1 Then he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut.
2 The LORD said to me, "This gate is to stay shut. It must not be opened, and no one may come in through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has come in through it; so it is to stay shut.
3 Only the prince, because he is prince, may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He is to come in by way of the vestibule of the gate and go out the same way."
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house. I looked, and the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell face down.
5 The LORD said to me, "Son of man, pay close attention, look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the statutes of the house of the LORD and all its laws. Pay close attention to the entrance of the house and to all the exits of the sanctuary.
6 Say to the rebels, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: You have had more than enough of all your abominations, house of Israel,
7 bringing foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, into my sanctuary to profane my house while you offered my food, the fat and the blood. They have broken my covenant on top of all your abominations.
8 You have not taken charge of my holy things yourselves; instead you have put others in charge of my sanctuary for you.
9 Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, none of the foreigners who are among the children of Israel, may come into my sanctuary.
10 "As for the Levites who went far away from me when Israel strayed, who strayed from me after their idols, they will bear their iniquity.
11 They will serve in my sanctuary as guards at the gates of the house and as servants of the house; they will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people and stand before them to serve them.
12 Because they served them in front of their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, I have raised my hand in an oath concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, that they will bear their iniquity.
13 They will not come near me to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things, the most holy things; they will bear their disgrace and the abominations they committed.
14 Yet I will put them in charge of the house, of all the work to be done there and all that has to be done in it.
15 "But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel strayed from me, will come near me to serve me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD.
16 They will come into my sanctuary and approach my table to serve me, and they will keep my charge.
17 When they come in through the gates of the inner court they are to wear linen clothing; no wool may be on them while they serve in the gates of the inner court and inside the house.
18 Linen turbans are to be on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists; they must not wear anything that makes them sweat.
19 When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the garments they served in and leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments, so as not to pass holiness to the people through their garments.
20 They must not shave their heads or let their hair hang loose; they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed.
21 No priest may drink wine when he is to enter the inner court.
22 They must not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the line of the house of Israel, or a widow who was a priest's widow.
23 They are to teach my people the difference between holy and common and make them know the difference between unclean and clean.
24 In a dispute they are to take their stand as judges and judge it by my judgments. They are to keep my laws and my statutes at all my appointed feasts and keep my Sabbaths holy.
25 A priest must not make himself unclean by going near a dead person; only for a father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister may they make themselves unclean.
26 After he has been cleansed, seven days are to be counted off for him.
27 On the day he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to serve in the holy place, he is to offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.
28 "As for their inheritance, I am their inheritance. Give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
29 They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering, and everything devoted in Israel will be theirs.
30 The best of all the firstfruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind from all your contributions will go to the priests. You are also to give the priest the first of your coarse meal, so that a blessing may rest on your house.
31 The priests must not eat anything, bird or animal, that has died on its own or been mangled by beasts."