⁴ Then He brought me by way of the ^(A)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ^(B)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I ^(C)fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, ^[a](D)pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the ^(E)statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and ^[b]pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the ^[c](F)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord ^[d]God says: “^(G)Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, ⁷ when you brought in ^(H)foreigners, ^(I)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you ^(J)offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they ^(K)broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not ^[e](L)taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners ^[f]to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(M)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 ^(N)went astray from Me ^[g]following their idols, shall ^(O)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ^(P)ministers in My sanctuary, having ^(Q)oversight at the gates of the house and ^(R)ministering in the house; they shall ^(S)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^(T)stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Since they ministered to them ^(U)before their idols and became a ^(V)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have ^[h](W)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall ^(X)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹³ And they shall ^(Y)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^(Z)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will ^[i]appoint them ^[j]to ^(AA)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ “But the ^(AB)Levitical priests, the sons of ^(AC)Zadok, who ^[k](AD)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^(AE)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall ^(AF)stand before Me to offer Me the ^(AG)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(AH)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^(AI)table to serve Me and ^[l]assume the responsibility I give them.

²³ Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^(A)difference between the holy and the ^[a]common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute ^(B)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 ^(C)appointed feasts, and ^(D)sanctify My Sabbaths.