Ezekiel 44

1 And he turned me back, toward the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary, which looked toward the east. And it was closed.

Then he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looked toward the east, —but, it was shut.

2 And the Lord said to me: “This gate will be closed; it will not be opened. And man shall not cross through it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it, and it shall be closed

Then said Yahweh unto me This gate shut, shall remain It shall not be opened And no man shall enter thereby, Because Yahweh, God of Israel, doth enter thereby, - Therefore shall it remain—shut.

3 to the prince. The prince himself will sit at it, so that he may eat bread before the Lord; he will enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and he will depart by the same way.”

The prince! as prince, he, shall sit therein, To eat food before Yahweh, — By way of the porch of the gate, shall he go in, and By way thereof, shall he come out.

4 And he led me in, along 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 upon my face.

Then he brought me in by way of the north gate unto the front of the house, and I looked and lo! the glory of Yahweh, filled the house of Yahweh, — so I fell upon my face.

5 And the Lord said to me: “Son of man, set within your heart, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I am speaking to you about all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord and about all its laws. And set your heart upon the ways of the temple, along all the exits of the sanctuary.

And Yahweh said unto me, Son of man Apply thy heart And see with thine eyes And with thine ears, hear thou All that I am speaking with thee, As to all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and As to all the laws thereof, - And thou shalt apply thy heart To the entering in of the house, With all the exits of the sanctuary.

6 And you shall say to the house of Israel, which provokes me: Thus says the Lord God: Let all your wicked deeds be sufficient for you, O house of Israel.

So then thou shalt say unto the perverse [house] unto the house of Israel, Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh: Let it more than suffice you Out of all your abominations, O house of Israel:

7 For you bring in foreign sons, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, so that they may be in my sanctuary and may defile my house. And you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood, yet you have broken my covenant by all your wicked deeds.

That ye brought in the sons of the foreigner Uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, To be in my sanctuary. So that he profaned my house, - That ye brought near as my food the fat and the blood, And so they brake my covenant—Among all your abominations;

8 And you have not observed the precepts of my sanctuary, yet you have stationed observers of my vigil in my sanctuary for yourselves.

Neither kept ye the charge of my holy things, - But ye did set men to be keepers of my charge in my sanctuary, for your own pleasure,

9 Thus says the Lord God: Any foreigner, any foreign son who is in the midst of the sons of Israel, who is uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter into my sanctuary.

Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, No son of a foreigner Uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, —of any son of a foreigner, who is in the midst of the sons of Israel.

10 And as for the Levites, they have withdrawn far away from me, in the errors of the sons of Israel, and they have gone astray from me after their idols, and they have borne their iniquity.

But as for the Levites. Who went far from me, when Israel went astray. Who went astray from me, after their manufactured gods, Therefore shall they bear their iniquity,

11 They will be caretakers in my sanctuary, and doorkeepers at the gates of the house, and ministers to the house. They will slay the holocausts and the victims of the people. And they will stand before them, so that they may minister to them.

Yet shall they remain in my sanctuary As attendants in charge at the gates of the house, — And attending upon the house, — They shall slay the ascending-offering, and the sacrifice of the people, And they, shall stand before them to wait upon them.

12 But because they ministered to them in the sight their idols, and they became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, for this reason, I have lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord God, and they will bear their iniquity.

Because they used to wait upon them before their manufactured gods, and became to the house of Israel a stumbling-block of iniquity, For this cause have I lifted up my hand concerning them Declareth My Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their iniquity;

13 And they shall not draw near to me, so as to exercise the priesthood for me, and they shall not approach to any of my holy things, which are near the Holy of Holies. Instead, they will bear their shame and their wicked deeds, which they committed.

So then they shall not come near unto me To minister as priests unto me, Nor come near unto any of my holy things, As regardeth things most holy, — But they shall bear their rebuke, and their abominations which they have committed;

14 And I will make them doorkeepers of the house, for all its ministries and for all that will be done within it.

Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, — As to all the labour thereof, and As to all which shall be done therein.

15 But the priests and the Levites who are the sons of Zadok, who observed the ceremonies of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, these shall draw near to me, so that they may minister for me. And they shall stand in my sight, so that they may offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.

