Study Desk

The rooms for the watchmen were each one stick long and one stick wide, and they were five cubits apart. And the gateway next to the porch toward the Lord's house was one stick wide.

There were three rooms for the watchmen on each side of the east gate. They all had the same length and width. And the pillars on each side were the same in width.

Then he led me to the south, and I saw a gate toward the south. He showed me the length and width of its side pillars and its porches, and they were the same as the others.

There were four tables for the burnt gifts. They were made of cut stone, and were one-and-a-half cubits long, one-and-a-half cubits wide, and one cubit high. The objects used for killing the animals for the burnt gifts were kept on these stone tables.

Then he brought me into the center room, and showed me the width of the side pillars. They were six cubits wide on each side.

The pillars beside the door of the center room were the same width on all four sides, and they looked alike.

These rooms had a walkway in front of them, and they were like the rooms on the north. They had the same length and width. The ways out of them were the same, and the doors were made the same way.

Then he said to me, "The north rooms and the south rooms, over from the other open space, are the holy rooms where the religious leaders who go near the Lord eat the most holy things. There they will lay the most holy things, the grain gift, the sin gift, and the guilt gift. For the place is holy.

They put their doorways by My doorways, and their door pillars beside My door pillars, with only a wall between Me and them. In doing so, they have made My holy name unclean by the hated sins they have done. So I have destroyed them in My anger.

And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, let them know how the house is built, the house with its doors and gateways, and its whole plan. Let them know all its laws. Write it down in front of them, so that they will see its whole plan and obey all its laws.

You must make ready a goat for a sin gift each day for seven days. Also make ready a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must be perfect.

For seven days they must make the altar free from sin and make it pure, so it will be set apart to Me.

They may do the work in My holy place. They may watch over the gates of the house and do the work in the house. They may kill the burnt gifts and the gifts brought by the people. And they may stand in front of the people to serve them.

But because they served them in front of their false gods and caused the people of Israel to sin, I have promised," says the Lord God, "that they will be punished for their sin.

They must not come near Me to serve Me as a religious leader. They must not come near any of My holy things and the things that are most holy. But they must suffer their shame because of the hated sins they have done.

"But the Levite religious leaders of the sons of Zadok took care of My holy place when the people of Israel left Me. So they will come near Me to serve Me. They will stand before Me to give Me the fat and the blood," says the Lord God.

"They will come into My holy place and come near My table, to serve Me and to do My work.

They will wear linen head-coverings and linen underclothes. They must not dress in anything that makes their bodies wet with heat.

When they go out to the people in the outer open space, they must take off the clothes they wear while they serve Me, and lay them in the holy rooms. Then they will put on other clothes, so that they do not make the people holy because of their clothing.

And they must not cut all the hair from their heads, yet they must not let their hair grow long. They must only cut their hair shorter.