Ezekiel 44

1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east. And it was shut.

The man took me back to the outside gate of the sanctuary that faced to the east, but it was shut.

2 And Jehovah said to me, This gate shall be shut. It shall not be opened, nor shall any man enter in by it, for Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered in by it. Therefore it shall be shut.

The Lord told me, “This gate will stay shut. It is not be opened. No one is allowed to come in through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has passed through it. So it will stay shut.

3 As for the ruler, he shall sit in it as ruler to eat bread before Jehovah. He shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

The prince himself is permitted to come and sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to come in through the gateway's porch and leave the same way.”

4 Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house. And I looked, and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah. And I fell upon my face.

The man took me to the front of the Temple through the north gate. As I looked, I saw the glory of the Lord filling his Temple, and I fell with my face to the ground.

5 And Jehovah said to me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say to thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah, and all the laws of it. And mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary.

The Lord told me, “Son of man, concentrate! Keep your eyes open! Listen carefully to everything I tell you about all the regulations and laws of the Lord's Temple. Pay close attention to the Temple entrance and all the exits of the sanctuary.

6 And thou shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the lord Jehovah: O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,

Tell those rebels, the people of Israel, that this is what the Lord God says: I've had more than enough of all your disgusting sins, people of Israel!

7 in that ye have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood. And they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations.

As well as all your other offensive practices, you invited unconverted, pagan foreigners to come into my sanctuary. You made my Temple unclean even while you offered food to me, the fat and the blood. You broke my agreement.

8 And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things, but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

In addition you have not taken care of my sanctuary as you were required to, but instead you employed others to look after my sanctuary for you.

9 Thus says the lord Jehovah: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the sons of Israel.

This is what the Lord God says: No unconverted, pagan foreigners are allowed to enter my sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives with the Israelites.

10 But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.

The Levites who abandoned me when Israel turned from worshiping me and went off to follow their idols will experience the consequences of their sins.

11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house. They shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

However, they will serve in my sanctuary, supervising the Temple gates and working in the Temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices brought by the people and be there to serve them.

12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up my hand against them, says the lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.

But because they served the people in front of their idols and encouraged the people of Israel to sin, I held up my hand to promise on oath that they would experience the consequences of their sin, declares the Lord God.

13 And they shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

They are not allowed to come near me to serve me as priests, and they are not to touch anything I regard as holy or most holy. They will have to experience the shame of the disgusting sins they committed.

14 Yet I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service of it, and for all that shall be done in it.

However, I will put them in charge of all Temple work and everything that needs to be done there.

15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the lord Jehovah:

It is the Levitical priests, descended from Zadok and who took care of my sanctuary when the Israelites abandoned me, are the ones to come near to me and minister before me. They will stand in my presence to offer me fat and blood, declares the Lord God.

16 they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

Only they are allowed to enter my sanctuary and approach my table to minister before me. They will do what I say.

17 And it shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

When they come in through the entrances of the inner courtyard, they shall wear linen garments. They must not wear any woolen clothes when they serve at the entrances of the inner courtyard or inside the Temple.

18 They shall have linen headdresses upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins. They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.

They shall wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underwear. They are not to wear anything that makes them sweat.

19 And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments.

When they go to the outer court where the people are, they must take off their priestly clothes they wore when they were serving, and leave them in the holy rooms. They are to put on other clothes so that they don't carry holiness to the people with their clothing.

20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long. They shall only cut off the hair of their heads.

They are not permitted to shave their heads or let their hair grow long; they must have a proper haircut.

21 Neither shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter into the inner court.

No priest shall drink wine before he enters the inner courtyard.

22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

They are not to marry a woman who is a widow or divorced; they can only marry a virgin of Israelite descent, or a widow of a priest.

23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

They are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is common, and explain to them how to distinguish between what is clean and what is unclean.

24 And in a controversy they shall stand to judge. They shall judge it according to my ordinances. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

They are to serve as judges in legal cases, and base their decisions on my laws. They are to follow my instructions and regulations regarding all my regular religious festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

25 And they shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves. But for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.

A priest must not make himself unclean by going near a dead body. However, if it's his father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a sister that's not married, then he may do so.

26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days.

Afterwards, once he is purified, he must wait for seven days.

27 And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the lord Jehovah.

Then when he enters the sanctuary, going into the inner courtyard and ministering there in the sanctuary, he has to present his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

28 And they shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance. And ye shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession.

Regarding their share of the land, I will take care of them. You are not to give them any property in Israel, because I will provide for them.

29 They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering. And every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

They are to eat the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Everything brought by the people of Israel and dedicated to the Lord will be theirs.

30 And the first of all the first-fruits of every thing, and every oblation of everything, of all your oblations, shall be for the priest. Ye shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on thy house.

The best of all the firstfruits and all your offerings are for the priests. You shall give the first loaf you bake to the priest, so that your home may be blessed.

31 The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or beast.

The priests are not permitted to eat any bird or animal found dead or killed by wild beasts.”