⁹ This is what the Lord God says. No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, may enter my sanctuary—no foreigner at all from those who are among the people of Israel.

¹⁰ What’s more, the Levites who went far from me when Israel strayed away, those who wandered away from me to follow their filthy idols, they must bear the consequences of their guilt. ¹¹ Nevertheless, the Levites shall be in my sanctuary serving as guards over the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices for the people. They shall stand before the people to serve them. ¹² But because they formerly served them in front of their filthy idols and became a stumbling block that made the house of Israel guilty, therefore I have raised my hand in an oath against them, declares the Lord God, and they must bear the consequences of their guilt. ¹³ They may not approach me to serve as priests for me, nor may they approach any of my holy things or the most holy offerings. They must bear their shame and the consequences of the abominations that they committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will make them guardians of the ministry of the temple, in charge of all the duties of the temple and of everything that has to be done in it.