and gave them the following orders: "When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace;

another third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate, and the other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards.

and the LORD said to me, "This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I, the LORD God of Israel, have entered through it. It is to remain closed.

The ruling prince, however, may go there to eat a holy meal in my presence. He is to enter and leave the gateway through the entrance room at the inner end."

The ruling prince will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of the gateway and stand beside the posts of the gate while the priests burn his sacrifices whole and offer his fellowship offerings. There at the gate he must worship and then go back out. The gate must not be shut until evening.

Each Sabbath and each New Moon Festival all the people are also to bow down and worship the LORD in front of the gate.

There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple.