1Then he brought me toward the gate of the outward Sanctuary, which turneth toward the East, and it was shut.
2Then said the Lord unto me, This gate shall be shut, and shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel hath entered by it, and it shall be shut.
3It appertaineth to the Prince: the Prince himself 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.
4Then brought he me toward the North gate before the house: and when I looked, behold, the glory of the Lord, filled the house of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.
5And 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.
6And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, O house of Israel, ye have enough of all your abominations,
7Seeing that ye have brought into my Sanctuary strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my Sanctuary, to pollute mine house, when ye offer my bread, even fat, and blood: and they have broken my covenant, because of all your abominations.
8For ye have not kept the ordinances of mine holy things: but you yourselves have set others to take the charge of my Sanctuary.
9Thus 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,
10Neither yet the Levites that are gone back from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray from me after their idols, but they shall bear their iniquity.
11And they shall serve in my Sanctuary, and keep the gates of the House, and minister in the House: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people: and they shall stand before them to serve them.
12Because they served 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,
13And they shall not come near unto me to do the office of the Priest unto me, neither shall they come near unto any of mine holy things in the most holy place, but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations, which they have committed.
14And I will make them keepers of the watch of the House, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
15But the Priests of 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 serve me, and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God.
16They shall enter into my Sanctuary, and shall come near to my table, to serve me, and they shall keep my charge.
17And when they shall 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 serve in the gates of the inner court, and within.
18They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins: they shall not gird themselves in the sweating places.
19But when they go forth into the utter court, even to 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: for they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
20They shall not also shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long, but round their heads.
21Neither shall any Priests drink wine when they enter into the inner court.
22Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, or her that is divorced: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that hath been the widow of a Priest.
23And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24And in controversy they shall stand to judge, 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 sanctify my Sabbaths.
25And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves, except at their father or mother, or son or daughter, brother or sister, that hath had yet none husband: in these may they be defiled.
26And when he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
27And when he goeth into the Sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the Sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God.
28And the Priesthood shall be their inheritance, yea, I am their inheritance: therefore shall ye give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
29They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering, and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30And all the first of all the firstborn, and every oblation, even 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.
31The Priests shall not eat of anything that is dead, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.