Then He brought me back by the way of the ^aouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2 Then the LORD said to me, “This ¹gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the ^aLORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the ^aprince, he shall sit in it as prince to ^beat bread before the LORD; he shall ^center by way of the ^dporch (portico) of the gate and shall go out the same way.”

4 Then He brought me by way of the ^anorth gate to the front of the house; I looked, and behold, the ^bglory and brilliance of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I ^cfell face downward. Rev 15:8 5 The LORD said to me, “Son of man, ^apay careful attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ^bstatutes of the house of the LORD and all its laws; and pay careful attention to the entering of the house by people, with all the departures from the sanctuary of people, those who are allowed to enter the temple and all those who are excluded from the sanctuary. 6 You shall say to the ^arebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “^bEnough of all your repulsive acts, O house of Israel! 7 In that you brought in ^aforeigners, ^buncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute and profane it—My house—when you ^coffered My bread, the fat, and the blood; and ¹they ^dmade My covenant void—this in addition to all your other repulsive acts. 8 And you have not ^akept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have chosen foreigners to please yourselves and have set them in charge of My sanctuary.”

9 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “^aNo foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far away from Me when Israel went astray, who ^awent astray from Me after their idols, they shall ^bbear the punishment for their sin and guilt. 11 Yet they shall ^aminister in My sanctuary, having ^boversight as guards at the gates of the temple and ^cministering in the temple. They shall ^dslaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^estand before them to minister to them. 12 Because the priests ministered to them ^abefore their idols and became a ^bstumbling block of sin to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand and have ^csworn an oath against them,” says the Lord GOD, “that they shall ^dbear the punishment for their sin and guilt. 13 And they shall ^anot come near to Me to serve as priests to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall ^bbear their shame and their disgrace and the consequences of their repulsive acts which they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them as ^acaretakers of the temple, for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.

15 “But the ^aLevitical priests, the sons of ^bZadok, who ^cperformed the duty of My sanctuary when the children (descendants) of Israel ^dwent astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall ^estand before Me to offer to Me the ^ffat and the blood,” declares the Lord GOD. 16 “They shall ^aenter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My ^btable to minister to Me and they shall perform the priestly duty to me. 17 It shall be that when they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed in ^alinen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner courtyard and within the temple (house) . 18 They shall have linen ^aturbans on their heads and ^blinen undergarments on their ¹loins; they shall not dress themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall ^atake off the garments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other clothing so that they will ^bnot transmit holiness to the people with their ceremonial garments. 20 ^aAlso they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not ^ballow their hair to grow long; they shall only cut short or trim their hair. 21 ^aNor shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. 22 And they shall not marry a widow or a ^adivorced woman; but they shall ^bmarry virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who was previously married to a priest. 23 The priests shall teach My people the ^adifference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the (ceremonially) unclean and the clean. 24 In a controversy ^athey shall take their stand to act as judges; they shall judge it in accordance with My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ^bappointed feasts and ^csanctify My Sabbaths. 25 ^aThey shall not go to a dead person to ¹defile themselves; except for father or for mother, for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who has had no husband; they may defile themselves. Lev 21:1, 2 26 After he is ^acleansed from the defilement of a corpse, seven days more shall elapse for him before returning to the temple. 27 On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the ^ainner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^bsin offering,” says the Lord GOD.

28 “It their ministry to Me shall be as an inheritance to them, for ^aI am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property (land) in Israel, for I am their possession. Josh 13:14, 33 29 They shall ^aeat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every ^bdevoted thing (offering) in Israel dedicated by a solemn vow to God shall be theirs. 30 The first of all the ^afirst fruits of every kind, and every contribution and offering of every kind, from all your contributions and offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priest the ^bfirst of your coarse meal and bread dough, so that a ^cblessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has ^adied a natural death or has been torn to pieces.