1 Then He brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”
4 Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6 You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, 7 when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”
9 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me following their idols, shall suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. 12 Since they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 13 And they shall not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I will appoint them to take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.
15 “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16 “They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to serve Me and assume the responsibility I give them. 17 And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. 18 Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments, so that they will not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. 22 And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but shall take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts, and sanctify My Sabbaths. 25 They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. 26 And after he is cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him. 27 On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” declares the Lord God.
28 “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough, to make a blessing rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.
1 “Now when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the Lord, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width shall be twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary. 2 Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its open space round about. 3 From this area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to serve the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 An area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession cities in which to live.
6 “And you shall give the city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.
7 “And the prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. 8 This shall be his land as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”
9 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your evictions of My people,” declares the Lord God.
10 “You shall have accurate balances, an accurate ephah, and an accurate bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; their standard shall be according to the homer. 12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who reside as strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
17 Deal generously with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your Law.
19 I am a stranger on the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed with longing
For Your ordinances at all times.
21 You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed,
Who wander from Your commandments.
22 Take disgrace and contempt away from me,
For I comply with Your testimonies.
23 Even though rulers sit and speak against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my advisers.
25 My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
And I will meditate on Your wonders.
28 My soul weeps because of grief;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your Law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way;
I have placed Your judgments before me.
31 I cling to Your testimonies;
Lord, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart.
8 One who increases his wealth by interest of any kind,
Collects it for one who is gracious to the poor.
9 One who turns his ear away from listening to the Law,
Even his prayer is an abomination.
10 One who leads the upright astray in an evil way
Will himself fall into his own pit,
But the blameless will inherit good.
