The Daily Audio Bible
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The Closed Gate
44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, and it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the prince, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”(A)
Admission to the Temple
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.(B) 5 The Lord said to me: “Mortal, mark well, look closely, and listen attentively to all that I shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the Lord and all its laws, and mark well the entrances[a] to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.(C) 6 Say to the rebellious house,[b] to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations(D) 7 in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You[c] have broken my covenant with all your abominations.(E) 8 And you have not kept charge of my sacred offerings, but you have appointed foreigners[d] to act for you in keeping my charge in my sanctuary.
9 “Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.(F) 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them.(G) 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear their punishment.(H) 13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that are most sacred, but they shall bear their shame and the consequences of the abominations that they have committed.(I) 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it.(J)
The Levitical Priests
15 “But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.(K) 16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary; it is they who shall approach 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 linen vestments; they shall have nothing of wool on them while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within the temple.(L) 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.(M) 19 When they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall remove the vestments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, so that they may not communicate holiness to the people with their vestments.(N) 20 They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.(O) 22 They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but only a virgin of the stock of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest.(P) 23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.(Q) 24 In a dispute they shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.(R) 25 They shall not defile themselves by going near a dead person; for father or mother, however, and for son or daughter and for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.(S) 26 After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him.(T) 27 On the day that he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his purification offering, says the Lord God.
28 “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you shall give them no holding in Israel; I am their holding.(U) 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the purification offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.(V) 30 The first of all the first fruits of all kinds and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings shall belong to the priests; you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, in order that a blessing may rest on your house.(W) 31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or animal, that died of itself or was torn by animals.(X)
The Holy District
45 “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty[e] thousand cubits wide; it shall be holy throughout its entire extent. 2 Of this, a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3 In the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4 It shall be a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be both a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.(Y) 5 Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their holding for cities to live in.[f](Z)
6 “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign as a holding for the city an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.(AA)
7 “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the holding of the city, alongside the holy district and the holding of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern boundary(AB) 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no longer oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.(AC)
9 “Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord God.(AD)
Weights and Measures
10 “You shall have honest balances, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.[g](AE) 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one-tenth of a homer and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall make a mina for you.(AF)
Salutation
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To the exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood:
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.(A)
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead(B) 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.(C) 6 In this you rejoice,[a] even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,(D) 7 so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.(E) 8 Although you have not seen[b] him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,(F) 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.[c]
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace intended for you made careful search and inquiry,(G) 11 inquiring about the time and circumstances[d] that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings intended for Christ and the subsequent glory.(H) 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look!(I)
17 Deal bountifully with your servant,
so that I may live and observe your word.(A)
18 Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19 I live as an alien in the land;
do not hide your commandments from me.(B)
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.(C)
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments;(D)
22 take away from me their scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your decrees.(E)
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.(F)
24 Your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.(G)
25 My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.(H)
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes.(I)
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.(J)
28 My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.(K)
29 Put false ways far from me,
and graciously teach me your law.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to your decrees, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame.(L)
32 I run the way of your commandments,
for you enlarge my understanding.(M)
8 One who augments wealth by exorbitant interest
gathers it for another who is kind to the poor.(A)
9 When one will not listen to the law,
even one’s prayers are an abomination.(B)
10 Those who mislead the upright into evil ways
will fall into pits of their own making,
but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.