Jezekiel 44

1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that looks eastward; and it was shut.

And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut.

2 And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it, and it shall be shut.

And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut

3 For the prince, he shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go forth by the way of the same.

For the prince. The prince himself shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord: he shall enter in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.

4 And he brought me in by the way of the gate that looks northward, in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold, the house was full of the glory of the Lord: and I fell upon my face.

And he brought me by the way of the north gate, in the sight of the house: and I saw, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell on my face.

5 And the Lord said to me, Son of man, attend with thine heart, and see with [thine] eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say to thee, according to all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the regulations thereof; and thou shalt attend well to the entrance of the house, according to all its outlets, in all the holy things.

And the Lord said to me: Son of man, attend with thy heart, and behold with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears, all that I say to thee concerning all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and concerning all the laws thereof: and mark well the ways of the temple, with all the goings out of the sanctuary.

6 And thou shalt say to the provoking house, [even] to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you [to have committed] all your iniquities, O house of Israel!

And thou shalt say to the house of Israel that provoketh me: Thus saith the Lord God: Let all your wicked doings suffice you, O house of Israel:

7 that ye have brought in aliens, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to profane it, when ye offered bread, flesh, and blood; and ye transgressed my covenant by all your iniquities;

In that you have brought in strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to defile my house: and you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood: and you have broken my covenant by all your wicked doings.

8 and ye appointed [others] to keep the charges in my sanctuary.

And you have not kept the ordinances of my sanctuary: but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; No alien, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the children of strangers that are in the midst of the house of Israel.

Thus saith the Lord God: No stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, no stranger that is in the midst of the children of Israel.

10 But as for the Levites who departed far from me when Israel went astray from me after their imaginations, they shall even bear their iniquity.

Moreover the Levites that went away far from me, when the children of Israel went astray, and have wandered from me after their idols, and have borne their iniquity:

11 yet they shall minister in my sanctuary, [being] porters at the gates of the house, and serving the house: they shall slay the victims and the whole-burnt-offerings for the people, and they shall stand before the people to minister to them.

They shall be officers in my sanctuary, and doorkeepers of the gates of the house, and ministers to the house: they shall slay the holocausts, and the victims of the people: and they shall stand in their sight, to minister to them.

12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and it became to the house of Israel a punishment of iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God.

Because they ministered to them before their idols, and were a stumblingblock of iniquity to the house of Israel: therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity:

13 And they shall not draw nigh to me to minister to me in the priests' office, nor to approach the holy things of the children of Israel, nor [to approach] my holy of holies: but they shall bear their reproach for the error wherein they erred.

And they shall not come near to me to do the office of priest to me, neither shall they come near to any of my holy things that are by the holy of holies: but they shall bear their shame, and their wickednesses which they have committed.

14 They shall bring them to keep the charges of the house, for all the service of it, and for all that they shall do.

And I will make them doorkeepers of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

15 The priests the Levites, the sons of Sadduc, who kept the charges of my sanctuary when the house of Israel went astray from me, these shall draw night to me to minister to me, and shall stand before my face, to offer sacrifice to me, the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God.

But the priests, and Levites, the sons of Sadoc, who kept the ceremonies or my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me, to minister to me: and they shall stand before me, to offer me the fat, and the blood, saith the Lord God.

16 These shall enter into my sanctuary, and these shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charges.

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and to keep my ceremonies.

17 And it shall come to pass when they enter the gates of the inner court, [that] they shall put on linen robes; and they shall not put on woollen garments when they minister at the gate of the inner court.

And when they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments: neither shall any woollen come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.

18 And they shall have linen mitres upon their heads, and shall have linen drawers upon their loins; and they shall not tightly gird themselves.

They shall have linen mitres on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins, and they shall not be girded with any thing that causeth sweat.

19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their robes, in which they minister; and they shall lay them up in the chambers of the sanctuary, and shall put on other robes, and they shall not sanctify the people with their robes.

And when they shall go forth to the outward court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them up in the store chamber of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves with other garments: and they shall not sanctify the people with their vestments.

20 And they shall not shave their heads, nor shall they pluck off their hair; they shall carefully cover their heads.

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long heir: but they shall only poll their heads.

21 And no priest shall drink any wine, when they go into the inner court.

And no priest shall drink wine when he is to go into the inner court.

22 Neither shall they take to themselves to wife a widow, or one that is put away, but a virgin of the seed of Israel: but if there should happen to be a priest's widow, they shall take [her].

Neither shall they take to wife a widow, nor one that is divorced, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel: but they may take a widow also, that is, the widow of a priest.

23 And they shall teach my people [to distinguish] between holy and profane, and they shall make known to them [the difference] between unclean and clean.

And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane, and shew them how to discern between clean and unclean.

24 And these shall attend at a judgment of blood to decide it: they shall rightly observe my ordinances, and judge my judgments, and keep my statutes and my commandments in all my feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

And when there shall be a controversy, they shall stand in my judgments, and shall judge: they shall keep my laws, and my ordinances in all my solemnities, and sanctify my sabbaths.

25 And they shall not go in to the dead body of a man to defile themselves: only [a priest] may defile himself for a father, or for a mother, or for a son, or for a daughter, or for a brother, or for his sister, who has not been married.

And they shall come near no dead person, lest they be defiled, only their father and mother, and son and daughter, and brother and sister, that hath not had another husband: for whom they may become unclean.

26 And after he has been cleansed, let him number to himself seven days.

And after one is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

27 And on whatsoever day they shall enter into the inner court to minister in the holy place, they shall bring a propitiation, saith the Lord God.

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister unto me in the sanctuary, he shall offer for his sin, saith the Lord God.

28 And it shall be to them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and no possession shall be given them among the children of Israel; for I am their possession.

And they shall have no inheritance, I am their inheritance: neither shall you give them any possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

29 And these shall eat the meat-offerings, and the sin-offerings, and the trespass-offerings; and every special offering in Israel shall be theirs.

They shall eat the victim both for sin and for trespass: and every vowed thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 [And] the first-fruits of all things, and the first-born of all [animals] and all offerings, of all your first-fruits there shall be [a share] for the priests; and ye shall give your earliest produce to the priest, to bring your blessings upon your houses.

And the firstfruits of all the firstborn, and all the libations of all things that are offered, shall be the priest’s: and you shall give the firstfruits of your meats to the priest, that he may return a blessing upon thy house.

31 And the priests shall eat no bird or beast that dies of itself, or is taken of wild beasts.

The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself or caught by a beast, whether it be fowl or cattle.