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the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced eastward, but it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me, “This gate will remain shut. It will not be opened, and no one may enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it; therefore it will remain shut. 3 Only the Prince Himself may sit inside the gateway and eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the portico of the gate and go out the same way.”
4 Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the Temple of the Lord, and I fell facedown.
5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay attention; look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the regulations of the House of the Lord and the instructions regarding it. Take close notice of all who may enter the temple and all who must be excluded from the sanctuary.
6 “Say to the rebellious people, the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations! 7 When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh, to be in My sanctuary and defile it—My own temple—while you offered Me food, the fat and the blood! You have broken My covenant with all your abominations. 8 You have not carried out your duties concerning My holy things; instead, you have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.” 9 This is what the Lord God says: “No foreigner, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh may enter My sanctuary, not even a foreigner who lives among the people of Israel.
10 “The Levites who forsook Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will suffer the consequences of their sin. 11 Yet they may minister in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple, and ministering at the temple. They may slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people. They shall attend to the people and serve them. 12 But because they ministered to the house of Israel in the presence of their idols and caused them to stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn an oath with uplifted hand against them”, says the Lord God, “that they must bear the consequences of their sin. 13 They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things all the most holy things. They must bear their shame for the abominations they committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them for the duties of the temple, and for all the work that has to be done in it.
15 “But the Levitical priests descended from Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from Me, they are to approach Me to minister before Me. They are to stand before Me to offer the sacrifices of the fat and the blood”, says the Lord God. 16 They alone may enter My sanctuary, and they alone may approach My table to minister before Me, and they will keep My charge.
17 “When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to be clothed in linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or within the temple. 18 They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not clothe themselves anything that makes them sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in, leave them in the sacred chambers, and put on other clothes, so they do not cause the people to become filled with holiness through contact with their garments.
20 “They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep their hair well trimmed. 21 No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may only marry virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They must teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them how to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 “In any dispute, the priests are to officiate as judges, and decide the case according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and My statutes for all My appointed festivals, and they are to keep My Sabbaths holy.
25 “A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister he may defiled himself. 26 After he is cleansed, he is to count off seven days. 27 On the day he goes to the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering”, says the Lord God.
28 “This is how it will be for the inheritance of the priests: I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. 29 They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord will belong to them. 30 The best of all the firstfruits of any kind, and every type of contribution or special gift will belong to the priests. You are to also give the priests the first portion of your baked dough, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes. 31 The priests must not eat anything, whether bird or animal, that died of itself or was torn by wild beasts.