⁵ a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the others are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord.

² Now a man who was lame from birth^(A) was being carried to the temple gate^(B) called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg^(C) from those going into the temple courts.

² The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico^(A) of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering^(B) and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening.^{(C) 3} On the Sabbaths^(D) and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of that gateway.^(E)

² The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it.^(A) It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. ³ The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence^(B) of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.^(C)”

⁵ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you are to do: You who are in the three companies that are going on duty on the Sabbath^(A)—a third of you guarding the royal palace,^{(B) 6} a third at the Sur Gate, and a third at the gate behind the guard, who take turns guarding the temple—