'Priests' in the Bible

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.

Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel.

After him the priests, the men of the valley, carried out repairs.

Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.

Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.

The priests: the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, 973;

Of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and was named after them.

Some from among the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, 50 basins, 530 priests’ garments.

That which the rest of the people gave was 20,000 gold drachmas and 2,000 silver minas and 67 priests’ garments.

Now the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants and all Israel, lived in their cities.And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.

Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law.

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.

“For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your lawOr paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them.

“Now because of all thisWe are making an agreement in writing;And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.”

Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests.

Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding,

Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law;

and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God.

We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns.

For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; there are the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.

Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each lived on his own property in their cities—the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants.

From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,

The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each on his own inheritance.

Now these are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

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

Now in the days of Joiakim, the priests, the heads of fathers’ households were: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

As for the Levites, the heads of fathers’ households were registered in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan and Jaddua; so were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian.

The priests and the Levites purified themselves; they also purified the people, the gates and the wall.

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

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

On that day men were also appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the law for the priests and Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served.

had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.

Thus I purified them from everything foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, each in his task,

“He makes priests walk barefootAnd overthrows the secure ones.

His priests fell by the sword,And His widows could not weep.

Moses and Aaron were among His priests,And Samuel was among those who called on His name;They called upon the Lord and He answered them.

Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,And let Your godly ones sing for joy.

“Her priests also I will clothe with salvation,And her godly ones will sing aloud for joy.

Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

But you will be called the priests of the Lord;You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.You will eat the wealth of nations,And in their riches you will boast.

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

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land.

“The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’And those who handle the law did not know Me;The rulers also transgressed against Me,And the prophets prophesied by BaalAnd walked after things that did not profit.

“As the thief is shamed when he is discovered,So the house of Israel is shamed;They, their kings, their princesAnd their priests and their prophets,

“It shall come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded.”

The prophets prophesy falsely,And the priests rule on their own authority;And My people love it so!But what will you do at the end of it?

“At that time,” declares the Lord, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.

then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness!

Thus says the Lord, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests.

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

When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die!

Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you.

Now in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying,

Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord,

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

“I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance,And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.’”

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

the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

“For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures,Even you yourself will be captured;And Chemosh will go off into exileTogether with his priests and his princes.

“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed!Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,And rush back and forth inside the walls;For Malcam will go into exileTogether with his priests and his princes.

“A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools!A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

The roads of Zion are in mourningBecause no one comes to the appointed feasts.All her gates are desolate;Her priests are groaning,Her virgins are afflicted,And she herself is bitter.

“I called to my lovers, but they deceived me;My priests and my elders perished in the cityWhile they sought food to restore their strength themselves.

Because of the sins of her prophetsAnd the iniquities of her priests,Who have shed in her midstThe blood of the righteous;

The presence of the Lord has scattered them,He will not continue to regard them;They did not honor the priests,They did not favor the elders.

Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

He said to me, “This is the chamber which faces toward the south, intended for the priests who keep charge of the temple;

but the chamber which faces toward the north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who from the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to Him.”

Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, they are the holy chambers where the priests who are near to the Lord shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy.

When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”

You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me,’ declares the Lord God, ‘a young bull for a sin offering.

You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ declares the Lord God.”

“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God.

Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court.

The first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house.

The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.

It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, there was a place at the extreme rear toward the west.

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order that they may not bring them out into the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”

The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the priests, toward the north 25,000 cubits in length, toward the west 10,000 in width, toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in its midst.

It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray as the Levites went astray.

Alongside the border of the priests the Levites shall have 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the width 10,000.

Hear this, O priests!Give heed, O house of Israel!Listen, O house of the king!For the judgment applies to you,For you have been a snare at MizpahAnd a net spread out on Tabor.

And as raiders wait for a man,So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem;Surely they have committed crime.

The inhabitants of Samaria will fearFor the calf of Beth-aven.Indeed, its people will mourn for it,And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it,Over its glory, since it has departed from it.

The grain offering and the drink offering are cut offFrom the house of the Lord.The priests mourn,The ministers of the Lord.

Gird yourselves with sackclothAnd lament, O priests;Wail, O ministers of the altar!Come, spend the night in sackclothO ministers of my God,For the grain offering and the drink offeringAre withheld from the house of your God.

Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,Weep between the porch and the altar,And let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord,And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,A byword among the nations.Why should they among the peoples say,‘Where is their God?’”

Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe,Her priests instruct for a priceAnd her prophets divine for money.Yet they lean on the Lord saying,“Is not the Lord in our midst?Calamity will not come upon us.”

“So I will stretch out My hand against JudahAnd against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests.

Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.They have done violence to the law.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Ask now the priests for a ruling: