^44:1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east. And it was shut. ^44:2 And Jehovah said to me, This gate will be shut. It will not be opened, nor will any man enter in by it, for Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered in by it. Therefore it will be shut.^44:3 As for the ruler, he will sit in it as ruler to eat bread before Jehovah. He will enter by the way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the way of the same.

    ^44:4 Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house. And I looked, and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah. And I fell upon my face.

    ^44:5 And Jehovah said to me, Son of man, mark well and behold with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah and all the laws of it. And mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary.

    ^44:6 And you will say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, The Lord Jehovah says thus: O you^* house of Israel, let it suffice you^* of all your^* abominations, ^44:7 in that you^* have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you^* offer my bread, the fat and the blood. And they have broken my covenant, to add to all your^* abominations. ^44:8And you^* have not kept the charge of my holy things, but you^* have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

    ^44:9 The Lord Jehovah says thus: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, will enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the sons of Israel.

    ^44:10 But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went-astray, who went-astray from me after their idols, they will bear their iniquity. ^44:11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house. They will kill the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people and they will stand before them to minister to them.

    ^44:12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord Jehovah and they will bear their iniquity. ^44:13 And they will not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to 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. ^44:14Yet I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service of it and for all that will be done in it.

    ^44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went-astray from me, they will come near to me to minister to me. And they will stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Jehovah: ^44:16 they will enter into my sanctuary and they will come near to my table, to minister to me and they will keep my charge.

    ^44:17 And it will be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they will be clothed with linen garments and no wool will come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court and within. ^44:18 They will have linen headdresses upon their heads and will have linen underwear upon their loins. They will not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. ^44:19 And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they will put off their garments in which they minister and lay them in the holy chambers. And they will put on other garments, that they do not sanctify the people with their garments.

    ^44:20 Neither will they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long. They will only cut off the hair of their heads. ^44:21 Neither will any of the priests drink wine when they enter into the inner court. ^44:22 Neither will they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away, but they will take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^44:23 And they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

    ^44:24 And in a controversy they will stand to judge. They will judge it according to my ordinances. And they will keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts and they will sanctify my Sabbaths.

    ^44:25 And they will go in to no dead person to defile themselves. But for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves. ^44:26And after he is cleansed, they will reckon to him seven days. ^44:27 And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he will offer his sin-offering, says the Lord Jehovah.

    ^44:28 And they will have an inheritance: I am their inheritance. And you^* will give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. ^44:29 They will eat the food-offering and the sin-offering and the guilt-offering. And every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. ^44:30 And the first of all the first-fruits of every thing and every offering of everything, of all your^* heave-offerings, will be for the priest. You^* will also give to the priests the first of your^* dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. ^44:31 The priests will not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it is bird or beast.