1 Toe het hy my teruggebring na die buitenste poort van die heiligdom wat na die ooste kyk; en dit was gesluit.
2 En die HERE het vir my gesê: Hierdie poort moet toegesluit bly, dit mag nie oopgemaak word nie, en niemand mag daardeur ingaan nie, omdat die HERE, die God van Israel, daardeur ingegaan het; daarom moet dit gesluit bly.
3 Wat betref die vors, hy moet as vors daarin sit om brood te eet voor die aangesig van die HERE; van die voorportaal van die poort af moet hy ingaan en op dieselfde weg daar uitgaan.
4 Daarop het hy my gebring na die noordpoort, aan die voorkant van die huis; ek kyk toe en sien dat die heerlikheid van die HERE die huis van die HERE vervul; toe het ek op my aangesig geval.
5 En die HERE het vir my gesê: Mensekind, gee ag daarop en kyk met jou oë en hoor met jou ore alles wat Ek jou sal sê aangaande al die verordeninge van die huis van die HERE en al die wette daarvan; en gee ag op die ingang in die huis deur al die uitgange van die heiligdom.
6 En sê aan die wederstrewiges, aan die huis van Israel: So spreek die Here HERE: Laat dit genoeg wees met al julle gruwels, o huis van Israel!
7 Omdat julle uitlanders ingebring het, onbesnedenes van hart en onbesnedenes van vlees, om in my heiligdom te wees, om dit, my huis, te ontheilig; toe julle my brood, vet en bloed gebring, en hulle my verbond verbreek het by al julle gruwels.
8 En julle het die diens van my heilige gawes nie waargeneem nie, maar het hulle aangestel om my diens in my heiligdom vir julle waar te neem.
9 So sê die Here HERE: Geen uitlander, onbesnede van hart en onbesnede van vlees, mag in my heiligdom ingaan, van al die uitlanders wat onder die kinders van Israel is nie.
10 Maar die Leviete wat ver van My afgewyk het by die afdwaling van Israel, wat van My af weggedwaal het agter hulle drekgode aan, hulle moet hul ongeregtigheid dra:
11 hulle moet dienaars wees in my heiligdom, as wagte by die poorte van die huis en bedienaars van die huis; hulle moet die brandoffer en die slagoffer vir die volk slag en voor hulle staan om hulle te dien.
12 Omdat hulle hul gedien het voor hulle drekgode en vir die huis van Israel 'n struikelblok tot ongeregtigheid was, daarom het Ek my hand teen hulle opgehef, spreek die Here HERE, sodat hulle hul ongeregtigheid moet dra.
13 En hulle mag nie nader kom na My toe om die priesteramp vir My te bedien nie en om nader te kom na al my heilige gawes, na die hoogheilige gawes nie; maar hulle moet hul skande dra en hul gruwels wat hulle bedryf het.
14 Dus sal Ek hulle aanstel om die diens van die huis waar te neem, vir die hele bediening daarvan en vir alles wat daarin gedoen moet word.
15 Maar die Levitiese priesters, die kinders van Sadok, wat die diens van my heiligdom waargeneem het toe die kinders van Israel van My af weggedwaal het, hulle moet na My toe nader kom om My te dien en voor my aangesig staan om aan My die vet en die bloed te offer, spreek die Here HERE.
16 Hulle moet in my heiligdom ingaan, en hulle moet na my tafel toe nader kom om My te dien en my diens waarneem.
17 En as hulle na die poorte van die binneste voorhof ingaan, moet hulle linneklere aantrek; maar wol mag op hulle nie kom as hulle dien in die poorte van die binneste voorhof en daar binnekant nie.
18 Linne-hoofversiersels moet op hulle hoof wees en linnebroeke moet aan hulle heupe wees; hulle mag hul nie gord met iets wat laat sweet nie.
19 En as hulle uitgaan na die buitenste voorhof, na die buitenste voorhof na die volk toe, moet hulle hul klere uittrek waar hulle in gedien het, en dit neersit in die heilige kamers, en hulle moet ander klere aantrek, sodat hulle die volk nie heilig maak met hul klere nie.
20 En hulle moet hul hoof nie kaal skeer of die hare lank laat groei nie; behoorlik moet hulle hul hoofde skeer.
21 Ook mag geen priester wyn drink as hy in die binneste voorhof ingaan nie.
22 Ook mag hulle geen weduwee of een wat verstoot is, vir hulle as vrou neem nie; maar jongmeisies uit die geslag van die huis van Israel of 'n weduwee wat deur 'n priester as weduwee agtergelaat is, mag hulle neem.
23 En hulle moet my volk die onderskeid leer tussen wat heilig en onheilig is, en hulle bekend maak die onderskeid tussen wat onrein en rein is.
24 En oor 'n regsaak moet hulle optree om reg te spreek, volgens my verordeninge moet hulle dit uitoefen; en hulle moet my wette en my insettinge hou op al my feestye en my sabbatte heilig.
