The Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me ^(A)back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, ^(B)which faces east. And it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ^(C)the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. ³ Only ^(D)the prince may sit in it ^(E)to eat bread before the Lord. He ^(F)shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴ Then he brought me by way of ^(G)the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ^(H)the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And ^(I)I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, ^(J)“Son of man, mark well, ^(K)see with your eyes, ^(L)and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning ^(M)all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well ^(N)the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. ⁶ And say to ^(O)the rebellious house,^[a] to the ^(P)house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, ^(Q)enough of all your abominations, ⁷ in ^(R)admitting foreigners, ^(S)uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, ^(T)profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You^[b] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And ^(U)you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(V)No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. ¹⁰ But ^(W)the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols ^(X)when Israel went astray, ^(Y)shall bear their punishment.^{[c] 11} They shall be ^(Z)ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight ^(AA)at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^(AB)they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became ^(AC)a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^(AD)sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They ^(AE)shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but ^(AF)they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep ^(AG)charge of the temple, ^(AH)to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But ^(AI)the Levitical priests, ^(AJ)the sons of Zadok, who kept ^(AK)the charge of my sanctuary ^(AL)when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^(AM)to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^(AN)the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^(AO)my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^(AP)linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^(AQ)and lay them in the holy chambers. And ^(AR)they shall put on other garments, ^(AS)lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ^20 (AT)They shall not shave their heads or ^(AU)let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (AV)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ^22 (AW)They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^23 (AX)They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^(AY)show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (AZ)In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^(BA)they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ^25 (BB)They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ^26 (BC)After he^[d] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^(BD)into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^(BE)he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

^28 (BF)“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^(BG)you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ^29 (BH)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^(BI)every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ^30 (BJ)And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^(BK)You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^(BL)that a blessing may rest on your house. ^31 (BM)The priests shall not eat of ^(BN)anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to ^(A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(A)do not believe every spirit, but ^(B)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(C)many ^(D)false prophets ^(E)have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(F)every spirit that confesses that ^(G)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit ^(H)that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^(I)now is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^(J)he who is in you is greater than ^(K)he who is in the world. ^5 (L)They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^(M)the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. ^(N)Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(O)the Spirit of truth and ^(P)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, ^(Q)let us love one another, for love is from God, and ^(R)whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ^8 (S)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because ^(T)God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ^(U)God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(V)not that we have loved God ^(W)but that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^(X)the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ^12 (Y)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^(Z)his love is perfected in us.

^13 (AA)By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And ^(AB)we have seen and testify that ^(AC)the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^(AD)the world. ^15 (AE)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So ^(AF)we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^(AG)God is love, and ^(AH)whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this ^(AI)is love perfected with us, so that ^(AJ)we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^(AK)as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but ^(AL)perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^(AM)been perfected in love. ^19 (AN)We love because he first loved us. ^20 (AO)If anyone says, “I love God,” and ^(AP)hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot^[a] love God ^(AQ)whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(AR)this commandment we have from him: ^(AS)whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Overcoming the World

5 ^(AT)Everyone who believes that ^(AU)Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and ^(AV)everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ^2 (AW)By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For ^(AX)this is the love of God, that we ^(AY)keep his commandments. And ^(AZ)his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For ^(BA)everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—^(BB)our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes ^(BC)that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

⁶ This is he who came ^(BD)by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And ^(BE)the Spirit is the one who testifies, because ^(BF)the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. ^9 (BG)If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ^(BH)that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God ^(BI)has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ^(BJ)has made him a liar, ^(BK)because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us ^(BL)eternal life, and ^(BM)this life is in his Son. ^12 (BN)Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

¹³ I write ^(BO)these things to you who ^(BP)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is ^(BQ)the confidence that we have toward him, that ^(BR)if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and ^(BS)God^[b] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. ^(BT)There is sin that leads to death; ^(BU)I do not say that one should pray for that. ^17 (BV)All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸ We know that ^(BW)everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ^(BX)he who was born of God ^(BY)protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and ^(BZ)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and ^(CA)has given us understanding, so that we may know ^(CB)him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and ^(CC)eternal life. ²¹ Little children, ^(CD)keep yourselves from idols.