sister who was not married.

And they shall come near no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that has had no husband, they may defile themselves.

26 A fter a religious leader has become clean again, he must wait seven days.

And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

27 A nd on the day he goes into the holy place, into the inner open space to serve in the holy place, he must bring his sin gift,” says the Lord God.

And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin, said the Lord GOD.

28 “ I am to be the only part that the religious leaders have. You must not give them any land in Israel for their own. I am their part.

And this shall be unto them for an inheritance: I shall be their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

29 T hey will eat the grain gift, the sin gift, and the guilt gift. Everything in Israel that is set apart to Me will be theirs.

They shall eat the present, and that which was offered as sin, and that which was offered as guilt they shall eat; and every dedicated thing unto God in Israel shall be theirs.

30 T he first of all the first fruits of every kind, and every kind of gift you bring, will be for the religious leaders. And you must give them the first of your grain, so that good will come to your house.

And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every offering of all, of every sort of your offerings, shall be the priest’s; ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

31 T he religious leaders must not eat any bird or animal that has died of itself or has been torn to pieces.

The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.