⁶² These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; ^(A)therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled.

¹⁰ So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, ^(A)and they shall attend to their priesthood; ^(B)but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

³⁹ So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar, ⁴⁰ to be a ^[a]memorial to the children of Israel ^(A)that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.

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.

⁷ Therefore ^(A)you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and ^(B)behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a ^(C)gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

²¹ No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; ²³ only he shall not go near the ^(A)veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest ^(B)he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”