441 Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary , which faces the east ; and it was shut . 2 The Lord said to me, "This gate shall be shut ; it shall not be opened , and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut . 3 "As for the prince , he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord ; he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and shall go out by the same way ."
4 Then 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 on my face . 5 The Lord said to me, "Son of man , mark well , see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws ; and mark well the entrance of the house , with all exits of the sanctuary . 6 "You shall say to the rebellious ones , to the house of Israel , 'Thus says the Lord GOD , " Enough of all your abominations , O house of Israel , 7 when you brought in foreigners e , uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh , to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house , when you offered My food , the fat and the blood ; for they made My covenant void -this in addition to all your abominations . 8 "And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary ." 9 'Thus says the Lord GOD , " No e foreigner e uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh , of all the foreigners e 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 went astray from Me after their idols , shall bear the punishment for their iniquity . 11 "Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary , having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house ; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people , and they shall stand before them to minister to them. 12 "Because e they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel , therefore e I have sworn e against them," declares the Lord GOD , "that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity . 13 "And they shall not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things , to the things that are most holy ; but they will bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed . 14 "Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the house , of all its service and of all that shall be done in it. 15 "But the Levitical priests , the sons of Zadok , who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood ," declares the Lord GOD . 16 "They shall enter My sanctuary ; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep My charge .
17 "It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court , they shall be clothed with linen garments ; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house . 18 "Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be on their loins ; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat . 19 "When they go out into the outer court , into the outer court to the people , they shall put 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 not transmit holiness to the people with their garments . 20 "Also they shall not shave their heads , yet they shall not let their locks grow long ; they shall only trim the hair of their heads . 21 " Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court . 22 "And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel , or a widow who is the widow of a priest . 23 "Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane , and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean . 24 "In a dispute 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 appointed feasts and sanctify My sabbaths . 25 " They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however e , 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 "After he is cleansed , seven days shall elapse for him. 27 "On the day that he goes into the sanctuary , into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary , he shall offer his sin offering ," declares the Lord GOD . 28 "And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance ; and you shall give them no possession in Israel -I am their possession . 29 "They shall eat the grain offering , the sin offering and the guilt offering ; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs . 30 "The first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions , shall be for the priests ; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house . 31 "The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces .
