Then he
brought me back the way of the gate of the
outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east;
and it was shut.
02 Then said the Lord 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, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall
be shut.
03 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.
04 Then brought he me the way of the north gate
before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the
glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord:
and I fell upon my face.
05 And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, mark
well, 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 the laws thereof; and mark well the entering
in of the house, with every going forth of the
sanctuary.
06 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to
the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; O
ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all
your abominations,
07 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.
08 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy
things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in
my sanctuary for yourselves.
09 Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger,
uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in
flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any
stranger that is among the children of Israel.
10 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 even
bear their iniquity.
11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary,
having charge at the gates of the house, and
ministering to the house: they shall slay the
burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people,
and they shall stand before them to minister unto
them.
12 Because they ministered unto them before their
idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall
into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine
hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they
shall bear their iniquity.
13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do
the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near
to any of my holy things, in the most holy place:
but they shall bear their shame, and their
abominations which they have committed.
14 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 priests the Levites, the sons of
Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when
the children 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, saith the Lord God:
__________________________________ |
16 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 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, whiles they minister in the
gates of the inner court, and within.
18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their
heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their
loins; they shall not gird themselves with any
thing that causeth sweat.
19 And when they go forth into the utter court,
even into the utter court to the people, they
shall put off their garments wherein they
ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers,
and they shall put on other garments; and they
shall not sanctify the people with their
garments.
20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor
suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only
poll their heads.
21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they
enter into the inner court.
22 Neither shall they take for their wives a
widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall
take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel,
or a widow that had a priest before.
23 And they shall teach my people the difference
between the holy and profane, and cause them to
discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 And in controversy they shall stand in
judgment; and they shall judge it according to my
judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my
statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall
hallow my sabbaths.
25 And they shall come at no dead person to
defile themselves: but for father, or for mother,
or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for
sister that hath had no husband, they may defile
themselves.
26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon
unto him seven days.
27 And in the day that he goeth into the
sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in
the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,
saith the Lord God.
28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance:
I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no
possession in Israel: I am their possession.
29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin
offering, and the trespass offering: and every
dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all
things, and every oblation of all, of every sort
of your oblations, 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 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is
dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or
beast.
__________________________________ |
