For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth, You who minister to my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.

Who knows [if] He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him -- A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?

[For] the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat [it,] [But] the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They shall return to Egypt.

"To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.

Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

Among the smooth [stones] of the stream [Is] your portion; They, they, [are] your lot! Even to them you have poured a drink offering, You have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

" He who kills a bull [is as if] he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, [as if] he breaks a dog's neck; He who offers a grain offering, [as if he offers] swine's blood; He who burns incense, [as if] he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations,

For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings [are] not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me."

" Come to Bethel and transgress, At Gilgal multiply transgression; Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days.

Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, Proclaim [and] announce the freewill offerings; For this you love, [You] children of Israel!" Says the Lord GOD.

Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept [them,] Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

"But now entreat God's favor, That He may be gracious to us. [While] this is being [done] by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts.

"Who [is there] even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire [on] My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you," Says the LORD of hosts, "Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

' He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.

'I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed [any] of it for an unclean [use,] nor given [any] of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.

And Nehemiah, who [was] the governor, Ezra the priest [and] scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day [is] holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep." For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.

So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day [is] holy; do not be grieved."

"Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover [your] lips, and do not eat man's bread [of sorrow."]

'And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover [your] lips nor eat man's bread [of sorrow.]

And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the LORD with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive [it] with goodwill from your hands.

and he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

'For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it [is] the blood [that] makes atonement for the soul.'

'They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, [and] the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.

'Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, [am] holy.

"Speak to Aaron, saying: 'No man of your descendants in [succeeding] generations, who has [any] defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.

'No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the LORD. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

"On the table of showbread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the pans, the bowls, and the pitchers for pouring; and the showbread shall be on it.

"Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.'

" Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.

They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find [it.]

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."