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 draw near unto me to wait upon me, And shall stand before me, to bring near unto me the fat and the blood Declareth My Lord, Yahweh:

16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall draw near to my table, so that they may minister for me, and so that they may observe my ceremonies.

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and They shall draw near unto my table to wait upon me, - So shall they keep my charge.

17 And when they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments. Neither shall anything woolen be placed over them, when they minister within the gates of the inner and the outer court.

And it shall be when they shall enter into the gates of the inner court, Garments of linen, shall they put on, Yea there shall come upon them no wool, when they minister in the gates of the inner court and within:

18 They shall have linen bands on their heads, and linen undergarments over their loins, and they shall not be girded so as to sweat.

Chaplets of linen, shall be upon their head, and Breeches of linen shall be upon their loins, — They shall not gird themselves, so as to perspire,

19 And when they go forth to the outer court to the people, they shall strip off their vestments, in which they ministered, and they shall place them in the storeroom of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves with other garments. And they shall not sanctify the people in their vestments.

And when they go forth into the outer court into the outer court unto the people, They shall put off their garments, wherein they do minister, and lay them in the chambers of the holy place, - And shall put on other garments, That they may not hallow the people by their garments.

20 Now they shall not shave their heads, and they shall not grow long hair. Instead, they shall trim the hair of their heads.

And their heads, shall they not shave, Nor let the hair grow long, — They shall only poll, their heads.

21 And no priest shall drink wine, when he will be entering into the inner court.

And wine, shall no priest drink, —when they enter into the inner court.

22 And they shall not take as wife a widow or one who has been divorced. Instead, they shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel. But they may also take a widow, if she is the widow of a priest.

Neither widow nor divorced woman, shall they take to them to wife, — But, virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, Or a widow who shall be the widow of a priest shall they take.

23 And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and defiled, and they shall distinguish for them between clean and unclean.

And my people, shall they instruct, between the holy and the common, — And between the unclean and the clean, shall they cause them to distinguish.

24 And when there has been a controversy, they shall stand in my judgments, and they shall judge. They shall observe my laws and my precepts, in all my solemnities, and they shall sanctify my Sabbaths.

And in a controversy, They shall stand up for justice, With my judgments, shall they judge it, And my laws and my statutes in all mine appointed assemblies, shall they observe, And my sabbaths, shall they hallow.

25 And they shall not enter to a dead person, lest they be defiled, except to father or mother, or son or daughter, or brother, or to a sister who does not have another man. By these, they may become unclean.

And unto no dead person, shall they go in. to defile themselves, - Save that for father or for mother or for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who hath belonged to no husband they may defile themselves.

26 And after he will have been cleansed, they shall number for him seven days.

Yet after he is cleansed, seven days shall they count to him.

27 And on the day when he enters into the sanctuary, to the inner court, so that he may minister to me in the sanctuary, he shall make an offering because of his offense, says the Lord God.

And in the day when he entereth into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, He shall bring near his sin-bearer, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

28 And there shall be no inheritance for them. I am their inheritance. And you shall not give them any possession in Israel. For I am their possession.

So shall it become to them an inheritance, I, am their inheritance, - And possession, shall ye not give them in Israel, I am their possession.

29 They shall eat the victim both for sin and for offenses. And every vowed offering in Israel shall be theirs.

As for the meal-offering and the sin-bearer and the guilt-bearer, they shall eat them, —And everything devoted in Israel to them, shall belong.

30 And the first-fruits of all the firstborn, and all the libations out of all that is offered, shall belong to the priests. And you shall give the first-fruits of your foods to the priest, so that he may return a blessing to your house.

And the first of all the firstfruits of everything, and every heave-offering of everything, from among all your heave-offerings to the priests, shall it belong, — The first of your meal, shall ye give to the priest, To cause a blessing to rest upon by house.

31 The priests shall not consume anything which has died on its own, or which was seized by a beast, whether from the fowl or the cattle.”

Nothing that died of itself or was torn in pieces, of bird or of beast shall be eaten by the priests.