44 Then he brought me aback the way of bthe gate of the outward sanctuary bwhich looketh toward the east; and it was shut. 2 Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; cbecause the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 It is for dthe prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eeat bread before the Lord; fhe shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

4 Then brought he me the way of gthe north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, hthe glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and iI fell upon my face. 5 And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, †mark well, and jbehold with thine eyes, and jhear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning kall the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and kall the laws thereof; and †mark well kthe entering in of the house, with every kgoing forth of the sanctuary. 6 And thou shalt say to lthe rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, mlet it suffice you of all your abominations, 7 nIn that ye have brought into my sanctuary †strangers, ouncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, nto be in my sanctuary, pto pollute it, even my house, when ye offer qmy bread, rthe fat and rsthe blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have tset keepers of my ||charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9 Thus saith the Lord God; nNo stranger, ouncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. 10 And uthe Levites that are gone away far from me, uwhen Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even vbear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having wcharge xat the gates of the house, and xxministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ythey 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 zlifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and vthey shall bear their iniquity. 13 And athey 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 bthe most holy place: but cthey shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 14 But I will make them dekeepers of the charge of the house, efor all the service thereof, and efor all that shall be done therein. 15 But eethe priests the Levites, efthe sons of Zadok, dthat kept the charge of my sanctuary uwhen the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me fto minister unto me, and fthey shall stand before me gto 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 hmy table, fto minister unto me, and dthey shall keep my charge.

17 And it shall come to pass, that iwhen they enter in at the gates of jthe inner court, kthey 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 llinen mbonnets upon their heads, and shall have llinen nbreeches 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 oto the people, opthey shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and olay them in the holy chambers, and pthey shall put on other garments; and they shall not qsanctify the people with their garments. 20 rNeither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their slocks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. 21 tNeither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into jthe inner court. 22 Neither shall they take for their wives ua widow, nor uher 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 vthey shall teach my people the difference wxbetween the holy and profane, and wcause them to discern xbetween the unclean and the clean. 24 And yin 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 wthey shall hallow my sabbaths. 25 And zthey shall come at no dead person ato defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, zthey may defile themselves. 26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him bseven days. 27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto cthe inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, dhe shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God. 28 And eit shall be unto them for an inheritance: eI am their inheritance: and eye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. 29 fThey shall eat the meat offering, and fthe sin offering, and fthe trespass offering; and gevery ||dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And hthe ||ifirst of all the firstfruits of all things, and every koblation of all, of every sort of ikyour oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest lthe first of your dough, mthat he may cause nthe blessing to rest in thine house. 31 The priests shall not eat of oany thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.