Ezekiel 44
1 And he took me back to the outer doorway of the holy place, looking to 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 the Lord said to me, This doorway is to be shut, it is not to be open, and no man is to go in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has gone in by it; and it is to 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 But the ruler will be seated there to take his food before the Lord; he will go in by the covered way to the door, and will come out by the same way.
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 And he took me to the north doorway in front of the house; and, looking, I saw that the house of the Lord was full of the glory of the Lord; and I went down on 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 the Lord said to me, Son of man, take to heart, and let your eyes see and your ears be open to everything I say to you about all the rules of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and take note of the ways into the house and all the ways out of the holy place.
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 say to the uncontrolled children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: O you children of Israel, let it be enough for you, among the disgusting things which you have done,
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 To have let men from strange lands, without circumcision of heart or flesh, come into my holy place, making my house unclean; and to have made the offering of my food, even the fat and the blood; and in addition to all your disgusting ways, you have let my agreement be broken.
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 you have not taken care of my holy things; but you have put them as keepers to take care of my work in my holy place.
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 For this cause the Lord has said, No man from a strange land, without circumcision of heart and flesh, of all those who are living among the children of Israel, is to come into my holy place.
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 as for the Levites, who went far from me, when Israel went out of the right way, turning away from me to go after their images; their punishment will come on them.
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 But they may be caretakers in my holy place, and overseers at the doors of the house, doing the work of the house: they will put to death the burned offering and the beasts offered for the people, and they will take their place before them as their servants.
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 did this work for them before their images, and became a cause of sin to the children of Israel; for this cause my hand has been lifted up against them, says the Lord, and their punishment will be on them.
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 will not come near me to do the work of priests to me, or come near any of my holy things, or the things which are most holy: but their shame will be on them, and the punishment for the disgusting things which they have done.
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 But I will make them responsible for the care of the house and all its work and everything which is done in it.
However, I will put them in charge of all Temple work and everything that needs to be done there.
15 But as for the priests, the sons of Zadok, who took care of my holy place when the children of Israel were turned away from me, they are to come near me to do my work, they will take their places before me, offering to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord;
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 are to come into my holy place and they are to come near to my table, to do my work and have the care of my house.
Only they are allowed to enter my sanctuary and approach my table to minister before me. They will do what I say.
17 And when they come in by the doorways of the inner square, they are to be clothed in linen robes; there is to be no wool on them while they are doing my work in the doorway of the inner square and inside the house.
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 are to have linen head-dresses on their heads and linen trousers on their legs, and they are to have nothing round them to make their skin wet with heat.
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 out into the outer square to the people, they are to take off the robes in which they do the work of priests, and put them away in the holy rooms, and put on other clothing, so that the people may not be made holy by their robes.
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 They are not to have all the hair cut off their heads, and they are not to let their hair get long, but they are to have the ends of their hair cut.
They are not permitted to shave their heads or let their hair grow long; they must have a proper haircut.
21 The priests are not to take wine when they go into the inner square.
No priest shall drink wine before he enters the inner courtyard.
22 And they are not to take as wives any widow or woman whose husband has put her away: but they may take virgins of the seed 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 are to make clear to my people the division between what is holy and what is common, and to give them the knowledge of what is clean and what is unclean.
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 In any cause, they are to be in the position of judges, judging in harmony with my decisions: they are to keep my laws and my rules in all my fixed feasts; and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.
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 They are not to come near any dead person so as to become unclean: but for a father or mother or son or daughter or brother or for a sister who has no husband, they may make themselves unclean.
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 has been made clean, seven days are to be numbered for him.
Afterwards, once he is purified, he must wait for seven days.
27 And on the day when he goes into the inner square, to do the work of the holy place, he is to make his sin-offering, says the Lord.
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 are to have no heritage; I am their heritage: you are to give them no property in Israel; I am their property.
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 Their food is to be the meal offering and the sin-offering and the offering for error; and everything given specially to the Lord in Israel will 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 best of all the first-fruits of everything, and every offering which is lifted up of all your offerings, will be for the priests: and you are to give the priest the first of your bread-making, so causing a blessing to come on your 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 may not take for food any bird or beast which has come to a natural death or whose death has been caused by another animal.
The priests are not permitted to eat any bird or animal found dead or killed by wild beasts.”
