44 ¶ Then he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary which looks toward the east; and it was shut.
2 Then the LORD said 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, has 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 he brought me toward the north gate in front of 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, pay attention, 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 its laws; and pay attention to the entering in of the house and to every going forth from the sanctuary.
6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: O ye house of Israel, let all your abominations cease.
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 my holy things; but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
9 Thus hath the Lord GOD said; No son of a stranger, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary, of any sons of strangers that are among the sons 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 bear their iniquity.
11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, gatekeepers at the gates of the house, and servants in the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to serve them.
12 Because they served them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore I have lifted up my hand regarding them, said the Lord GOD, that they shall bear their iniquity.
13 And they shall not come near unto me, to serve me as priests, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to my most holy things: 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 sons 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, said 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, while they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.
18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads and shall have linen underwear upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causes sweat.
19 And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they ministered and lay them in the chambers of the sanctuary, 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 cut their hair.
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 virgins 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 teach them to discern between the clean and the unclean.
24 And in controversy they shall stand to judge; and they shall judge it according to my rights; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my solemn assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
25 And they shall come near no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that has 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 goes into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin, said the Lord GOD.
28 And this shall be unto them for an inheritance: I shall be their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
29 They shall eat the present, and that which was offered as sin, and that which was offered as guilt they shall eat; and every dedicated thing unto God in Israel shall be theirs.
30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every offering of all, of every sort of your offerings, 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.