For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’”

And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.

Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?

who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time. Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers—though they too are descended from Abraham. . . .

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes, met together. They led Jesus into their Sanhedrin and said, “If You are the Christ, tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe. And if I ask you a question, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all asked, “Are You then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” . . .

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.” At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.” But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!” “Brothers,” Paul replied, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”

“Brothers,” Paul replied, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”

Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

And since every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer.

They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

Every morning and every evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the rows of showbread on the ceremonially clean table, and every evening they light the lamps of the gold lampstand. We are carrying out the requirements of the LORD our God, while you have forsaken Him.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

At daybreak the apostles entered the temple courts as they had been told and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they returned with the report: “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards posted at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this account, they were perplexed as to what was happening. Then someone came in and announced, “Look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people!” . . .

Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”

And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.

and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death; for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve. And Judas went to discuss with the chief priests and temple officers how he might betray Jesus to them. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. Judas consented, and began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them in the absence of a crowd.

So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.

One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.

But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Once the priests have entered the holy area, they must not go out into the outer court until they have left behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the places that are for the people.”

And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.

Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.

When everything had been prepared in this way, the priests entered regularly into the first room to perform their sacred duties.

At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests.

A priest of Aaron’s line is to accompany the Levites when they collect the tenth, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of these tithes to the storerooms of the treasury in the house of our God.

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

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.

So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.

Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.

When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

The priests: The descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973; the descendants of Immer, 1,052; the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247; and the descendants of Harim, 1,017.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.

Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

So they went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites at the doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, Judah, and Benjamin, and from the people of Jerusalem.

and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.”

When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

“When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you are to set aside a portion for the LORD, a holy portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. This entire tract of land will be holy. Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, with 50 cubits around it for open land. From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits, and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the LORD. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary. An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live. . . .

All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves.

Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— . . .

And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”

For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

But let no man contend; let no man offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with a priest.

The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Many have undertaken to compose an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron. . . .

At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973; the descendants of Immer, 1,052; the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247; and the descendants of Harim, 1,017.

Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.

The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD; that is their inheritance.

(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.

Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.

For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God! Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The remainder will belong to the priest, like the grain offering.”

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”