Also tell the priests who will come near me that they must prepare themselves for this special meeting. If they don’t do this, then I will punish them.”
Then they killed the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and the Levites felt ashamed. They made themselves ready for holy service. The priests and the Levites brought burnt offerings {\cf2\super [367]} into the Lord’s temple. {\cf2\super [368]}
They could not celebrate the Passover Festival at the regular time. Why? Because not enough priests had made themselves ready for holy service. And another reason is the people had not gathered in Jerusalem.
The Lord said to him, “Go down to the people. Get Aaron and bring him back with you. But don’t let the priests or the people come near me. I will punish them if they come too close.”
So now I tell you to obey my commands. Keep my Agreement. If you do this, then you will be my own special people. The whole world belongs to me. But I am choosing you to be my own special people.
You people should leave Babylon!\par Leave that place!\par \{Priests,\} you carry the things\par that are used in worship.\par So make yourselves pure.\par Don’t touch anything that is not pure.\par
Priests must be holy for their God. They must show respect for God’s name. Why? Because they carry the bread and the offerings by fire to the Lord. So they must be holy. [374]
“Tell these things to the people: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried. The Lord heard your words when you said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ So now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it.
At that moment Sapphira fell down by his feet and died. The young men came in and saw that she was dead. The men carried her out and buried her beside her husband.