Chapter 44

Gate for the Prince

1 Then He brought me back by the way of the aouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.

2 The Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the aLord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.

3 “As for the aprince, he shall sit in it as prince to beat bread before the Lord; he shall center by way of the dporch of the gate and shall go out 1by the same way.”

4 Then He brought me by way of the anorth gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the bglory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I cfell on my face.

5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, 1amark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the bstatutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and 1mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary.

6 “You shall say to the 1arebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord 2God, “bEnough of all your abominations, O house of Israel,

7 when you brought in aforeigners, buncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you coffered My food, the fat and the blood; for they dmade My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations.

8 “And you have not akept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners 1to keep charge of My sanctuary.”

9 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “aNo 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 awent astray from Me after their idols, shall bbear the punishment for their iniquity.

11 “Yet they shall be aministers in My sanctuary, having boversight at the gates of the house and cministering in the house; they shall dslaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall estand before them to minister to them.

12 “Because they ministered to them abefore their idols and became a bstumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have 1csworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall dbear the punishment for their iniquity.

13 “And they shall anot come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bbear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14 “Yet I will 1appoint them 2to akeep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15 “But the aLevitical priests, the sons of bZadok, who ckept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel dwent astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall estand before Me to offer Me the ffat and the blood,” declares the Lord God.

16 “They shall aenter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My btable to minister to Me and keep My charge.

17 “It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with alinen garments; and wool shall not 1be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house.

18 “Linen aturbans shall be on their heads and blinen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.

19 “When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall aput 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 bnot transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 “Also they shall anot shave their heads, yet they shall not blet their locks 1grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.

21 “aNor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court.

22 “And they shall not 1marry a widow or a adivorced woman but shall btake virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

23 “Moreover, they shall teach My people the adifference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

24 “In a dispute athey 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 bappointed feasts and csanctify My sabbaths.

25 “1aThey 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 “After he is acleansed, seven days shall 1elapse for him.

27 “On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the ainner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his bsin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28 “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that aI am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession.

29 “They shall aeat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every 1bdevoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 “The first of all the afirst fruits of every kind and every 1contribution of every kind, from all your 1contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the bfirst of your 2dough to cause a cblessing to rest on your house.

31 “The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has adied a natural death or has been torn to pieces.