25 En hy mag by 'n lyk nie kom, sodat hy onrein word nie; net maar aan 'n vader of 'n moeder of 'n seun of 'n dogter, aan 'n broer of 'n suster wat nie aan 'n man toebehoort nie, mag hulle hul verontreinig.
26 En n sy reiniging moet hulle vir hom sewe dae tel.
27 En op die dag as hy in die heiligdom ingaan, in die binneste voorhof, om in die heiligdom te dien, moet hy sy sondoffer bring, spreek die Here HERE.
28 En dit sal vir hulle 'n erfdeel wees: Ek is hulle erfdeel; en julle mag aan hulle geen besitting in Israel gee nie: Ek is hulle besitting.
29 Die spysoffer en die sondoffer en die skuldoffer, die moet hulle eet; en alles wat in Israel onder die ban is, moet vir hulle wees.
30 En die beste van al die eerstelinge van alles en elke offergawe van alles, van al julle offergawes, moet vir die priesters wees; ook moet julle die eerstelinge van julle growwe meel aan die priester gee, om 'n seën op jou huis te laat rus.
31 Geen aas of iets wat verskeur is, van voëls of van vee, mag die priesters eet nie.
1 And he took me back to the outer doorway of the holy place, looking to the east; and it was shut.
2 And the Lord said to me, This doorway is to be shut, it is not to be open, and no man is to go in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has gone in by it; and it is to be shut.
3 But the ruler will be seated there to take his food before the Lord; he will go in by the covered way to the door, and will come out by the same way.
4 And he took me to the north doorway in front of the house; and, looking, I saw that the house of the Lord was full of the glory of the Lord; and I went down on my face.
5 And the Lord said to me, Son of man, take to heart, and let your eyes see and your ears be open to everything I say to you about all the rules of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and take note of the ways into the house and all the ways out of the holy place.
6 And say to the uncontrolled children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: O you children of Israel, let it be enough for you, among the disgusting things which you have done,
7 To have let men from strange lands, without circumcision of heart or flesh, come into my holy place, making my house unclean; and to have made the offering of my food, even the fat and the blood; and in addition to all your disgusting ways, you have let my agreement be broken.
8 And you have not taken care of my holy things; but you have put them as keepers to take care of my work in my holy place.
9 For this cause the Lord has said, No man from a strange land, without circumcision of heart and flesh, of all those who are living among the children of Israel, is to come into my holy place.
10 But as for the Levites, who went far from me, when Israel went out of the right way, turning away from me to go after their images; their punishment will come on them.
11 But they may be caretakers in my holy place, and overseers at the doors of the house, doing the work of the house: they will put to death the burned offering and the beasts offered for the people, and they will take their place before them as their servants.
12 Because they did this work for them before their images, and became a cause of sin to the children of Israel; for this cause my hand has been lifted up against them, says the Lord, and their punishment will be on them.
13 And they will not come near me to do the work of priests to me, or come near any of my holy things, or the things which are most holy: but their shame will be on them, and the punishment for the disgusting things which they have done.
14 But I will make them responsible for the care of the house and all its work and everything which is done in it.
15 But as for the priests, the sons of Zadok, who took care of my holy place when the children of Israel were turned away from me, they are to come near me to do my work, they will take their places before me, offering to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord;
16 They are to come into my holy place and they are to come near to my table, to do my work and have the care of my house.
17 And when they come in by the doorways of the inner square, they are to be clothed in linen robes; there is to be no wool on them while they are doing my work in the doorway of the inner square and inside the house.
18 They are to have linen head-dresses on their heads and linen trousers on their legs, and they are to have nothing round them to make their skin wet with heat.
19 And when they go out into the outer square to the people, they are to take off the robes in which they do the work of priests, and put them away in the holy rooms, and put on other clothing, so that the people may not be made holy by their robes.
20 They are not to have all the hair cut off their heads, and they are not to let their hair get long, but they are to have the ends of their hair cut.
21 The priests are not to take wine when they go into the inner square.
22 And they are not to take as wives any widow or woman whose husband has put her away: but they may take virgins of the seed of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
23 And they are to make clear to my people the division between what is holy and what is common, and to give them the knowledge of what is clean and what is unclean.
24 In any cause, they are to be in the position of judges, judging in harmony with my decisions: they are to keep my laws and my rules in all my fixed feasts; and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.
25 They are not to come near any dead person so as to become unclean: but for a father or mother or son or daughter or brother or for a sister who has no husband, they may make themselves unclean.
26 And after he has been made clean, seven days are to be numbered for him.
27 And on the day when he goes into the inner square, to do the work of the holy place, he is to make his sin-offering, says the Lord.
28 And they are to have no heritage; I am their heritage: you are to give them no property in Israel; I am their property.
29 Their food is to be the meal offering and the sin-offering and the offering for error; and everything given specially to the Lord in Israel will be theirs.
30 And the best of all the first-fruits of everything, and every offering which is lifted up of all your offerings, will be for the priests: and you are to give the priest the first of your bread-making, so causing a blessing to come on your house.
31 The priests may not take for food any bird or beast which has come to a natural death or whose death has been caused by another animal.