The Daily Audio Bible
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The East Gate for the Prince
44 Then he brought me back to the gate of the outer sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. 2 Then the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it. Because the Lord, the 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 the way of the vestibule of the gate and shall go out by the same way.
4 Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the temple. And I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.
5 The Lord said to me: Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well those who may enter the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6 You shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let all your abominations suffice; 7 you brought foreigners into My sanctuary, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood. For they have broken My covenant because of all your abominations. 8 You have not kept the charge of My holy things. But you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary. 9 Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigner who is among the sons of Israel.
Laws for the Priests
10 But the Levites who have gone far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray away from Me after their idols, they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house and ministering to the house. They shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. 13 They shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor to come near to any of My holy things in the Most Holy Place. But they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the temple for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.
15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. 16 They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17 It shall come to pass that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments. And no wool shall come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and shall have linen breeches on their loins. They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they ministered and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments. And they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
20 Nor shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long. They shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 Nor shall any priest drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22 Nor shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who has been put away. But they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who had a priest before. 23 They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 In controversy they shall stand in judgment. And they shall judge it according to My judgments. And they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My assemblies. And they shall hallow My Sabbaths.
25 They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves. But for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that has had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26 After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days. 27 In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.
28 It shall be to them for an inheritance. I am their inheritance. And you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering. And every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The first of all the first fruits of all things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblations shall be the priest’s. You shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest in your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died naturally or was torn to pieces.
The Holy District
45 Moreover, when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the Lord, a holy portion of the land. The length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand cubits,[a] and the width shall be twenty thousand.[b] It shall be holy throughout its territory all around. 2 Of this there shall be a square plot for the sanctuary, five hundred by five hundred cubits,[c] with fifty cubits[d] for an open space around it. 3 Of this measure you shall measure the length of twenty-five thousand cubits and the width of ten thousand cubits.[e] And in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who shall come near to minister to 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 temple, and for their possession cities in which to dwell.
6 You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand cubits[f] wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long adjacent to the allotment of the holy portion. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.
The Portion for the Prince
7 A portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the holy allotment and property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, from the west side westward and from the east side eastward. And the length shall correspond to one of the tribal portions, from the west border to the east border. 8 In the land shall be his possession in Israel. And My officials shall no more oppress My people. And the rest of the land they shall give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
Laws Governing the Prince
9 Thus says the Lord God: Let it suffice you officials of Israel. Remove violence and destruction, and execute justice and righteousness. Take away your exactions from My people, says the Lord God. 10 You shall have just balances and a just ephah[g] and a just bath.[h] 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure so that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer,[i] and the ephah the tenth part of a homer. Their measure shall be after the homer. 12 The shekel[j] shall be twenty gerahs.[k] Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.[l]
Salutation
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To the refugees scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification by the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
A Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, kept 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, if for a little while, you have had to suffer various trials, 7 in order that the genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tried by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom, having not seen, you love; and in whom, though you do not see Him now, you believe and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 9 receiving as the result of your faith the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that should come to you have inquired and searched diligently, 11 seeking the events and time the Spirit of Christ, who was within them, signified when He foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, concerning the things which are now reported to you by those who have preached the gospel to you through the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven—things into which the angels desire to look.
ג Gimel
17 Deal kindly with Your servant, that I may live
and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things from Your law.
19 I am a sojourner in the land;
do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is consumed all the time
with a longing for Your decrees.
21 You have rebuked the proud, those cursed,
who depart from Your commandments.
22 Remove from me reproach and contempt,
for I have kept Your testimonies.
23 Even if princes sit and conspire against me,
Your servant will meditate on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight
and my counselors.
ד Daleth
25 My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to Your word.
26 I have declared my ways, and You heard me;
teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of Your precepts;
then I shall contemplate on Your wondrous works.
28 My soul collapses on account of grief;
strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove from me the way of falsehood,
and graciously grant me Your law.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
Your judgments I have laid before me.
31 I have stayed with Your testimonies, O Lord;
may I not be put to shame.
32 I will run in the way of Your commandments,
when You set my heart free.
8 He who by usury and unjust gain increases his substance
will gather it for him who will pity the poor.
9 He who turns away his ear from hearing instruction,
even his prayer will be an abomination.
10 Whoever causes the righteous to go astray in an evil way,
he himself will fall into his own pit;
but the upright will have good things in possession.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.