And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.

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 unto them.

Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and became a stumblingblock of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.

And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto 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.

Nevertheless, I will appoint them to take care of my Temple, including all of its service and everything that is to be done inside of it.'"

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

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.

And when they go forth into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy cells; and they shall put on other garments, that they may not hallow the people with their garments.

“They may not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.

No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.

And a widow or divorced [woman] they shall not take for themselves as wives, {but only} a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or the widow who is a widow for a priest they may take.

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

And 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 mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.

And in the day when he entereth into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, He shall bring near his sin-bearer, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

“It [their ministry to Me] shall be as an inheritance to them, for I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property (land) in Israel, for I am their possession.

The grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, they themselves may eat them, and [also] all [the] consecrated possessions in Israel will be theirs.

And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

The priests may not eat any bird or animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts.

And from this measure, namely of twenty five thousand measuring rods long, and ten thousand broad, thou shalt measure, wherein the Sanctuary and the holiest of all may stand.

The residue of that holy ground shall be the priests, which do service in the Sanctuary of the LORD, and go in before the LORD to serve him, that they may have room to dwell in.

In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.

The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.

And one lamb out of the flock out of two hundred out of the watered pastures of Israel, for a gift and for an ascending- sacrifice and for peace-offerings, - To pat a propitiatory-covering over them, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh.

Thus saith My Lord. Yahweh, In the first month on the first day of the month, shalt thou take a young bullock without defect, - and shalt cleanse the sanctuary from sin;

Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, the gate of the inner court which looketh toward the east shall be shut, the six days of work, - but on the sabbath-day, shall it be opened, and on the day of the new moon, shall it be opened.

and an Ephah for a meat offering, with the ram. As for the lambs, he may give as many meat offerings to them, as he will, and a Hin of oil to an Ephah.

And he shall offer an oblation, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according to what his hand may attain unto; and oil, a hin for an ephah.

Now when the prince bringeth a burnt offering or a health offering with a free will unto the LORD, the East door shall be opened unto him, that he may do with his burnt and health offerings, as he doth upon the Sabbath, and when he goeth forth, the door shall be shut after him again.

Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, When the prince would bestow gift upon any one of his sons his own inheritance, shall it be, for his sons, shall it remain, - their possession, shall it be by way of inheritance.

But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his until the year of liberty [the Year of Jubilee]; after that it shall be returned to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’ [permanently]; it shall belong to them.

Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.

After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.

Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.

Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.

Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ancles.

Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.

And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.

In my turning back, then, lo, at the edge of the stream are very many trees, on this side and on that side.

Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be a very great number of fish, because these waters go there so that the waters of the sea are healed and become fresh; so everything will live wherever the river goes.

Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, This shall be the boundary whereby ye shall take your inheritances in the land, according to the twelve tribes of Israel, - Joseph shall have portions.

And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another, the land concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it unto your fathers; and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.

And it shall be that with whatsoever tribe the sojourner hath become a sojourner, there shall ye give his inheritance, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

This is the land which ye shall divide by lot for inheritance to the tribes of Israel, - and these shall be their portions, Declareth My Lord Yahweh,

And the king doth appoint for them a rate, day by day, of the king's portion of food, and of the wine of his drinking, so as to nourish them three years, that at the end thereof they may stand before the king.

And Daniel purposeth in his heart that he will not pollute himself with the king's portion of food, and with the wine of his drinking, and he seeketh of the chief of the eunuchs that he may not pollute himself.

And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

I pray thee - prove thy servants, ten days, - and let them give us vegetable food, that we may eat, and water that we may drink:

And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

The Chaldeans spoke to the king (Aramaic begins here): “May the king live forever. Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”

The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

They answered a second time, “May the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation.”

The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.

But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.

and declared:

May the name of God
be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to Him.

I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.

The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

“My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying.

{They responded and said} to Nebuchadnezzar the king, "O king, may [you] live {forever}!

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

And by me a decree is made, that any people, nation, and language, that doth speak erroneously concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, pieces he is made, and its house is made a dunghill, because that there is no other god who is able thus to deliver.'

Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound!

I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.

I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace:

I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.

Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.

Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.

But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,

O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.

I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;

and cried mightily, saying, 'Hew down the tree, break off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit abroad: that all the beasts may get them away from under him, and the fowls from his branches.

This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:

Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

Thou shalt be cast out of men's company: thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, so that thou shalt eat grass like as an ox, till seven years be come and gone over thee: even until thou knowest, that the highest hath power upon the kingdoms of men, and that he may give them, unto whom it pleaseth him.'"

And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

in comparison of whom, all they that dwell upon the earth are to be reputed as nothing. He handleth according to his will, among the powers of heaven and among the inhabiters of the earth - and there is none that may resist his hand, or say, 'What doest thou?'

At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.

Belshazzar hath said -- while tasting the wine -- to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that is in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king, and his great men, his wives, and his concubines.

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Because of the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen came to the banquet hall. “May the king live forever,” she said. “Don’t let your thoughts terrify you or your face be pale.

Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?

And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: