“1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward
sanctuary which 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; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath
entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 [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 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. 5 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. 6 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, 7 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 And ye have not
kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my
charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 9 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.”
(Ezekiel 44:1-31 AV)
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