Ezekiel 44

1 And he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary which looked toward the east; and it was shut.

Then the man brought me back to the outer sanctuary gate that faced east; it was closed tightly.

2 And Jehovah said unto me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter in by it: for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it; and it shall be shut.

Yahweh said to me, “This gate has been sealed shut; it will not be opened. No man will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has come through it, so it has been closed tightly.

3 As for the prince, he, the prince, shall sit in it 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 ruler of Israel will sit in it to eat food before Yahweh. He will enter by way of the gate's portico and go out the same way.”

4 And he brought me the way of the north gate before the house; and I beheld, and lo, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah: and I fell upon my face.

Then he brought me by way of the northern gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I fell on my face.

5 And Jehovah said unto me, Son of man, apply thy heart, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the statutes of the house of Jehovah, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary;

Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, set your heart and look with your eyes and listen with your ears to all that I am declaring to you, to all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and all its regulations. Think about the house's entrance and exits.

6 and say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Let it suffice you of all your abominations, O house of Israel,

Then say to the rebellious ones, the house of Israel, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Let all of your disgusting actions be enough for you, house of Israel—

7 in that ye have brought strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, [even] my house, when ye offered my bread, the fat and the blood; and they have broken my covenant besides all your abominations.

that you brought foreigners with uncircumcised hearts and uncircumcised flesh to be in my sanctuary, profaning my house, while you were offering me food, fat and blood—you have broken my covenant by all your disgusting actions.

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

You have not carried out your duties regarding my holy things, but you appointed others to take up your duties, and you assigned them to care for my holy place.

9 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: No stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

The Lord Yahweh says this: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, from any of those who live among the people of Israel, may enter my holy place.

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

Yet the Levites went far from me—they wandered away from me, going after their idols—but they will pay for their sin.

11 but they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and doing the service of the house: they shall slaughter the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.

They are servants in my sanctuary, watching the gates of the house and serving in the house and they slaughter the burnt offerings and the people's sacrifices, and they will stand before the people and serve them.

12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and were unto the house of Israel a stumbling-block of iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, that they shall bear their iniquity.

But because they performed the sacrifices before their idols, they became stumbling blocks for sin for the house of Israel. Therefore I will lift up my hand to swear an oath against them—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—they will bear their punishment.

13 And they shall not draw near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to draw near to any of my holy things, [even] to the most holy; but they shall bear their confusion, and their abominations which they have committed.

They will not come near me to act as my priests or to approach any of my holy things, the most holy things. Instead, they will bear their reproach and their guilt for the disgusting actions that they have done.

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

But I will place them as keepers of the work in the house, for all of its duties and everything that is done in it.

15 But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall approach unto me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to present unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Then the Levitical priests, those sons of Zadok who fulfilled the duties of my sanctuary when the people of Israel were wandering away from me—they will come near me to worship me. They will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall approach unto my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

They will come to my sanctuary; they will approach my table to worship me and to fulfill their duties to me.

17 And it shall come to pass 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, when they minister in the gates of the inner court, and towards the house.

So it will be that when they come to the gates of the inner courtyard, they will have to dress in linen clothes, for they must not come in wool inside the gates of the courtyard and its house.

18 They shall have linen tires upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird on anything that causeth sweat.

There should be linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their hips. They must not dress in clothes that make them sweat.

19 And when they go forth into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy cells; and they shall put on other garments, that they may not hallow the people with their garments.

When they go out to the outer courtyard, to the outer courtyard in order to go to the people, they must take off the clothes they wore when they served; they must take them off and lay them down in a holy room, so they do not make other people holy by contact with their special clothing.

20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long: they shall duly poll their heads.

Also they must neither shave their heads nor allow their hair to hang loosely, but they must trim the hair of their heads.

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

No priest may drink wine when he comes to the inner court,

22 And they shall not take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.

nor take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife for himself, but only a virgin from the line of the house of Israel or a widow who was previously married to a priest.

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

For they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane; they will make them know the unclean from the clean.

24 And in controversy they shall stand to judge: they shall judge it according to my judgments; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my solemnities; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

In a dispute they will stand to judge with my decrees; they must be just. They will keep my law and my statutes in every feast, and they will celebrate my holy Sabbaths.

25 And they shall come at no dead person to become unclean; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may become unclean.

They will not go to a dead person so as to become unclean, unless it is their father or mother, son or daughter, brother or a sister who has not slept with a man; otherwise, they will become unclean.

26 And after he is cleansed, they shall count unto him seven days.

After a priest has become unclean, they will count off a period of seven days for him.

27 And on the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall present his sin-offering, saith the Lord Jehovah.

On the day he enters the holy place, into the inner courtyard to serve in the holy place, he must bring a sin offering for himself—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance; I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I will be their property!

29 They shall eat the oblation and the sin-offering and the trespass-offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

They will eat the food offerings, the sin offerings, the guilt offerings, and everything devoted to Yahweh in Israel, will be theirs.

30 And the first of all the first-fruits of every [kind], and every heave-offering of every [kind], of all your heave-offerings, shall be for the priests; ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest on thy house.

The best of the firstfruits of all things and every contribution, anything from all of your contributions will belong to the priests, and you will give the best of your meal offerings to the priests so that blessing may rest on your house.

31 The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or of that which is torn, whether of fowl or of beast.

The priests will not eat any carcass or animal torn by a beast, whether bird or beast.