Daily Text and Bible Reading: Thursday, September 25 [Press play below]

44.1 He brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary facing east, and it was shut.
44.2 Then Jehovah said to me: “This gate will remain shut. It is not to be opened, and no human will enter by it; for Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered through it, so it must remain shut.
44.3 However, the chieftain will sit in it to eat bread before Jehovah, for he is a chieftain. He will come in through the porch of the gate, and he will go out through it.”
44.4 Then he brought me through the north gate to the front of the temple. When I looked, I saw that the glory of Jehovah had filled the temple of Jehovah. So I fell with my face to the ground.
44.5 Then Jehovah said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, watch, and listen carefully to everything I tell you about the statutes and the laws of the temple of Jehovah. Pay close attention to the entryway of the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.
44.6 You must say to the rebellious house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “That is enough of your detestable practices, O house of Israel.
44.7 When you bring foreigners who are uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, they profane my temple. You present my bread, fat and blood, while my covenant is being broken because of all your detestable practices.
44.8 You have not taken care of my holy things. Instead, you assign others to take care of the duties in my sanctuary.”’
44.9 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “No foreigner living in Israel who is uncircumcised in heart and in flesh may enter my sanctuary.”’
44.10 “‘But the Levites who strayed far from me when Israel strayed from me to follow their disgusting idols will bear the consequences of their error.
44.11 And they will become ministers in my sanctuary to oversee the gates of the temple and to minister at the temple. They will slaughter the whole burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they will stand before the people to minister to them.
44.12 Because they ministered to them before their disgusting idols and became a stumbling block causing the house of Israel to sin, that is why I have raised my hand against them in an oath,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘and they will bear the consequences of their error.
44.13 They will not approach me to serve as my priests or approach any of my holy or most holy things, and they will bear their shame because of the detestable things that they did.
44.14 But I will make them caretakers of the responsibilities of the temple, to take care of its service and all the things that should be done in it.’
44.15 “‘As for the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who took care of the responsibilities of my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed from me, they will approach me to minister to me, and they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
44.16 ‘They are the ones who will enter my sanctuary, and they will approach my table to minister to me, and they will take care of their responsibilities to me.
44.17 “‘When they come into the gates of the inner courtyard, they should wear linen garments. They should not wear any wool when they minister in the gates of the inner courtyard or inside it.
44.18 They should wear linen turbans on their head, and linen shorts should cover their hips. They should not wear anything that makes them perspire.
44.19 Before they go out to the outer courtyard—the outer courtyard where the people are—they should remove the garments they were ministering in and place them in the holy dining rooms. Then they will put on other garments, so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
44.20 They should not shave their head or let the hair of their head grow long. They should trim the hair of their heads.
44.21 The priests should not drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard.
44.22 They should not take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife; but they may marry either a virgin of the offspring of Israel or the widow of a priest.’
44.23 “‘They should instruct my people about the difference between what is holy and what is common; and they will teach them the difference between what is unclean and what is clean.
44.24 They should preside as judges in a legal case; they must judge it in harmony with my judicial decisions. They should keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my festivals and sanctify my sabbaths.
44.25 They should not approach any dead human, or they will become unclean. However, they may make themselves unclean for their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or an unmarried sister.
44.26 And after the purification of a priest, they should count off seven days for him.
44.27 On the day he enters into the holy place, into the inner courtyard, to minister in the holy place, he should present his sin offering,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
44.28 “‘And this will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You should not give them any possession in Israel, for I am their possession.
44.29 They will be the ones to eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel will become theirs.
44.30 The choicest of all the first ripe fruits and every sort of contribution from you will belong to the priests. And you should give the firstfruits of your coarse meal to the priest. This will cause a blessing to rest on your households.
44.31 The priests should not eat any bird or animal that was found dead or torn to pieces.’
Chapter 45

45.1 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you should offer as a contribution to Jehovah a holy portion out of the land. Its length should be 25,000 cubits, and its width, 10,000 cubits. Its entire area will be a holy portion.
45.2 Within this will be a square lot for the holy place measuring 500 cubits by 500 cubits, and it will have 50 cubits as pastures on each side.
45.3 Out of this measurement you should measure the length of 25,000 and the width of 10,000, and within it will be the sanctuary, something most holy.
45.4 It will be a holy portion of the land for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who approach to minister to Jehovah. It will be a place for their houses and a sacred place for the sanctuary.
45.5 “‘For the Levites, the ministers of the temple, there will be a portion 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, and they will have 20 dining rooms as a possession.
45.6 “‘You should give as the possession of the city an area that is 25,000 cubits long (corresponding to the holy contribution) and 5,000 cubits wide. It will belong to all the house of Israel.
45.7 “‘And for the chieftain there will be land on both sides of the holy contribution and of the area allotted to the city. It will be next to the holy contribution and the possession of the city. It will be on the west side and on the east side. Its length from the western boundary to the eastern boundary will correspond to one of the tribal portions.
45.8 This land will become his possession in Israel. My chieftains will no longer mistreat my people, and they will give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.’
45.9 “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘You have gone far enough, chieftains of Israel!’ “‘Put an end to your violence and oppression, and do what is just and righteous. Stop seizing the property of my people,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
45.10 ‘You should use accurate scales, an accurate ephah measure and an accurate bath measure.
45.11 There should be a fixed measurement for the ephah measure and the bath measure. The bath measure should hold a tenth of a homer, and the ephah measure should hold a tenth of a homer. The homer will be the standard for measuring.
45.12 The shekel is to be 20 gerahs. And 20 shekels plus 25 shekels plus 15 shekels will make up one maneh for you.’
45.13 “‘This is the contribution that you should offer: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley.
45.14 The allowance of the oil is to be based on the bath measure. The bath is a tenth of a cor, and ten baths are a homer, for ten baths equal a homer.
45.15 And from the flock of the livestock of Israel, one sheep out of every 200 should be given. These will be for the grain offering, the whole burnt offering, and the communion sacrifices, in order to make atonement for the people,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
45.16 “‘All the people of the land will make this contribution to the chieftain in Israel.
45.17 But the chieftain will be responsible for the whole burnt offerings, the grain offering, and the drink offering during the festivals, the new moons, the Sabbaths, and all the designated festivals of the house of Israel. He will be the one to provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the whole burnt offering, and the communion sacrifices, in order to make atonement in behalf of the house of Israel.’
45.18 “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘In the first month, on the first day of the month, you should take a sound young bull of the herd, and you are to purify the sanctuary from sin.
45.19 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorpost of the temple, on the four corners of the surrounding ledge of the altar, and on the doorpost of the gate of the inner courtyard.
45.20 That is what you will do on the seventh day of the month because of anyone who sins by mistake or through ignorance; and you are to make atonement for the temple.
45.21 “‘In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, you will observe the festival of the Passover. For seven days unleavened bread should be eaten.
45.22 On that day the chieftain will provide a young bull as a sin offering in his own behalf and in behalf of all the people of the land.
45.23 For the seven days of the festival he will provide as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah seven sound young bulls and seven sound rams each of the seven days, as well as a male goat each day as a sin offering.
45.24 He should also provide as a grain offering an ephah for each young bull and an ephah for each ram, as well as a hin of oil for each ephah.
45.25 “‘In the seventh month, on the 15th day of the month, for seven days during the festival, he should provide the same sin offering, whole burnt offering, grain offering, and oil.’”