The East Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me back to the gate of the outer sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. ² Then the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it. Because the Lord, the 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 the way of the vestibule of the gate and shall go out by the same way.

⁴ Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the temple. And I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.

⁵ The Lord said to me: Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well those who may enter the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let all your abominations suffice; ⁷ you brought foreigners into My sanctuary, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood. For they have broken My covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸ You have not kept the charge of My holy things. But you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary. ⁹ Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigner who is among the sons of Israel.

Laws for the Priests

¹⁰ But the Levites who have gone far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray away from Me after their idols, they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet 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 to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. ¹³ They shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to 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. ¹⁴ But I will make them keepers of the charge of the temple for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.

¹⁵ But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

¹⁷ It shall come to pass that when they enter 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 within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads and shall have linen breeches on their loins. They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out 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.

²⁰ Nor shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long. They shall only trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ Nor shall any priest drink wine when they enter the inner court. ²² Nor shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who has been put away. But they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who had a priest before. ²³ They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴ In controversy they shall stand in judgment. 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.

²⁵ They shall not go to a 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. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days. ²⁷ In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.

²⁸ It shall be to them for an inheritance. I am their inheritance. And you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. ²⁹ They shall eat the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering. And every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ The first of all the first fruits of all things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblations shall be the priest’s. You shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest in your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died naturally or was torn to pieces.