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Gate for the Prince

¹ Then He brought me back by way of the ^(C1)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut.² And the LORD said to me, "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the ^(C1)LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.³ "As for the ^(C1)prince, he shall sit in it as prince to ^(C2)eat bread before the LORD; he shall ^(C3)enter by way of the ^(C4)porch of the gate and shall go out ^(F1)by the same way."

⁴ Then He brought me by way of the ^(C1)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ^(C2)glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I ^(C3)fell on my face.⁵ And the LORD said to me, "Son of man, ^(F1)(C1)pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the ^(C2)statutes of the house of the LORD and all its laws; and ^(F1)pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary.⁶ "You shall say to the ^(F1)(C1)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord ^(F2)GOD says: "^(C2)Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel,⁷ when you brought in ^(C1)foreigners, ^(C2)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you ^(C3)offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they ^(C4)broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations.⁸ "And you have not ^(F1)(C1)taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners ^(F2)to take responsibility for My sanctuary."

⁹ 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "^(C1)No 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 ^(C1)went astray from Me ^(F1)following their idols, shall ^(C2)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing.¹¹ "Yet they shall be ^(C1)ministers in My sanctuary, having ^(C2)oversight at the gates of the house and ^(C3)ministering in the house; they shall ^(C4)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^(C5)stand before them to minister to them.¹² "Since they ministered to them ^(C1)before their idols and became a ^(C2)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have ^(F1)(C3)sworn against them," declares the Lord GOD, "that they shall ^(C4)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing.¹³ "And they shall ^(C1)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^(C2)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.¹⁴ "Nevertheless I will ^(F1)appoint them ^(F2)to ^(C1)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ "But the ^(C1)Levitical priests, the sons of ^(C2)Zadok, who ^(F1)(C3)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^(C4)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall ^(C5)stand before Me to offer Me the ^(C6)fat and the blood," declares the Lord GOD.¹⁶ "They shall ^(C1)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^(C2)table to serve Me and ^(F1)assume the responsibility I give them.¹⁷ "And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with ^(C1)linen garments; and wool shall not ^(F1)be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house.¹⁸ "Linen ^(C1)turbans shall be on their heads and ^(C2)linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat.¹⁹ "And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall ^(C1)take 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 ^(C2)not transfer holiness to the people with their garments.²⁰ "Also they shall ^(C1)not shave their heads, yet they shall not ^(C2)let their locks ^(F1)grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.²¹ "^(C1)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard.²² "And they shall not ^(F1)marry a widow or a ^(C1)divorced woman, but shall ^(C2)take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.²³ "Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^(C1)difference between the holy and the ^(F1)common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.²⁴ "In a dispute ^(C1)they 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 ^(C2)appointed feasts, and ^(C3)sanctify My Sabbaths.²⁵ "^(F1)(C1)They 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 "And after he is ^(C1)cleansed, seven days ^(F1)shall elapse for him.²⁷ "On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the ^(C1)inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^(C2)sin offering," declares the Lord GOD.

²⁸ "And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that ^(C1)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property.²⁹ "They shall ^(C1)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything ^(C2)banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs.³⁰ "And the first of all the ^(C1)first fruits of every kind and every ^(F1)contribution of every kind, from all your ^(F1)contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^(C2)first of your ^(F2)dough, to make a ^(C3)blessing rest on your house.³¹ "The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has ^(C1)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.