The Prince, the Levites, and the Priests

1Then he brought me back to the gate of the outer sanctuary which faces toward the east; and it was shut.

2Then 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, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

3It 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 same way.

4Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the 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.

5And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say unto you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all its laws; and mark well those who may enter the house, going out from the sanctuary.

6And you shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD; O you house of Israel, let there be an end of all your abominations,

7In that you have brought into my sanctuary foreigners, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when you offer my food, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.

8And you have not kept charge of my holy things: but you have set others as keepers of my charge in my sanctuary instead of yourselves.

9Thus says the Lord GOD; No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigner that is among the children of Israel.

10And the Levites who have gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.

11Yet 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.

12Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.

13And they shall not come near unto me, to serve 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.

14But I will make them to keep charge of the house, for all its service, and for all that shall be done in it.

15But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept 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, says the Lord GOD:

16They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

17And 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 inside.

18They shall have linen turbans upon their heads, and shall have linen trousers upon their bodies; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.

19And 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 holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

20Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.

21Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

22Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is divorced: but they shall take maidens of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

23And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

24And in controversy they shall stand as judges; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

25And 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.

26And after he is cleansed, they shall count unto him seven days.

27And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord GOD.

28And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

29They shall eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30And 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: you shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in your house.

31The priests shall not eat of anything that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.