¹⁶ It is they who shall enter my sanctuary; it is they who shall approach my table to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

²² an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits wide;^[a] its corners, its base,^[b] and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that stands before the Lord.”^(A)

¹² But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted and its food^[a] may be despised.

⁷ By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, “How have we polluted it?”^[a] By thinking that the Lord’s table may be despised.^(A)

⁷ But you and your sons with you shall diligently perform your priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and the area behind the curtain. I give your priesthood as a gift;^[a] any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.”^(A)

The Priests’ Portion

⁸ The Lord spoke to Aaron, “I have given you charge of the offerings made to me, all the holy gifts of the Israelites; I have given them to you and your sons as a priestly portion due you in perpetuity.^(B)

⁸ And of Levi he said,

⁵ You yourselves shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never again come upon the Israelites.^(A)

⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests serving^[a] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.^(A)