44:1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward
sanctuary which looketh towards the east; and it [was] shut.
44:2 Then said the LORD to 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 hath entered in by it, therefore it
shall be shut.
44:3 [It 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 way of the same.
44:4 Then he brought me the way of the north gate before the
house: and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled
the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.
44:5 And the LORD said to me, Son of man mark well, and behold
with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears all that I say to thee
concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all
its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every
going forth of the sanctuary;
44:6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, [even] to the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let
it suffice you of all your abominations;
44:7 In that ye have brought [into my sanctuary] strangers,
uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my
sanctuary, to pollute it, [even] my house, when ye offer my
bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant
because of all your abominations.
44:8 And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things: but ye
have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
44:9 Thus 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.
44:10 And the Levites that have gone away far from me, when
Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols;
they shall even bear their iniquity.
44:11 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.
44:12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and
caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore
have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and
they shall bear their iniquity.
44:13 And 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.
44:14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house,
for all its service, and for all that shall be done therein.
44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept
the charge of my sanctuary when the children 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, saith the Lord GOD:
44:16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come
near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my
charge.
44:17 And 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 within.
44:18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall
have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird
[themselves] with any thing that causeth sweat.
44:19 And 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.
44:20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their
locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
44:21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into
the inner court.
44:22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her
that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of
the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.
44:23 And they shall teach my people the [difference] between
the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the
unclean and the clean.
44:24 And 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.
44:25 And 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.
44:26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven
days.
44:27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, to the
inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his
sin-offering, saith the Lord GOD.
44:28 And it shall be to them for an inheritance: I [am] their
inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I
[am] their possession.
44:29 They shall eat the meat-offering, and the sin-offering,
and the trespass-offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel
shall be theirs.
44:30 And 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: ye shall also give to the priest the first of
your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thy
house.
44:31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of
itself, or torn, whether of fowl or beast.
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