'Priests' in the Bible

After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said: “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our fathers until the present. Because of our iniquities we have been handed over, along with our kings and priests, to the surrounding kings, and to the sword, captivity, plundering, and open shame, as it is today.

Then Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said; so they took the oath.

The following were found to have married foreign women from the descendants of the priests:from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.

Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated it.

And next to him the priests from the surrounding area made repairs.

Each of the priests made repairs above the Horse Gate, each opposite his own house.

They responded: “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”So I summoned the priests and made everyone take an oath to do this.

The priests included: Jedaiah’s descendants of the house of Jeshua 973

and from the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai—who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name.

So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, temple singers, some of the people, temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns.When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, >

On the second day, the family leaders of all the people, along with the priests and Levites, assembled before Ezra the scribe to study the words of the law.

So now, our God—the great, mighty,and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant—do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,our kings and leaders,our priests and prophets,our ancestors and all Your people,from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.

Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestorsdid not obey Your lawor listen to Your commandsand warnings You gave them.

In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.

Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.These were the priests.

The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God—

We have cast lots among the priests, Levites, and people for the donation of wood by our ancestral houses at the appointed times each year. They are to bring the wood to our God’s house to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law.

We will also bring the firstborn of our sons and our livestock, as prescribed by the law, and will bring the firstborn of our herds and flocks to the house of our God, to the priests who serve in our God’s house.

We will bring a loaf from our first batch of dough to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God. We will also bring the firstfruits of our grain offerings, of every fruit tree, and of the new wine and oil. A tenth of our land’s produce belongs to the Levites, for the Levites are to collect the one-tenth offering in all our agricultural towns.

For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the priests who minister are, along with the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.

These are the heads of the province who stayed in Jerusalem (but in the villages of Judah each lived on his own property in their towns—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon’s servants—

The priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib, Jachin, and

The rest of Israel, the priests, and the Levites were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inherited property.

These are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah.These were the leaders of the priests and their relatives in the days of Jeshua.

In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the leaders of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded while Darius the Persian ruled.

After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

and some of the priests’ sons with trumpets, and Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph followed

as well as the priests:Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin,Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah,and Hananiah, with trumpets;

On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving.

and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.

So I purified them from everything foreign and assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.

He leads priests away barefootand overthrows established leaders.

His priests fell by the sword,but the widows could not lament.

Moses and Aaron were among His priests;Samuel also was among those calling on His name.They called to Yahweh and He answered them.

May Your priests be clothed with righteousness,and may Your godly people shout for joy.

I will clothe its priests with salvation,and its godly people will shout for joy.

Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

But you will be called the Lord’s priests;they will speak of you as ministers of our God;you will eat the wealth of the nations,and you will boast in their riches.

I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.

The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

Today, I am the One who has made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the population.

The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?”The experts in the law no longer knew Me,and the rulers rebelled against Me.The prophets prophesied by Baaland followed useless idols.

Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,so the house of Israel has been put to shame.They, their kings, their officials,their priests, and their prophets

“On that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”

The prophets prophesy falsely,and the priests rule by their own authority.My people love it like this.But what will you do at the end of it?

“At that time”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.

And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land—the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.

This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests

The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of the Lord.

He finished the address the Lord had commanded him to deliver to all the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, “You must surely die!

Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man doesn’t deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God!”

Then I spoke to the priests and all these people, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets. They are prophesying to you, claiming, “Look, very soon now the articles of the Lord’s temple will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying a lie to you.

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people,

The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the Lord.

This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exiles, the priests, the prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You in your own name have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying:

I will refresh the priests with an abundance,and My people will be satisfied with My goodness.This is the Lord’s declaration.

because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.

The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices.”

then also My covenant with My servant David may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers.

The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf

Because you trust in your works and treasures,you will be captured also.Chemosh will go into exilewith his priests and officials.

Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated;cry out, daughters of Rabbah!Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament;run back and forth within your walls,because Milcom will go into exiletogether with his priests and officials.

ד DaletThe roads to Zion mourn,for no one comes to the appointed festivals.All her gates are deserted;her priests groan,her young women grieve,and she herself is bitter.

ק QofI called to my lovers,but they betrayed me.My priests and eldersperished in the citywhile searching for foodto keep themselves alive.

ר ReshLord, look and considerwho You have done this to.Should women eat their own children,the infants they have nurtured?Should priests and prophetsbe killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?

מ MemYet it happened because of the sins of her prophetsand the guilt of her priests,who shed the blood of the righteouswithin her.

פ PeThe Lord Himself has scattered them;He regards them no more.The priests are not respected;the elders find no favor.

Disaster after disaster will come,and there will be rumor after rumor.Then they will seek a vision from a prophet,but instruction will perish from the priestsand counsel from the elders.

Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Then the man said to me: “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple.

The chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the ones from the sons of Levi who may approach the Lord to serve Him.”

Then the man said to me, “The northern and southern chambers that face the temple yard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and restitution offerings—for the place is holy.

Once the priests have entered, they must not go out from the holy area to the outer court until they have removed the clothes they minister in, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the public area.”

You are to give a bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who approach Me in order to serve Me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

You must present them before the Lord; the priests will throw salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it. In this way they will consecrate it

and complete the days of purification. Then on the eighth day and afterward, the priests will offer your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar, and I will accept you.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear their disgrace and the consequences of the detestable acts they committed.

“But the Levitical priests descended from Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, will approach Me to serve Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

The best of all the firstfruits of every kind and contribution of every kind from all your gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest so that a blessing may rest on your homes.

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

It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

The prince should enter from the outside by way of the gate’s portico and stand at the doorpost of the gate while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He will bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be closed until evening.

Then he brought me through the entrance that was at the side of the gate, into the priests’ holy chambers, which faced north. I saw a place there at the far western end.

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the restitution offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people.”

This holy donation will be set apart for the priests alone. It will be 8⅓ miles long on the northern side, 3⅓ miles wide on the western side, 3⅓ miles wide on the eastern side, and 8⅓ miles long on the southern side. The Lord’s sanctuary will be in the middle of it.

It is for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray.

“Next to the territory of the priests, the Levites will have an area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide. The total length will be 8⅓ miles and the width 3⅓ miles.

In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them 10 times better than all the diviner-priests and mediums in his entire kingdom.

So the king gave orders to summon the diviner-priests, mediums, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,

When the diviner-priests, mediums, Chaldeans, and astrologers came in, I told them the dream, but they could not make its interpretation known to me.

But let no one dispute; let no one argue,for My case is against you priests.

The same judgment will happento both people and priests.I will punish them for their waysand repay them for their deeds.

Hear this, priests!Pay attention, house of Israel!Listen, royal house!For the judgment applies to youbecause you have been a snare at Mizpahand a net spread out on Tabor.

Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.They commit atrocities.