^9 (A)Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, ^(B)but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

Laws Governing Priests

^10 (A)“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, ^(B)as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; ^(C)they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^(D)they shall stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and ^(E)caused^[a] the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have ^(F)raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity. ^13 (G)And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall ^(H)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will make them ^(I)keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

^29 (A)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; ^(B)every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ The ^(C)best^[a] of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you ^(D)shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, ^(E)to cause a blessing to rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that ^(F)died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.

^36 (A)And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, ^[a]put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”