³³ So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood ^(A)defiles the land, and no ^[a]atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except ^(B)by the blood of him who shed it.

⁹ And ^(A)you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and ^(B)to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; ^(C)they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.

¹⁷ then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, ^(A)before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. ¹⁸ And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, ^19 (B)then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so ^(C)you shall put away the evil from among you. ^20 (D)And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. ^21 (E)Your eye shall not pity: ^(F)life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

^15 (A)“But the priests, the Levites, ^(B)the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary ^(C)when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they ^(D)shall stand before Me to offer to Me the ^(E)fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(F)enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near ^(G)My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. ¹⁷ And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that ^(H)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. ^18 (I)They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, ^(J)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 ^(K)not sanctify the people.

^20 (L)“They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow ^(M)long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. ^21 (N)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They shall not take as wife a ^(O)widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

²³ “And ^(P)they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to ^(Q)discern between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (R)In 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, ^(S)and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

Jeremiah Persecuted

¹⁸ Then they said, ^(A)“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; ^(B)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”

¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, ^(A)ask the priests concerning the law, saying,