1 The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut. 2And the Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut. 3Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

4 Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling His temple, and I fell facedown. 5The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the Lord. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

6 Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. 7In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food— the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant. 8And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’

9 This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary — not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

10 Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity. 11Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

12 Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. 13They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed. 14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.

15 But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. 16They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. 18They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

19 When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair. 21No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court. 22And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest. 23They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

24 In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

25 A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so, 26and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself. 27And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

28 In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

29 They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the Lord will belong to them. 30The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes. 31The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.’’

1 “ When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you are to set aside a portion for the Lord, a holy portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. This entire tract of land will be holy.

2 Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, with 50 cubits around it for open land.

3 From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits, and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

5 An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live.

6 As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

7 Now the prince will have the area bordering each side of the area formed by the holy district and the property of the city, extending westward from the western side and eastward from the eastern side, running lengthwise from the western boundary to the eastern boundary and parallel to one of the tribal portions. 8This land will be his possession in Israel.

And My princes will no longer oppress My people, but will give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes. 9For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’

10 You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.

11 The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure for both.

12 The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal one mina.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials 7so that the proven character of your faith — more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully, 11trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.