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.

The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but 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 is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain 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.

Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out 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.

Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

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

The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

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

Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel.

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

In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.

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

And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’

9 Therefore thus says 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.

This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

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.

Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.

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

Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them 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, says the Lord God.

Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD.

13 And they shall not draw near 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.

They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations 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.

Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.

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, says the Lord God.

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares 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 alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

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.

When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

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 are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

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.

When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

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

They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.

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

No priest may drink wine before he enters 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].

And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a 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.

They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

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

In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

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.

A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,

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

and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself.

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

And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

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

In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no 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 grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.

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

The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.

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

The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.