| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. | 1Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut. |
| 2And 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 God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. | 2The LORD said to me: "This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. |
| 3As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.” | 3Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal before the LORD; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way." |
| 4Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell on my face. | 4Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed the glory of the LORD filling the LORD's temple, and I threw myself face down. |
| 5And 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 ordinances of the house of the LORD and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary. | 5The LORD said to me: "Son of man, pay attention, watch closely and listen carefully to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the LORD's house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. |
| 6“Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your abominations. | 6Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel! |
| 7When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. | 7When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate it--even my house--when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. |
| 8And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.” | 8You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners to keep charge of my sanctuary for you. |
| 9Thus says the Lord GOD: “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel. | 9This is what the sovereign LORD says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary. |
| 10“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. | 10"'But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for their sin. |
| 11Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. | 11Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. |
| 12Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord GOD, “that they shall bear their iniquity. | 12Because they used to minister to them before their idols, and became a sinful obstacle to the house of Israel, consequently I have made a vow concerning them, declares the sovereign LORD, that they will be responsible for their sin. |
| 13And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. | 13They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed. |
| 14Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it. | 14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all of its service and all that will be done in it. |
| 15“But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord GOD. | 15"'But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign LORD. |
| 16“They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. | 16They will enter my sanctuary, and approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge. |
| 17And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. | 17"'When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple. |
| 18They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. | 18Linen turbans will be on their heads and linen undergarments will be around their waists; they must not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. |
| 19When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people. | 19When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in, and place them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. |
| 20“They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. | 20"'They must not shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; they must only trim their heads. |
| 21No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. | 21No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court. |
| 22They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests. | 22They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a priest's widow. |
| 23“And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. | 23Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the ceremonially unclean and the clean. |
| 24In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths. | 24"'In a controversy they will act as judges; they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe my Sabbaths. |
| 25“They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves. | 25"'They must not come near a dead person or they will be defiled; however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister, they may defile themselves. |
| 26After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. | 26After a priest has become ceremonially clean, they must count off a period of seven days for him. |
| 27And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering in the inner court,” says the Lord GOD. | 27On the day he enters the sanctuary, into the inner court to serve in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering, declares the sovereign LORD. |
| 28“It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. | 28"'This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I am their property. |
| 29They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. | 29They may eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. |
| 30The best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. | 30The first of all the first fruits and all contributions of any kind will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the first portion of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house. |
| 31The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts. | 31The priests will not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or was torn to pieces by a wild animal. |
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