Study Desk

The priests of the Levi tribe from the family of Zadok the priest are the only ones who may serve in my temple—this is my law. So give them a young bull to slaughter as a sacrifice for sin.

The priests will purify the altar during those days, so that it will be acceptable to me and ready to use.

The Lord said: I, the Lord God of Israel, came through this gate, so it must remain closed forever! No one must ever use it.

The Lord said: Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to give you the laws for my temple. So pay attention and listen carefully to what kind of people are allowed to come in the temple, and what kind are not.

And so I, the Lord God, say that no godless foreigner who disobeys me will be allowed in my temple. This includes any foreigner living in Israel.

The Lord said: Some of the Levites turned their backs on me and joined the other people of Israel in worshiping idols. So these Levites must be punished!

The Lord said: The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices.

Touching a dead body will make a person unclean. So a priest must not go near a dead body, unless it is one of his parents or children, or his brother or unmarried sister.

I myself will provide for my priests, and so they won't receive any land of their own.

The Lord said: The regions west and east of my sacred land and the city of Jerusalem will belong to the ruler of Israel. He will be given the region between the western edge of my land and the Mediterranean Sea, and between the eastern edge of my land and the Jordan River. This will mean that the length of his property will be the same as the sections of land given to the tribes. This property will belong to every ruler of Israel, so they will always be fair to my people and will let them live peacefully in the land given to their tribes.

So from now on, you must use honest weights and measures.

The same ceremony must also be done on the seventh day of the month, so that anyone who sins accidentally or without knowing it will be forgiven, and so that my temple will remain holy.

But the marshes along the shore will remain salty, so that people can use the salt from them.

So the northern border will run between the Mediterranean Sea and Hazar-Enon, which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath.

And so the center of this special section of land will be for my sacred land, as well as for the city and its property. The land will be a square, eight miles on each side.

and so the total length of the wall will be six miles. The new name of the city will be "The- Lord -Is-Here!"

The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard,

The king interviewed them and discovered that none of the others were as outstanding as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were given positions in the royal court.

So he called in his counselors, advisors, magicians, and wise men,

This made the king so angry that he gave orders for every wise man in Babylonia to be put to death, including Daniel and his three friends.