Gate for the Prince

44 Then He brought me back by the way of the ^(A)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. ² The Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the ^(B)Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the ^(C)prince, he shall sit in it as prince to ^(D)eat bread before the Lord; he shall ^(E)enter by way of the ^(F)porch of the gate and shall go out ^[a]by the same way.”

⁴ Then He brought me by way of the ^(G)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ^(H)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I ^(I)fell on my face. ⁵ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, ^[b](J)mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ^(K)statutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and ^[c]mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the ^[d](L)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord ^[e]God, “^(M)Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, ⁷ when you brought in ^(N)foreigners, ^(O)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you ^(P)offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they ^(Q)made My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not ^(R)kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners ^[f]to keep charge of My sanctuary.”

⁹ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “^(S)No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. ¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who ^(T)went astray from Me after their idols, shall ^(U)bear the punishment for their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ^(V)ministers in My sanctuary, having ^(W)oversight at the gates of the house and ^(X)ministering in the house; they shall ^(Y)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^(Z)stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them ^(AA)before their idols and became a ^(AB)stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^[g](AC)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall ^(AD)bear the punishment for their iniquity. ¹³ And they shall ^(AE)not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^(AF)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will ^[h]appoint them ^[i]to ^(AG)keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ “But the ^(AH)Levitical priests, the sons of ^(AI)Zadok, who ^(AJ)kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^(AK)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall ^(AL)stand before Me to offer Me the ^(AM)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(AN)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^(AO)table to minister to Me and keep My charge. ¹⁷ It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with ^(AP)linen garments; and wool shall not ^[j]be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. ¹⁸ Linen ^(AQ)turbans shall be on their heads and ^(AR)linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall ^(AS)put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will ^(AT)not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ Also they shall ^(AU)not shave their heads, yet they shall not ^(AV)let their locks ^[k]grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (AW)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. ²² And they shall not ^[l]marry a widow or a ^(AX)divorced woman but shall ^(AY)take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^(AZ)difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute ^(BA)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ^(BB)appointed feasts and ^(BC)sanctify My sabbaths. ^25 [m](BD)They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ After he is ^(BE)cleansed, seven days shall ^[n]elapse for him. ²⁷ On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the ^(BF)inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^(BG)sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

²⁸ “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that ^(BH)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession. ²⁹ They shall ^(BI)eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every ^[o](BJ)devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ The first of all the ^(BK)first fruits of every kind and every ^[p]contribution of every kind, from all your ^[q]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^(BL)first of your ^[r]dough to cause a ^(BM)blessing to rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has ^(BN)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.

Kaph.

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)an apostle of Jesus Christ ^[a](C)by the will of God, and ^(D)Timothy ^[b]our brother,

² To the ^[c](E)saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: ^(F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

^3 (G)We give thanks to God, ^(H)the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ^4 (I)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^(J)love which you have ^[d]for ^(K)all the ^[e]saints; ⁵ because of the ^(L)hope ^(M)laid up for you in ^[f]heaven, of which you previously ^(N)heard in the word of truth, ^[g]the gospel ⁶ which has come to you, just as ^[h](O)in all the world also it is constantly bearing ^(P)fruit and ^[i]increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^(Q)heard of it and ^[j]understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(R)Epaphras, our ^(S)beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and he also informed us of your ^(T)love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason also, ^(U)since the day we heard of it, ^(V)we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^[k](W)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(X)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will ^(Y)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^[l](Z)to please Him in all respects, ^(AA)bearing fruit in every good work and ^[m]increasing in the ^[n]knowledge of God; ^11 (AB)strengthened with all power, according to ^[o]His glorious might, ^[p]for the attaining of all steadfastness and ^[q]patience; ^(AC)joyously ¹² giving thanks to ^(AD)the Father, who has qualified us ^[r]to share in ^(AE)the inheritance of the ^[s]saints in ^(AF)Light.

The Incomparable Christ

^13 [t]For He rescued us from the ^[u](AG)domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[v](AH)His beloved Son, ^14 (AI)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

^15 [w]He is the ^(AJ)image of the ^(AK)invisible God, the ^(AL)firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For ^[x](AM)by Him all things were created, ^(AN)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AO)thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—^(AP)all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He ^[y](AQ)is before all things, and in Him all things ^[z]hold together. ¹⁸ He is also ^(AR)head of ^(AS)the body, the church; and He is ^(AT)the beginning, ^(AU)the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For ^[aa]it was ^(AV)the Father’s good pleasure for all ^(AW)the ^[ab]fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to ^(AX)reconcile all things to Himself, having made ^(AY)peace through ^(AZ)the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, ^(BA)whether things on earth or things in ^[ac]heaven.

²¹ And although you were ^(BB)formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now ^(BC)reconciled you in His fleshly ^(BD)body through death, in order to ^(BE)present you before Him ^(BF)holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ if indeed you continue in ^[ad]the faith firmly ^(BG)established and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^(BH)hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^(BI)in all creation under heaven, ^(BJ)and of which I, Paul, ^[ae]was made a ^[af](BK)minister.

^24 (BL)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(BM)I ^[ag]do my share on behalf of ^(BN)His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking ^[ah]in Christ’s afflictions. ^25 (BO)Of this church I ^[ai]was made a minister according to the ^(BP)stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might ^[aj]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶ that is, ^(BQ)the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ^[ak]saints, ²⁷ to whom ^(BR)God willed to make known what is ^(BS)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ^(BT)Christ in you, the ^(BU)hope of glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, ^(BV)admonishing every man and teaching every man ^[al]with all ^(BW)wisdom, so that we may ^(BX)present every man ^[am](BY)complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose also I ^(BZ)labor, ^(CA)striving ^(CB)according to His ^[an]power, which ^[ao]mightily works within me.