⁴⁰ to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so ^(A)that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the Lord said to him through Moses.

¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and ^(A)they shall guard their priesthood. But if ^(B)any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

Uzziah's Pride and Punishment

¹⁶ But when ^(A)he was strong, ^(B)he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ But ^(C)Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, ¹⁸ and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ^(D)“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, ^(E)but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, ^(F)leprosy^[a] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. ^21 (G)And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived ^(H)in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land.

⁴ They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, ^(A)and no outsider shall come near you. ⁵ And you shall ^(B)keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, ^(C)that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. ^6 (D)And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. ^(E)They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷ And ^(F)you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and ^(G)that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[a] and ^(H)any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in ^(A)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^(B)to Balaam's error and ^(C)perished in Korah's rebellion.

A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

13 And behold, ^(A)a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^(B)to make offerings. ^2 (C)And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^(D)Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³ And he gave ^(E)a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”

³⁸ Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, ^(A)guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect^[a] the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death.

^51 (A)When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. ^(B)And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.

^10 (A)“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing,