¶ Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward¹ sanctuary which looketh² toward the east; and it was shut.

Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because³ the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

It is for⁴ the prince⁵; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat⁶ bread before the LORD; he shall enter⁷ by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

¶ Then brought he me the way⁸ of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory⁹ of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell¹⁰ upon my face.

And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well¹¹, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning¹² all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well¹³ the entering¹⁴ in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.

And thou shalt say¹⁵ to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice¹⁶ you of all your abominations,

In that ye have brought¹⁷ into my sanctuary strangers¹⁸, uncircumcised in heart¹⁹, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when²⁰ ye offer my bread, the fat²¹ and the blood, and they have broken²² my covenant because of all your abominations.

And ye have not²³ kept the charge²⁴ of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

²⁵Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

¶ And the Levites²⁶ that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear²⁷ their iniquity.

Yet they shall be²⁸ ministers in my sanctuary, having charge²⁹ at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay³⁰ the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they³¹ shall stand before them to minister unto them.

Because they ministered³² unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity³³; therefore³⁴ have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall³⁵ bear their iniquity.

And they shall not³⁶ come near unto me, to do 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 bear³⁷ their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

³⁸But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

But the priests the Levites, the sons³⁹ of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when⁴⁰ the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand⁴¹ before me to offer unto me the fat⁴² and the blood⁴³, saith the Lord GOD:

They shall enter⁴⁴ into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table⁴⁵, to minister unto me, and they shall keep⁴⁶ my charge.

¶ And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall⁴⁷ be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

They shall have linen bonnets⁴⁸ upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches⁴⁹ upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put⁵¹ off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify⁵² the people with their garments.

¶ Neither shall they shave⁵³ their heads, nor suffer⁵⁴ their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

⁵⁵Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

Neither⁵⁶ shall they take for their wives a widow⁵⁷, nor her that is put away⁵⁸: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before⁵⁹.

⁶⁰And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

And in controversy⁶¹ they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep⁶² my laws and my statutes in all⁶³ mine assemblies; and they shall hallow⁶⁴ my sabbaths.

⁶⁵And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.

⁶⁶And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner⁶⁷ court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer⁶⁸ his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD.

And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance⁶⁹: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

They shall eat⁷⁰ the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated⁷¹ thing in Israel shall be theirs.

¶ And the first⁷² of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may⁷³ cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

⁷⁴The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.