And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a woman from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).

that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  has a message for him. ²  Tell him, ³  ‘On your own initiative ⁴  you sent a letter ⁵  to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah ⁶  and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. ⁷  In your letter you said to Zephaniah, ⁸ 

But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ²  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant

“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. ¹  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles.

Now one ¹  day, as Jesus ²  was teaching the people in the temple courts ³  and proclaiming ⁴  the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law ⁵  with the elders came up ⁶ 

Blessed and holy is the one who takes part ¹  in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, ²  but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised ¹  the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. ² 

Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet ¹  on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. ² 

This is the allotment of Aaron and the allotment of his sons from the Lord’s gifts on the day Moses ¹  presented them to serve as priests ²  to the Lord.

This shall be the priests’ fair allotment ¹  from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep – they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.

Furthermore, be aware of the fact ¹  that you have no authority to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or the attendants at the temple of this God.

If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, ¹  she may not eat the holy contribution offerings, ² 

The first of all the first fruits and all contributions of any kind ¹  will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the first portion of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house.

The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord’s priests.

Some of the family leaders ¹  contributed to the work. The governor contributed to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, ²  50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments.

The more the priests increased in numbers, the more they rebelled against me. They have turned ¹  their glorious calling into a shameful disgrace!

Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal ¹  all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, ²  the silver received from those who have made vows, ³  and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple. ⁴ 

The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign. ¹  The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah ²  in the Lord’s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people. ³ 

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

Priests ¹  must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. ²